Intuit TurboTax expertly balances substance and style, combining thorough coverage of tax topics with an easy-to-follow interview format and top-notch support. You pay a premium for all these features, but its depth and usability make the price understandable. New AI-supported functionality helps you take advantage of every possible deduction. It's also easier and simpler to enter your data than ever. The self-employment section is especially comprehensive, too. As such, TurboTax is our Editors’ Choice winner for paid tax prep services and earns a rare five-star rating.
TurboTax costs more than other online tax preparation services, but not by a significant amount. It offers a Free Edition (federal and state) for taxpayers who claim the standard deduction and whose returns don't involve any additional items beyond the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, limited interest and dividend income, the student loan interest deduction, taxable qualified retirement plan distributions, and W-2 income. It also supports Schedule 1-A (deductions for qualified tips, overtime pay, car loan interest, and seniors who are 65 and older). (Note: Approximately 37% of filers qualify for TurboTax Free Edition including simple Form 1040 returns only—no schedules, except for EITC, CTC, student loan interest, and Schedule 1-A.)
The Deluxe version ($49 for federal, $39 for state) lets you add itemized deductions. The Premium tier ($99 for federal, $39 for state) includes everything you need to report rental and investment income, as well as self-employment. The prices for both versions will increase later in the filing season. Through February 28, 2026, you can file federal and state taxes for free (regardless of complexity) if you didn't use TurboTax for the 2024 tax year—as long as you use the TurboTax mobile app for the 2025 tax year.
Cash App Taxes and FreeTaxUSA (our Editors' Choice winner for free tax apps) are free for federal filing, though the latter charges $15.99 for state returns. Neither competes with TurboTax in terms of guidance or user experience, though FreeTaxUSA gets closer. Although TurboTax Premium is expensive, it costs only a few dollars more than H&R Block Self-Employed ($85 for federal, $37 for state).
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If you need help from a human, Intuit offers additional virtual services via chat, phone, and video. As you prepare your return, you can connect to an expert virtually via the Expert Assist service to ask questions and get a final review of your return. You can also have a tax pro handle your entire return from start to finish (that's called Expert Full Service). The cost depends on the complexity of your return. H&R Block offers similar services.
MAX (optional) includes services such as full audit representation, identity theft monitoring, and priority care for $59 ($69 later in the season). Intuit is also opening 600 physical TurboTax Expert Offices around the US, where taxpayers can meet with experts and receive tax preparation services.
One of TurboTax’s biggest strengths is its exceptional user experience. It guides you through the tax preparation process intuitively and skillfully. Its aesthetic qualities are unmatched, and it strikes a friendly tone as it directs and educates you.
The site minimizes the time it takes to get started by allowing you to import key data if you used it or another tax prep app last year. Most competitors also support this. If you are new to TurboTax, it guides you through the entire setup process, which involves selecting the correct version and providing information such as contact details, dependents, and Social Security numbers. Then you move on to the actual tax preparation process, roughly following the 1040 form, divided into several sections (income, deductions, credits, and miscellaneous tax issues).
TurboTax pioneered the wizard-based approach to tax preparation over 30 years ago. This process takes you through a very lengthy series of pages. There’s a home page for every major section that breaks down its many subtopics. For example, the income section has subtopics such as Investments and Savings, Rentals, Royalties and Farm, and Self-employment. It’s easy to progress through your return using these lists, especially since TurboTax tells you which topic you should tackle next. I recommend you complete each page as thoroughly as you can the first time through, since jumping around too much can lead to confusion and possibly missed topics.
TurboTax asks simple, understandable questions, and you respond by clicking buttons, entering data, and selecting from options. You can also import data directly into some forms on the site, like W-2s and 1099s (if your employer or financial institutions are TurboTax Import Partners). You can enter the data yourself, too. In some cases, you might be able to upload a file from your computer or snap a picture of a form. TurboTax takes your responses and drops them into the correct IRS forms and schedules in the background, so you don’t have to deal with those official (and often confusing) documents.
There are also options for importing investment sales data. TurboTax imports directly from more financial sources (including Edward Jones, Fidelity Investments, and Robinhood) than any competitor. If your broker or exchange isn’t on the list, you can upload a file or enter the information yourself (you get similar options in deduction areas like mortgage interest) or snap a photo. The site provides more guidance on cryptocurrency than any other product I tested.
TurboTax alternates between walking you through Q&As and showing you lists of available topics, as I mentioned earlier. After you complete the federal section, it transfers data to any state returns you must file. Then, it helps you e-file or print the finished product. The process works beautifully (as long as you work chronologically), saving time, easing frustration, and dramatically reducing errors.
The site is more proactive and creative than ever. Here’s one new convention that I really like. TurboTax and all other tax prep sites have always made you complete all the deduction topics to see whether you should itemize. Rather than wasting all that time only to find out you can’t, TurboTax now allows you to select a dollar range for topics like medical expenses. If you clearly have no chance of itemizing, it tells you to take the standard deduction.
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Intuit continues to expand its use of AI technologies, including generative AI, to improve and accelerate your tax preparation experience. It also uses data it has amassed over its decades of work in tax preparation. The company makes it clear that it doesn't use AI to do your taxes, however. Rather, it uses these technologies to personalize your tax experience, answer questions, create summaries, and provide valuable insights.
The amount and accessibility of help content a tax prep site offers are among the things that set it apart from competitors. TurboTax excels on both counts. It makes the tax prep process feel like one long conversation rather than a collection of separate steps. It uses clear, understandable, and lively language, explaining financial concepts as they are introduced and providing links to additional help on the interview pages. The latter links to context-sensitive articles and how-to guides in a vertical pane, and includes direct links to topic pages when appropriate.
