Announcements What Do People Like You Think About TurboTax? Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by TurboTaxJulie Published Feb 2, 2010 - [Updated Jul 11, 2019] 2 min read A recommendation from a friend or someone you know is often the deciding factor for what movie you see, which TV you buy or which tax software you choose. But if you’re like me, wading through pages of reviews can be information overload. Wouldn’t it be great if you could see what your friend has to say about a book you want to read or find out if someone a lot like you (in my case, full-time job, 2 kids) can actually cook that recipe in 30 minutes? Well, TurboTax has created a new way for people thinking about using tax software to see exactly what millions of other people have to say about their own TurboTax experience. Unedited, unfiltered truth from your friends and people whose taxes are probably a lot like yours’. Today, TurboTax unveiled Friends Like You, a new, one-of-a-kind social experience that lets anyone view product reviews from their friends or people who have similar tax situations. Friends Like You draws on social networks, such as Facebook or MySpace, to let you see and sort reviews from friends or from people like you. Friends Like You is centered around the Friendlyzer, a unique online recommendation engine. Whether you’ve bought a home, switched jobs or had a baby, you can use the Friendlyzer to check out reviews from others who’ve used TurboTax so you can see what they have to say and how it handles a particular tax situation. Having the option to see, sort and filter recommendations and reviews makes shopping for anything that much easier. TurboTax is taking personal recommendations a step further by using some cool social tools to make it easy for people to talk and share. Friends Like You simplifies the process of sorting through reviews to find only those that are personal, relevant and from people you know and trust who also use TurboTax. To find out what people like you think about TurboTax visit www.friendslikeyou.com, and let us know what you think by commenting below. Previous Post Meet Lauren Young, the TurboTax Deductionista Next Post Free Tax Help for Lower-Income Taxpayers and Active Military Written by TurboTaxJulie More from TurboTaxJulie 27 responses to “What Do People Like You Think About TurboTax?” Wow was considering turbotax for the first time but after reading these horror stories forget it I’ll got to my tax guy cause he doesn’t charge much more then turbotax & I sit & drink coffee while he works. Reply Hi Janie, The issue is not with TurboTax. It’s industry wide due to IRS delays. Whether someone files using a tax preparer or tax software these delays are occurring. It is public knowledge and has been posted on other blogs. Please see the IRS update from 2/10/12 http://blog-turbotax-intuit-com-develop.go-vip.co/2012/02/11/irs-updates-wheres-my-refund/ Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply TurboTax is fine if you don’t run into any problems. If you have a question, forget about getting an answer. Their technical support is down right rude. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone Reply The issue is TurboTax. Their technicians are extremely rude and forget about speaking with someone within the USA. When you have a technician hang up on you because you won’t grant him remote access to your machine there is a problem with customer service. I have probably spent over 6 hours working on my tax return which should be relatively easy. The state form won’t even print out properly. I am very unhappy and wish I would hear from some knowledgeable, consumer orientated representative from TurboTax. Reply Follow-up to my last comment: Thankfully I found someone who was familiar with this kind of packaging. She said the package is an anti-theft device that should have been removed by the retailer at time of purchase. If I had been able to open it, I would be covered with permanent ink. Turbotax, you can be very, very glad I did not get the package open and that all I have are two sore thumbs. This is unacceptable and truly unbelievable. Reply Hi Bonnie, Sorry you had difficulty and that the retailer did not remove the anti-theft device. Hopefully you were able to contact them about their error. I am glad that you were able to get the package open. