Thank You, TurboTax
This year I decided to try filing my tax returns on my own, rather than pay someone to do them for me. My father’s friend has always done them for me, and while he didn’t charge much, I’d rather pay less. So, I gave TurboTax a shot. I started off working with the Basic Edition; my taxes are pretty simple, so I don’t need all of the fancy guidance features of the Deluxe Edition or Premier Edition. Paying attention to which credits and deductions I received, I filled everything out. I proceeded right up to the point of filing the return and paying the Basic Edition’s $15 fee—you don’t actually pay until you file the return. Then I went to the Free Edition, and filled everything out. The Free Edition did not lead me to all of the credits and deductions that the Basic Edition had. But, since I knew where to look, I was able to apply them in the Free Edition as well. In the end, my rebate amount for the Free Edition was exactly the same as it would have been with the Basic Edition. Naturally, I proceeded to file my return with TurboTax’s Free Edition, and the whole thing was totally free.
Filing the state tax return with TurboTax would have cost $28, but I did that on my own as well—through Ohio’s free online I-File system. It was very simple to do, and the return was the same amount as it would have been with TurboTax.