The help pane contains two other types of guidance. First, you can search for words and phrases to get links to help articles and related pages on the site. When you click one of the many hyperlinks in the interview, the relevant content appears in the right vertical pane. The second type comes courtesy of TurboTax AI Assistant, which works like an AI-driven version of the old TurboTax Assistant. It converses with you and allows for follow-up questions. It learns, too, something the more traditional search tool doesn't.
The AI Assistant is often smarter than the main Search tool. For example, when I asked if I could deduct dental expenses that my insurance didn't cover, it responded accurately and directly. The Search tool posted a response about home sales, though at other times it responded directly to my question with pertinent information. Ultimately, the answer depends on the scope and specificity of your query. I’ve criticized TurboTax in the past for posting responses from community members rather than internal staff, and I still have that complaint.
H&R Block also has a traditional search option and an AI-driven interactive tool (AI Tax Assist). H&R Block’s traditional search is top-notch—just as effective as TurboTax’s.
TurboTax accommodates LLCs and REMICs that file Form 1040 and related schedules, sole proprietors and partnerships, and S corporations. It supports freelancers and independent contractors, on-demand services (like Uber and Task Rabbit), and small or home-based businesses.
The site uses a lengthy wizard to first walk you through a series of questions about your business. Then it moves on to collect your self-employment income from various sources, such as 1099-NEC, 1099-K, and cash or checks. You have four options for entering expenses: connecting to an online bank account and importing transactions, entering expenses manually, importing from your Credit Karma (a financial site owned by Intuit) account, or uploading a spreadsheet (new this year). No other software I've tested offers so many options.
I entered expenses manually after the site recommended nine categories that businesses like mine might use (and that I might have missed). Like Jackson Hewitt, TurboTax lets you divide each expense type into multiple subtypes, like office supplies and shredding services under Office Expenses. Not only did each page explain every category and give examples, but it also delved into special situations. For example, it asked whether I shared my home office space with anyone and whether I did any work beyond the current business there. This is the kind of depth that sets TurboTax apart. Further, it assesses your audit risk and tells you if your expenses seem within the normal range.
TurboTax does a lot of error-checking in real time as you work your way through your return, though it sometimes allows you to move on to a new page without completing the current one. However, it also checks both your federal and state returns once you exhaust all the necessary topics. The site allows you to review your return after you complete the federal tax topics and provides links that take you back to the exact screens where the error occurred, so you can make the necessary corrections. For example, I’d neglected to enter an EIN on a 1099-K. I also didn't enter the outstanding balance on my mortgage. Afterward, it returns you to the main review page. Once you complete any required state returns and respond to other cleanup questions, it runs another review, called CompleteCheck, before you file.
Intuit says it safeguards your data and privacy by using industry-leading practices and technology. The company claims to constantly test and improve its cybersecurity practices, collaborating with security researchers worldwide and providing safeguards such as multi-factor authentication and AES-256 data encryption.
Whenever you enter personal information, such as your Social Security number and birth date, into a tax website, you should always take additional safety precautions. Make sure to always use a trusted network (such as your home Wi-Fi).
Even if you have a complex tax return that involves investment sales or self-employment, for example, you can prepare your taxes and file via TurboTax’s mobile apps (available for Android and iOS). The apps, which are both attractive and intuitive, function similarly to the desktop browser version (with some differences to accommodate the smaller screen), and provide straightforward data entry and import options.
You use navigation links to move forward or backward a page, similar to the browser-based version. The app also includes a Home link that takes you back to the beginning and a link to the Search tool (Help), but the AI Assistant wasn’t available in the Android version I tested. I wouldn't hesitate to prepare a personal return with these apps because of their speed and usability.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: Intuit)
Intuit TurboTax 2026 (Tax Year 2025)
- 5.0 - Exemplary: Near perfection, ground-breaking
- 4.5 - Outstanding: Best in class, acts as a benchmark for measuring competitors
- 4.0 - Excellent: A performance, feature, or value leader in its class, with few shortfalls
- 3.5 - Good: Does what the product should do, and does so better than many competitors
- 3.0 - Average: Does what the product should do, and sits in the middle of the pack
- 2.5 - Fair: We have some reservations, buy with caution
- 2.0 - Subpar: We do not recommend, buy with extreme caution
- 1.5 - Poor: Do not buy this product
- 1.0 - Dismal: Don't even think about buying this product
Read Our Editorial Mission Statement and Testing Methodologies.
TurboTax offers a highly engaging user experience and excels at presenting complicated tax topics in understandable language. The service's AI and standard help content remain highlights, as do the full-featured mobile apps. Its cost might give you pause if you are a gig worker with little income and few expenses, but TurboTax should be your first choice if you want the friendliest, most comprehensive tax software available. For these reasons and more, TurboTax is an Editors' Choice winner and deserving of a perfect, five-star rating.
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About Our Expert
I write about money. I’ve been reviewing tax software and services as a freelancer for PCMag since 1993. Along the way, I took on reviews of other types of business and personal finance technology. Prior to that, I had spent a few years writing about productivity and entertainment applications for 8-bit personal computers (my first one was a Commodore VIC-20) as a member of the editorial staff at Compute!
After working at Lawson Associates, now Lawson Software, I switched my focus to accounting but learned that personal computer applications were more progressive and interesting to cover than mainframe solutions. So I served as editor of a monthly newsletter that provided support for accountants who were just starting to use PCs. I still ghostwrite monthly how-to columns for accounting professionals. From there, I went on to write articles and reviews for numerous business and financial publications, including Barron’s and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine.
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