Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 put to the test: tax returns with the best instructions (2023)

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 is a perennial favorite for thebest tax softwareCorona, and this year is no different. Now in its 39th year, the TurboTax family (covering the 2022 tax year) has a wide range of options for receiving assistance from a tax professional and has the smoothest full-service, all-virtual upgrade possible for a tax professional to do the heavy lifting. . Elevator. However, these features cost more than ever. If you trade investments and cryptocurrencies, this tier continues to offer one of the best integrated admission processes of any competitor.

The service's interface provides detailed guided questions in plain language, minimizing your exposure to real tax forms. TurboTax Live's expert support remains a well-integrated experience. For 2023, TurboTax is making adjustments to its fully virtual live full service, allowing you to have your taxes completed and filed by a tax specialist. If your tax needs aren't complicated, TurboTax has a great limited-time free offer for those who qualify for Basic Live Assisted.

Read the rest of our TurboTax Deluxe 2022 report (covering the 2022 fiscal year) to find out what we love most about the software.

If you purchased TurboTax from 2016 to 2018 but were eligible to use your free offer based on your income,As a result of an agreement between Intuit and the promoters, you may be entitled to a refund.

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Review: Cost

TurboTax now offers three types of federal tax products online. In short, there is the do-it-yourself TurboTax. The breakthrough is TurboTax Live Assisted; The name now adds "Assisted," presumably to clarify that you're getting live help via video chat and tax return review with tax experts. The third line is TurboTax Live Full Service, where you hand your paperwork over to a tax specialist and they do the rest. Looking at the availability and ease of use of the active components, we evaluated TurboTax's standard online product and focused on the Deluxe tier, one of four product tiers based on the complexity of your tax return.

The four DIY tiers are still priced the same as last year, but the Live Assisted versions are $10 overall, and the Live Full Service versions have gone up dramatically. For example, the full Deluxe tier live service is up $60, while the more complex Premier and Self-Employed versions are up $110 each. 2021), Deluxe ($59; $129 Live Assisted; $259 Full Service), Premier ($89; $179 Live Assisted; $369 Full Service); and standalone ($119; $209 with live support; $399 with full service). (See here aheadquarters(opens in new tab)several TurboTax options).

TurboTax Live Full Service pricing is a significant step up from Live Assisted (new name, same as last year's "Live" tier), but it's still a very reasonable expense when you consider that you're getting a professional tax service that takes care of from you. Be careful with your taxes. – and now take care of your taxes live by talking to you. If you qualify for Basic Live Assisted Service, you can receive this service free of charge if you submit your statement by March 31st. We like TurboTax's pricing transparency for its Live Full Service product. Plus, you can see in advance how much Live Full Service will cost before you start;(opens in new tab)the interface even belies the price of its full online virtual tax preparation option.

If you prefer to keep your tax records locally rather than using an online service, Intuit continues to offer four downloadable variants of TurboTax for purchase at the same prices as last year (Basic, $50; Deluxe, $80; Premier, $110; and Home & Business, $120). The downloadable product allows you to submit your return electronically or print and mail it. (Live Services is not an option in downloaded versions.)

Active and retired military users can file federal and state taxes for free using a link throughmenu do site(opens in new tab). TurboTax's software dynamically adapts to its military product, rather than having a separate "product" (like TaxAct does for its military tax service).

Small businesses get a boost with TurboTax Live's new full-service corporate tax, dealing with LLCs, S-Corps and partnerships. Prices start at $999.

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Review: State Filing

State tax filing is $59 per state for all standard DIY TurboTax Online products, also $10 more than last year (a free state tax return is included with TurboTax Free online). That's more expensive than the H&R Block, which charges you $37 per state. TurboTax Live Assisted Basic, which includes live support, includes a state filing. All other TurboTax Live Assisted and Live Full Service options cost $64 to file a state tax return, up $15 from last year.

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Review: Features

TurboTax allows you to import data for a long timeFinancial Institutionand Intuit's QuickBooks, but not consumer-facing Mint (the TurboTax desktop also handles Quicken imports). If you are using the Live Full Service tier, you can use TurboTax's MyDocs cloud service, through which you can share relevant tax documents for review (you can also add your documents there to keep them in a safe place, even if you don't have a tax advisor handling your taxes for you).

The free tier covers basic 1040 tax situations such as income tax credit, standard deduction, child tax credit, basic interest and dividend income, and unemployment income. He also handles student loan applications. For something more complex you have to go to a higher level.

TurboTax's luxury product covers charitable donations and Program A tax deductions (real estate and mortgage taxes), analyzing over 350 possible tax deductions.

