TurboTax

Price: Free, including federal e-file
Adding a state tax return costs $27.95, including state e-file
Out the door pricing for 1 federal, 1 state, and e-file: $27.95

TurboTax Free Edition is a Web-based tax preparation program. The free version contains some guidance for basic tax situations (such as help in figuring out your filing status and dependents) and includes context-sensitive questions and answers from Intuit's Live Community message board. At various points, TurboTax Free Edition will ask if you want the program to "Guide Me" to select the right answer for a tax question, for example in helping to decide if someone is your dependent or in figuring out the right filing status to use.

The free edition of TurboTax has a Federal Review and error-checking utility. These features helps to identify data entry errors and other items that may need to be double-checked for filing your return. TurboTax's error-check highlighted data entry fields for which I had forgotten to enter information.

The free version of TurboTax does not provide easy-to-use W-4 calculator to help you accurately adjusting your paycheck withholding, nor does it provide access to data input screens for capital gains and self-employment income.

The free edition of TurboTax does not provide access to the following common tax forms and schedules: Schedules C (for self-employment), Schedule D (for capital gains), Schedule E (for rental property and income reported via Schedules K-1), and Schedule F (for farm income). By contrast, the free standard edition of TaxACT provides access to all these schedules.

Preparing a Simple Return in TurboTax can be Relatively Quick

I prepared a fairly straightforward tax return with one W-2, one dependents, and various tax credits. Using TurboTax Free Edition took me slightly longer than using TaxCut or TaxACT, but I also went through several of the Guide Me interviews (which were not provided in the other two software programs). So even though TurboTax took me longer to finish my return, I feel the tax preparation process was more thorough.

Browser Compatibility

TurboTax Free Edition is available only as a Web-based software application. The TurboTax web site is compatible with the following Web browsers: Firefox 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Safari 4+ (Mac only). Adobe's Flash 9+ and Acrobat Reader 7+ also required.

Additional reviews and information about TurboTax can be found on the About.com Guide to Financial Software:

• Tour of TurboTax featuring screen shots of the software.
• TurboTax Versions, Features, and Prices
• Review of TurboTax