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply Thanks for responding, Lisa. What I don’t understand is why the anti-theft packaging isn’t labeled in bright bold lettering as such, with a warning for the retailer to remove, and a warning of consequences if buyer tries to remove. Thanks. It is quite unbelievable that people make mistakes. You’re right. They should be perfect next time. Shame on you all. SMFH Reply Just purchased Turbotax. Can’t figure out how to open the packaging without hurting myself. Guess I’ll just take a hammer to it. If you’re going to make it so difficult, at least give us instructions. Reply I have used Turbo Tax many times in the past and have always been relatively pleased with my experience. HOWEVER, this year was a different story! How is it that this software has become more expensive AND more frustrating?! The program repeatedly quit on me and the hyperlinks (for more info on the web) never worked. Ironically, even the ‘share your experience’ hyperlink failed me and I had to hunt around on the Turbo Tax site to find a place to enter a comment. I like the Flag feature but every time I tried to return to a flagged page, the program quit on me! I was also irritated that it was nearly impossible to locate the price of an additional state product (I moved and had to file in two states this year) until I was at the final stage of downloading it. $45 for one state that doesn’t even include e-file?! Are you kidding? Very disappointed this year… Just took a glance at other comments and feel somewhat validated that I am not the only one who had this experience. TurboTax: please return to what you used to be or I will go elsewhere!! Reply Hi, Karen again. I forgot to mention that when we installed TurboTax on the computer with Windows 7 and tried to print the forms, it totally screwed up the printer to the point that we can’t print anything on it. TT somehow affected the drivers & print que. The computer thinks there is a phantom document waiting to be printed & won’t allow anything to be printed although we’ve cancelled all of the print requests. Will TT pay for computer repairs? Reply I usually do my own taxes but since retirement, my husband & I tried a professional firm last year to make sure we were figuring the taxable portions of our annuities correctly. Our experience was horrible. We ended up with a total refund of their fee due to all of the mistakes. This year we decided to try TurboTax. I had my doubts, but when TurboTax came up with the right numbers for the taxable portions of our annuities (I had already figured these amounts before we purchased TurboTax), I thought perhaps my fears were for naught…..until TurboTax gave us a $1 deduction for “Other” which I have no idea from whence it derived this number. There are no worksheets to support this $1. Then when I entered the non-cash charitable contributions, TurboTax was off by $6 (I have checked & rechecked all of the entries 6 times. All of the entries match the entries on the spreadsheet & stubby pencil addition, as well as calculators.) Again, no explanation from TurboTax as to why it can’t add properly. All I can say is that I hope the rest of the numbers were correct. Would I use this product again? Doubtful. It was very cumbersome & extremely time consuming. I can complete my taxes faster just using the forms & instructions from the IRS. Reply Have a home office, back of TT CD says “EXPANDED SCHEDULE C TO MAXIMIZE HOME OFFICE” for the Home and Business version ONLY, went to use it and the program DEMANDED my tax ID (do not have a TID because do not own the business, simply work from home), after 1 hour of waiting then having ‘overseas’ IM conversation was re-directed to wait again for ‘local’ support, gave me a “free” DELUXE version, which caused a loss of $40 on the Home and Business CD I bought from Costco. Got through it, no dependents, did not claim dependents, but the program ‘stuck’ on insisting I fill out dependent info, I finally appeased it and wrote ‘not applicable’ in the name area. Then actually submit and file to also learn it just cost me another 40 or so bucks at the end. And I thought I was saving money from my $185 accoutant fee last year! Not really…huh? Reply I am so happy with Turbo Tax and here’s why. In March I had someone file my taxes for me with Turbo Tax since I was fairly new to the computer.Long story short,no refund. I waited until around 2 weeks ago and decided to try it for myself.I filed and within 24 hrs I began to receive E mail updates on my recent filing.The whole time I was vaguely skeptical especially when I saw how much my refund would be! It was way more than I figured!! Anyhow I was alerted my check would be sent on7-16-10 and lo and behold I received my check on 7-19-10 and my larger than life refund gave me cause to rejoice!!To all of you who had a less than happy experience with Turbo Tax,sorry,but no amount of negative comments would steer me away.Turbo Tax was easy and I got the added benefits of deductions I was entitled to but didn’t know about.So, in closing,I am one happy camper thanks to Turbo Tax and now I have to run along and enjoy my refund!! See ya next year Turbo Tax team!!!! ALOHA & MAHALO!!!! Reply I was very frustrated with this year’s version of turbo tax and the fact that on my system I wasn never able to get the in-software help to work. When I clicked on any of the links that were in the software that popped up the small help window with the explanation (tool tips) it was blank. When I accessed the in-software help with F1 and typed anything into the browser (phrases straight from turbo tax) I got no search results and no Doing turbo tax without any in software help is just awful and honestly I don’t feel like I should have to access the website or your “community” to answer what the build in software help should