If you have a 1099-K selling personal or hobby items, you can use Deluxe, but not if you have self-employed income. If you have a 1099-NEC form (the new independent contractor income form) or investments, you can use Deluxe. But plans D (investments) and E (rents and royalties), including rental income, roboinvesting and cryptocurrency transactions, require the Premier level (although, interestingly, the deluxe version allowed us to enter cryptocurrency transactions without asking us to upgrade , as it is for equity investments). And if you have a business with associated deductions, this is covered in the Autonomous product, which now searches over 500 possible credits and deductions and uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (according to TurboTax) to discover deductions for your industry.

TurboTax Self-Employed adds photo import for 1099-K forms (but we only saw one way to import using a digital file). It also adds a handy year-round expense tracker that can streamline the tax process when the time comes, a deduction checklist, and a streamlined Schedule C entry to better tailor the on-screen prompts to your tax situation.

Meanwhile, investments and cryptocurrencies are getting a lot of support this year with additional updates to the import process. With the new Investor Hub, which brings together all investments and the associated taxes, investors get a holistic view of their portfolio. You can import up to 10,000 stock transactions directly from financial institution import partners, and the software will now perform a cost-based analysis of your investments based on your data imports. And for cryptocurrency transactions, TurboTax supports up to 20,000 transactions, five times more than last year.

TurboTax offers advanced cryptocurrency investment guides and partners with over 30 cryptocurrency exchanges (15 to date, including Coinbase, Robinhood and Binance) to import cryptocurrency transactions directly. This is a direct import instead of using a manual process and importing a CSV file like before. Competitors have different ways of handling cryptocurrencies: H&R Block supports direct import from a limited number of exchanges; TaxAct uses Koinly; and Cash App Taxes uses TaxBit.

Charitable deductions will also be improved. The smart but imperfect integration of Intuit's Its Deductible donation tracking app with TurboTax makes it easier to estimate the value of donated property and increase your return on investment. Previously, you could only import your account data into this Intuit-owned app.

New for 2023, TurboTax Live Full Service adds a “Personal Welcome Call” to get you started and do your taxes in one session with an expert. Plus, Live Full Service adds bilingual services for Spanish speakers from start to finish. In addition to full service in Spanish for DIY products and live-assisted products. A single click on the left navigation bar changes the user interface from English to Spanish.

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Review: Help is Available

Add an About button to Live Help that shows how much time an expert is needed. Also note the expert rating and you can submit questions for me to answer outside

TurboTax improves the support available for your taxes in 2022, starting with a smoother experience for Live Full Assisted and Live Full Service. For the former, live help is more specific and context sensitive wherever you are in the service. For example, if you work in the areas of investment expenses or self-employment, the specialist you contact will be well-versed in the subject and ready to help you with your questions. And if you need more help, Coach Mode will get you started, allowing you to connect with an expert to verbally describe your tax situation and allowing you to configure your TurboTax screens to reflect your view is personalized and easier to navigate . Also in Live Assisted, an expert can now take over your screen and guide you to the feature you need (they can even leave task notes for you to follow up).

In TurboTax Live, the process is now streamlined and synchronized. It used to be an asynchronous process: you connected to a professional tax assistant who referred you to a specialist who took care of things back and forth with you. Now you can contact an expert instantly or schedule an appointment with an expert right away and the expert will handle your taxes synchronously with you during the call.

I found the old help pop-ups less common than before, but they're still there, although most help screens trigger a dedicated sliding panel on the right side of the screen. This year, the live support chat header is a permanent part of the screen.

TurboTax Help is the most comprehensive of all services. The content is mostly well written, original and useful. It attracts questions from other users that can help you figure out your own situation without consulting an expert.

You can get technical help at all levels of the service and even share your screen with a support person. You can add TurboTax Live Assisted (the new Live product name) at any time by clicking on the Live Expert Help badge in the upper right corner of the screen. Once you have watched it live, you can add live full service; or you can opt for Live Full Service when you sign up.

For live assistance, the support call starts on the phone and you can then initiate one-way live video or screen sharing. TurboTax Live Assisted is available year-round for asking tax professionals questions. When you upgrade to Live Full Service, you will be assigned a tax specialist based on the complexity of your tax return, and you can continue with the same tax specialist after completing your tax return if you wish.

If you don't go the full-service route, TurboTax Live allows your tax return to be reviewed by a tax specialist before you submit it.

