Whether you are a last minute filer, a first time filer, an avid investor or are filing after a major life change, TurboTax Deluxe can help you file quickly and obtain the most deductions possible. TurboTax Deluxe is our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award winner for Online Tax Software thanks to its many types of filers to use, comes with great help features and has many ways to ensure that your returns are accurate.

TurboTax Deluxe takes care of your federal filing needs for just $29.95; it costs $36.95 (FREE on this page) more per state to file for state returns. E-filing is free with the purchase, but with the download you can e-file for up to five people, whereas the online is only for one person. If you purchase the CD/Download for $59.95, one state tax forms are free. With the online service you can fill in all of the information and you only have to pay when you choose to print or electronically file your return, which means you can fully test out the program before you pay a dime. TurboTax Deluxe can handle most people’s tax needs including home owners, those with significant medical expenses, those paying tuition or tuition for others and pretty much anyone else who wants to itemize deductions. TurboTax has a free edition for those with simple filing needs, as well as a Premier, Home & Business and Business version for those with more complex tax challenges.

Standout Features

* Looks for tax deductions as you go and checks again when you are done
* Tracks audit risk
* Imports financial data from Quicken
* Can transfer previous year’s data

New for Deluxe:

* Additional Tax Preparation Assistance Services
* Life Events Expert: Explains how changes such as the purchase of a new home, changing jobs, or becoming a parent, can affect your return.
* Guide Me: Can offer assistance line by line.
* Explains Your Return: Includes a summary of your return, including income, tax, credits and payments, also includes recommendations to help you get a larger refund the next year.
* Recommendations to help you get a larger refund the next year.

Intuitive Navigation:

Of all the tax service options we reviewed, TurboTax Deluxe was the most logically arranged and quick to move through. We were able to easily switch from filling out federal tax information to asking the TurboTax online community a question and then back. One of the features we especially liked is that it groups related items together and asks you to check the ones that apply to you. It saves you time from answering "no" question after question.

Novice-Friendly:

Every year it becomes easier for people without accounting experience to file their own taxes, thanks to the ever-improving online options. TurboTax has kept their software intuitive and explanations simple. It follows a linear process so all you need to do is answer the questions in front of you and if you don't know what answer to give, check the extensive Help section. This program also asks you to check easy to understand items, like “I am single” or “I own my home,” simple stuff; it is not packed with legal jargon. If you don’t understand what the question is really asking, then you can click on “Explain This” next to the question and you will have a brief explanation. TurboTax is also very good at giving you every opportunity to claim deductions, automatically checks your return for common errors or missed deductions, and checks again before you file your return. If you are still unsure of yourself, you can even get professional tax advice for an additional fee.

Ease of Sign-up:

TurboTax accounts are easy to set up. Create your user name, choose your password, pick a security question and answer combination, give them your email address and you’re done! TurboTax saves your information so you can come back and work on your tax forms anytime. Or you can try it out anonymously and create an account later.

Feature Set:

TurboTax Deluxe offers almost every feature we looked for and includes some excellent compatibility options. The only thing it does not offer is refund anticipation loans, which are often provided by a third-party high-interest charging loan company.

This online tax program makes it easy to manage data. For example, it can retrieve data from previous years if you filed through TurboTax and will quickly load data from your Federal to your State form. It can even help you get your W-2s and 1099 information faster from over 100K participating employers and financial institutions.

TurboTax also has built in tools that look for not only deductions but also credits. Credits looked for include tuition paid, Hybrid car credits and more. Often these credits are over looked, but TurboTax asks you the right questions so it can uncover as many credits as it can for you to lower your tax rate.

Submitting your return is easy and you can usually get your return back within eight days if you use the direct deposit option. This year also has an improved return or owe meter, so you can watch your balance as you go and it has an extremely easy to understand audit meter that will let you know if anything on your return looks like it could potentially trigger an audit. In addition, to try to keep you away from a stressful audit it can compare your deductions to others in your income bracket to see if you fall within the “normal” range.