already have. I’ll be writing for a refund for this year’s version. Reply WORST version so far. Turbo tax used to be easy to install and use. Last year I was disappointed, but this year you can’t even install it on Windows XP without problems. I spent an hour trying to resolve from the website, and then when I called they said troubleshooting could take 2 hours or more and only had a 50% success rate. Since I did not purchase the product from their website they also would not accept a return/refund. Who sells a product like that. NO MORE TURBOTAX!!!!!!!!!!! Reply For the second year in a row, the Community tab cannot be accessed from the TT program….also for the first time…TT asking me to fill in areas on Form 1116 that it has filled in before. Have used TT for many years but this year almost made me switch to another….not well checked before released. Reply Phil, thanks for the feedback. have shared this with our marketing team to share with packaging vendor. Reply I have tried since December to get answers on entering Tax Free Bonds for Federal and part of it is only partical tax free for the state of Virginia. So far I have seen several other people ask the same question and no where I find the answer. The federal part is okay, but it does not make any different what options that you enter in for the state, when you go to the state it is wrong. I have used TurboTax and TaxCut for years and the reason for using both of them which the IRS just found out, that you don’t get the same answer when entering the same data. So I take which one gives me the best results. All we need is example of how to put in the state: For example do I have to take the percentage that the broker gives which is tax free and put the rest in and where ?????? which option etc….. Reply I have bought 2009 turbo tax program it will not load I took it back to walmart and they gave me another one same problem it says cantact turbo tax I have tryed for two days on line chat with no help or chat does any one have a web address to get thru to some-one that can help me thanks Reply After Reading your article I could no lngeor hold back my disgusting grin in knowing that this article is full of tyrannical rules imposed upon everybody. I don’t care what class of people they are.For example : ..It is time to take back our health care. ?? What health care have we really had? We never had no law stating that health care was a right in the constitution. It is an opportunity. Our constitution gives us the ability to prosper and on and on. The Constitution does not give govt the right to impose their form of tyranny against companies who do not want to provide health care for free to those who can not pay for their services. That is one example on who is losing their freedoms first so we the polotarant are next.Next in the article states this Eliminating federal regulations that discourage small businesses from providing coverage. So we have regulations in place to discourage small business’? why?I thought we had liberty.Reform licensure requirements so that pharmacists and nurses can perform some basic functions to increase access to care and lower costs.So we are not free. We just think we are.HR 3075 provides truly comprehensive health care reform by allowing families to claim a tax credit for the rising cost of health insurance premiums.So govt has to make laws that allow people to do things that they do not want to do. If the rich lose their rights where does that leave the poor? Reply Hi Leila, Sorry the support experience was so frustrating. We’ve got a lot of FAQs and the TurboTax Live Community available which is almost always the easiest way to get answers. At least worth a quick browse to see if an anwer to your Q is already there. Glad you were able to get it resolved tho. thanks Reply I can’t believe how easy it was for me to do my own taxes.I’m not a pro on the computer and with the help of Turbo Tax, I was able to do it without any problems. I received my money on the day they said I would get it,and they did not charge me an arm and a leg!I totally recommend using Turbo Tax.Thanks a million! Reply I’ve used TurboTax for the last 3 years. I don’t have to pay for the FREE service because I’m low income. The only glitch I find with TurboTax is that it takes FOREVER to get a question answered on the “instant” help online. I sat for 30 minutes & just kept getting the same answer that “the next agent would be with me momentarily”. Sure! LOL And my question wasn’t even a tax question. It was with the TurboTax program. Ah well. I finally got my problem fixed 1 hour & 10 minutes later by talking it out with a friend & a bunch of phone calls later. Reply This is Phil again, Pursuant to my comment above of 2/3, please see my short post on my blog about the horrific experience I had opening your box software, then pass it to TT’s appropriate functionaries in Marketing. This problem simply must be reviewed. Copy and paste link, I promise it won’t take more than a minute to read: http://catspaws.squarespace.com/bad-business/2010/2/3/turbotaxs-turbopackaging.html Reply