The call starts on the phone and then you can start one-way live video or screen sharing. TurboTax Live is available year-round to ask tax professionals questions. When you upgrade to Live Full Service, you will be provided with a tax specialist based on the complexity of your tax return, and starting this year, you will be able to interact with the same specialist if you wish.

If you don't go the full-service route, TurboTax Live allows your tax return to be reviewed by a tax specialist before you submit it.

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 Review: Ease of Use

The TurboTax incorporation process remains similar, with updated guide options that represent aspects of your tax situation. Selecting tiles that later reappear as questions results in a recommendation on which product level makes sense. Or, you can select the product to start directly from the product page and update along the way if you prefer.

The onboarding went on even before I signed up and asked how I filed taxes last year; Response will customize your experience once you sign up. Past users of TurboTax or other Intuit online products (QuickBooks, Mint) log into the service with their Intuit credentials; New customers must create an account. The service sends you a code to verify you (they sent codes to my phone and then to my email).

As a returning user, I've gone back to the same version of the product (Live Assisted Freelancer) that I used last year. If your tax status has changed and you want to use an inferior product (for example, if you went from self-employed to W-2 employee), a fresh start is possible, but TurboTax does not require it. Instead, the option to start over is hidden under Control Tools in the left navigation bar.

I liked that TurboTax is written in a simple and friendly language from the beginning. Initially, this led me to go into any life changes in the last year. The service then displayed a summary of what to expect about my taxes and also provided more reading information.

Finally, the service will ask you to agree to share tracking information with Intuit for custom strategies. You can cancel if you prefer. This completes the onboarding process and you can finally start working on the return.

TurboTax's overall online layout remains unchanged. The service has a left-hand navigation pane for your tax address, documents, and top-level navigation for the different components of your tax return (personal, federal, state, audit, and filing information).

You start by adding personal information (name, date of birth, social security number, occupation, city of residence, including whether you lived part-time and military status), information about dependents, and so on. After verifying all personally identifiable information, TurboTax added an optional $49 upgrade to its theft monitoring and audit defense service. After I declined, we ended up filing the lawsuit with the Federal Office.

Throughout the process of answering questions to filling out your tax return, TurboTax uses clear language to guide you through adding your information. If you don't want to see what looks like an illustration of a tax form, you don't have to. This hands-on approach is in stark contrast to some competitors like FreeTaxUSA and TaxAct, which simply walk you through various tax forms with minimal questions and little natural language guidance.

TurboTax allows you to navigate your federal filing through four floating tabs: Income and Expenses, Deductions and Credits, Other Tax Situations, and Federal Audit. You can complete them in order or skip them however you like. When you reach the end, TurboTax will warn you of missing information before filing, or you can have your tax return reviewed by a tax specialist. If you're awaiting a refund, you can track the status of your refund with Intuit's Credit Karma.

Above the screen is the global navigation bar with buttons for accessing notifications, search, virtual assistant help, and live tax advice. The latter leads to the TurboTax Live Assisted or TurboTax Live Expert upgrade if you have already upgraded. TurboTax also shows you an update on your federal and state refunds in the top navigation, but you can hide this information.

Integration questions can be repetitive, although they serve different purposes. If you miss something the first time, you'll have to figure out where it is yourself. For example, I had to click on the recipe button to expand other recipes received, and I found a very detailed reference list that reminded me what else to add. At least the language is generally friendly and accessible. And TurboTax covers more scenarios and does so with more clarity than some of the competing services. For example, TurboTax notifies you if you have a non-traditional dependent status or are earning money while living in a state other than your home state and provides appropriate guidance in the right swipe Help section.

The TurboTax service has a responsive design that makes it easy to navigate through mobile apps, mobile browsers and desktop browsers. While the text size is now larger in places, general work may still be needed to make it clearer on all screens. Often, text on a computer screen in a light font remains surprisingly small, making it difficult to read. Overall, H&R Block still does a better job with its cohesive interface design and visual presentation.

If you're using the Live Assisted version, a new feature this year: race mode. Intuit plays the game of filling out your tax return, telling you how long it will take to complete your taxes (based on the information you provide) and starting the clock to show your progress as you go through the tax return.

Teste Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2022 im: Done

The experience of using TurboTax Deluxe 2021 is largely the same compared to previous years, but subtle tweaks to the interface, improved live and full-service support, and ongoing software improvements in encryption and asset management will help give TurboTax a advantage over H&R Block and other acquisitions. competitors. While thebest tax software.

Despite being the most expensive tax preparation software we've tested, the steps TurboTax takes to simplify the daunting tax process put its services a step ahead of the competition.