This year I will try TurboTax for the first time. I was astounded, though, by how difficult the CD is to remove from the case. I’ve opened thousands of music CDs and TurboTax’s packaging is as brutally difficult as any I’ve encountered in my fifty years. Turbotax, you’d be better advised to simply equip your packaging with anti-theft sensors, rather than make your customers have to hyperventilate to get the damn CD out! I just broke one CD so my tax preparation ‘fee’ went up by $55 dollars. Let’s get some better design going, shall we? Or better yet, provide some instructions. Your customers who suffer from hand injuries or arthritis don’t have a chance with you. Reply The TurboTax state filing program charges $19.95 for E-file, stating that this will be refunded by a rebate. However, one cannot find a rebate form for this rebate and calling customer service one is told that there is no E-file rebate for state E-file. I call this dishonest to say the least. Reply Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Self-Employed Meet Moira Tax Planning TurboTax Enables Refund Advance to Taxpayers Investments Tax Benefits of Real Estate Investing Self-Employed Business Tax Checklist: What You’ll Need When Filing Uncategorized What Is Deferred Compensation & How Is It Taxed? Investments How Does an Inherited IRA Work? 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Wow was considering turbotax for the first time but after reading these horror stories forget it I’ll got to my tax guy cause he doesn’t charge much more then turbotax & I sit & drink coffee while he works. Reply
Hi Janie, The issue is not with TurboTax. It’s industry wide due to IRS delays. Whether someone files using a tax preparer or tax software these delays are occurring. It is public knowledge and has been posted on other blogs. Please see the IRS update from 2/10/12 http://blog-turbotax-intuit-com-develop.go-vip.co/2012/02/11/irs-updates-wheres-my-refund/ Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply
TurboTax is fine if you don’t run into any problems. If you have a question, forget about getting an answer. Their technical support is down right rude. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone Reply
The issue is TurboTax. Their technicians are extremely rude and forget about speaking with someone within the USA. When you have a technician hang up on you because you won’t grant him remote access to your machine there is a problem with customer service. I have probably spent over 6 hours working on my tax return which should be relatively easy. The state form won’t even print out properly. I am very unhappy and wish I would hear from some knowledgeable, consumer orientated representative from TurboTax. Reply
Follow-up to my last comment: Thankfully I found someone who was familiar with this kind of packaging. She said the package is an anti-theft device that should have been removed by the retailer at time of purchase. If I had been able to open it, I would be covered with permanent ink. Turbotax, you can be very, very glad I did not get the package open and that all I have are two sore thumbs. This is unacceptable and truly unbelievable. Reply
Hi Bonnie, Sorry you had difficulty and that the retailer did not remove the anti-theft device. Hopefully you were able to contact them about their error. I am glad that you were able to get the package open. Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply
Thanks for responding, Lisa. What I don’t understand is why the anti-theft packaging isn’t labeled in bright bold lettering as such, with a warning for the retailer to remove, and a warning of consequences if buyer tries to remove. Thanks.
It is quite unbelievable that people make mistakes. You’re right. They should be perfect next time. Shame on you all. SMFH Reply
Just purchased Turbotax. Can’t figure out how to open the packaging without hurting myself. Guess I’ll just take a hammer to it. If you’re going to make it so difficult, at least give us instructions. Reply
I have used Turbo Tax many times in the past and have always been relatively pleased with my experience. HOWEVER, this year was a different story! How is it that this software has become more expensive AND more frustrating?! The program repeatedly quit on me and the hyperlinks (for more info on the web) never worked. Ironically, even the ‘share your experience’ hyperlink failed me and I had to hunt around on the Turbo Tax site to find a place to enter a comment. I like the Flag feature but every time I tried to return to a flagged page, the program quit on me! I was also irritated that it was nearly impossible to locate the price of an additional state product (I moved and had to file in two states this year) until I was at the final stage of downloading it. $45 for one state that doesn’t even include e-file?! Are you kidding? Very disappointed this year… Just took a glance at other comments and feel somewhat validated that I am not the only one who had this experience. TurboTax: please return to what you used to be or I will go elsewhere!! Reply
Hi, Karen again. I forgot to mention that when we installed TurboTax on the computer with Windows 7 and tried to print the forms, it totally screwed up the printer to the point that we can’t print anything on it. TT somehow affected the drivers & print que. The computer thinks there is a phantom document waiting to be printed & won’t allow anything to be printed although we’ve cancelled all of the print requests. Will TT pay for computer repairs? Reply
I usually do my own taxes but since retirement, my husband & I tried a professional firm last year to make sure we were figuring the taxable portions of our annuities correctly. Our experience was horrible. We ended up with a total refund of their fee due to all of the mistakes. This year we decided to try TurboTax. I had my doubts, but when TurboTax came up with the right numbers for the taxable portions of our annuities (I had already figured these amounts before we purchased TurboTax), I thought perhaps my fears were for naught…..until TurboTax gave us a $1 deduction for “Other” which I have no idea from whence it derived this number. There are no worksheets to support this $1. Then when I entered the non-cash charitable contributions, TurboTax was off by $6 (I have checked & rechecked all of the entries 6 times. All of the entries match the entries on the spreadsheet & stubby pencil addition, as well as calculators.) Again, no explanation from TurboTax as to why it can’t add properly. All I can say is that I hope the rest of the numbers were correct. Would I use this product again? Doubtful. It was very cumbersome & extremely time consuming. I can complete my taxes faster just using the forms & instructions from the IRS. Reply
Have a home office, back of TT CD says “EXPANDED SCHEDULE C TO MAXIMIZE HOME OFFICE” for the Home and Business version ONLY, went to use it and the program DEMANDED my tax ID (do not have a TID because do not own the business, simply work from home), after 1 hour of waiting then having ‘overseas’ IM conversation was re-directed to wait again for ‘local’ support, gave me a “free” DELUXE version, which caused a loss of $40 on the Home and Business CD I bought from Costco. Got through it, no dependents, did not claim dependents, but the program ‘stuck’ on insisting I fill out dependent info, I finally appeased it and wrote ‘not applicable’ in the name area. Then actually submit and file to also learn it just cost me another 40 or so bucks at the end. And I thought I was saving money from my $185 accoutant fee last year! Not really…huh? Reply
I am so happy with Turbo Tax and here’s why. In March I had someone file my taxes for me with Turbo Tax since I was fairly new to the computer.Long story short,no refund. I waited until around 2 weeks ago and decided to try it for myself.I filed and within 24 hrs I began to receive E mail updates on my recent filing.The whole time I was vaguely skeptical especially when I saw how much my refund would be! It was way more than I figured!! Anyhow I was alerted my check would be sent on7-16-10 and lo and behold I received my check on 7-19-10 and my larger than life refund gave me cause to rejoice!!To all of you who had a less than happy experience with Turbo Tax,sorry,but no amount of negative comments would steer me away.Turbo Tax was easy and I got the added benefits of deductions I was entitled to but didn’t know about.So, in closing,I am one happy camper thanks to Turbo Tax and now I have to run along and enjoy my refund!! See ya next year Turbo Tax team!!!! ALOHA & MAHALO!!!! Reply
I was very frustrated with this year’s version of turbo tax and the fact that on my system I wasn never able to get the in-software help to work. When I clicked on any of the links that were in the software that popped up the small help window with the explanation (tool tips) it was blank. When I accessed the in-software help with F1 and typed anything into the browser (phrases straight from turbo tax) I got no search results and no Doing turbo tax without any in software help is just awful and honestly I don’t feel like I should have to access the website or your “community” to answer what the build in software help should already have. I’ll be writing for a refund for this year’s version. Reply
WORST version so far. Turbo tax used to be easy to install and use. Last year I was disappointed, but this year you can’t even install it on Windows XP without problems. I spent an hour trying to resolve from the website, and then when I called they said troubleshooting could take 2 hours or more and only had a 50% success rate. Since I did not purchase the product from their website they also would not accept a return/refund. Who sells a product like that. NO MORE TURBOTAX!!!!!!!!!!! Reply
For the second year in a row, the Community tab cannot be accessed from the TT program….also for the first time…TT asking me to fill in areas on Form 1116 that it has filled in before. Have used TT for many years but this year almost made me switch to another….not well checked before released. Reply
Phil, thanks for the feedback. have shared this with our marketing team to share with packaging vendor. Reply
I have tried since December to get answers on entering Tax Free Bonds for Federal and part of it is only partical tax free for the state of Virginia. So far I have seen several other people ask the same question and no where I find the answer. The federal part is okay, but it does not make any different what options that you enter in for the state, when you go to the state it is wrong. I have used TurboTax and TaxCut for years and the reason for using both of them which the IRS just found out, that you don’t get the same answer when entering the same data. So I take which one gives me the best results. All we need is example of how to put in the state: For example do I have to take the percentage that the broker gives which is tax free and put the rest in and where ?????? which option etc….. Reply
I have bought 2009 turbo tax program it will not load I took it back to walmart and they gave me another one same problem it says cantact turbo tax I have tryed for two days on line chat with no help or chat does any one have a web address to get thru to some-one that can help me thanks Reply
After Reading your article I could no lngeor hold back my disgusting grin in knowing that this article is full of tyrannical rules imposed upon everybody. I don’t care what class of people they are.For example : ..It is time to take back our health care. ?? What health care have we really had? We never had no law stating that health care was a right in the constitution. It is an opportunity. Our constitution gives us the ability to prosper and on and on. The Constitution does not give govt the right to impose their form of tyranny against companies who do not want to provide health care for free to those who can not pay for their services. That is one example on who is losing their freedoms first so we the polotarant are next.Next in the article states this Eliminating federal regulations that discourage small businesses from providing coverage. So we have regulations in place to discourage small business’? why?I thought we had liberty.Reform licensure requirements so that pharmacists and nurses can perform some basic functions to increase access to care and lower costs.So we are not free. We just think we are.HR 3075 provides truly comprehensive health care reform by allowing families to claim a tax credit for the rising cost of health insurance premiums.So govt has to make laws that allow people to do things that they do not want to do. If the rich lose their rights where does that leave the poor? Reply
Hi Leila, Sorry the support experience was so frustrating. We’ve got a lot of FAQs and the TurboTax Live Community available which is almost always the easiest way to get answers. At least worth a quick browse to see if an anwer to your Q is already there. Glad you were able to get it resolved tho. thanks Reply
I can’t believe how easy it was for me to do my own taxes.I’m not a pro on the computer and with the help of Turbo Tax, I was able to do it without any problems. I received my money on the day they said I would get it,and they did not charge me an arm and a leg!I totally recommend using Turbo Tax.Thanks a million! Reply
I’ve used TurboTax for the last 3 years. I don’t have to pay for the FREE service because I’m low income. The only glitch I find with TurboTax is that it takes FOREVER to get a question answered on the “instant” help online. I sat for 30 minutes & just kept getting the same answer that “the next agent would be with me momentarily”. Sure! LOL And my question wasn’t even a tax question. It was with the TurboTax program. Ah well. I finally got my problem fixed 1 hour & 10 minutes later by talking it out with a friend & a bunch of phone calls later. Reply
This is Phil again, Pursuant to my comment above of 2/3, please see my short post on my blog about the horrific experience I had opening your box software, then pass it to TT’s appropriate functionaries in Marketing. This problem simply must be reviewed. Copy and paste link, I promise it won’t take more than a minute to read: http://catspaws.squarespace.com/bad-business/2010/2/3/turbotaxs-turbopackaging.html Reply
This year I will try TurboTax for the first time. I was astounded, though, by how difficult the CD is to remove from the case. I’ve opened thousands of music CDs and TurboTax’s packaging is as brutally difficult as any I’ve encountered in my fifty years. Turbotax, you’d be better advised to simply equip your packaging with anti-theft sensors, rather than make your customers have to hyperventilate to get the damn CD out! I just broke one CD so my tax preparation ‘fee’ went up by $55 dollars. Let’s get some better design going, shall we? Or better yet, provide some instructions. Your customers who suffer from hand injuries or arthritis don’t have a chance with you. Reply
The TurboTax state filing program charges $19.95 for E-file, stating that this will be refunded by a rebate. However, one cannot find a rebate form for this rebate and calling customer service one is told that there is no E-file rebate for state E-file. I call this dishonest to say the least. Reply