TurboTax Review

TurboTax has been available since Intuit purchased the rights to the product in 1993. Intuit purchased the rights from TurboTax's original creator Chipsoft, now known as the Intuit Consumer Tax Group. Intuit's product line also includes the ever popular Quicken and QuickBooks. Intuit is also the maker of Lacerte and ProSeries, which are premier tax preparation programs used by over 100,000 tax professionals. In recent years reputable sources such as USA Today and PC World have reviewed TurboTax and rated them the #1 tax software available today. The main feature highlighted in these reviews is TurboTax's easy to use step-by-step approach to filing taxes.

Visit TurboTax.com to see their current tax products.

TurboTax's Guarantee

TurboTax also has the same Accuracy Guarantee as H&R Block which meaens that they will pay any IRS penalties and interest you incur if their product is not accurate. They also offer a Maximum Refund Guarantee, which means that they guarantee you'll get the biggest refund using their software and will pay you the difference if you don't.

TurboTax's Pricing

The majority of TurboTax's products are priced just under the market standard. Their software, however, tends to be slightly more expensive than H&R Block's software products at every product level. However, their products also include free tax support at every level, which makes up for the cost of the products for people needing professional tax advice.

TurboTax's Importing Options

Using TurboTax, you can import data from Quicken, QuickBooks (currently you can import this only with TurboTax's Windows desktop/download software), H&R Block, TaxACT, or any other software that can export into a .TXF file type.

Customer Support

TurboTax offers tax topic videos, the ability to search the site for answersw, and a "TurboTax Live Community." If you have further questions, you can contact a professional tax advisor over the phone or live chat for free. Free professional tax advice goes above and beyond current support offerings by TurboTax's competitors.

Visit TurboTax.com to see their current tax products.

H&R Block Review

H&R Block At Home (formerly TaxCut) was introduced by H&R Block in 1993 and has quickly risen to become a leading product in the field. H&R Block is the world's largest tax services provider, that now offers services such as the H&R Bank, and recently became an Ameriprise Financial company, offering various investment resources. H&R Block At Home combines H&R Block's professional tax service with tools to help you file your taxes online. They offer professional tax advice as an add-on service to their online tax software. H&R Block's higher level products include access to professional tax advice at no additional charge, while their lower level products require you to pay an additional fee to access the support.

Visit H&R Block's website to see their current tax products.

H&R Block's Guarantee

Like TurboTax, H&R Block At Home has an Accuracy Guarantee stating that if the software is not accurate they will pay any IRS penalties you incur as a result. They also offer a Maximum Refund Guarantee, which means that they guarantee you'll get the biggest refund using their software and will pay you the difference if you don't.

H&R Block's Pricing

H&R Block's products are market standard. At every product level, their prices are slightly cheaper than those of TurboTax. However, unlike TurboTax, H&R Block does not offer free, unlimited tax support at every product level. You have to pay an additional charge for tax support for most products, which can end up costing you more than using a TurboTax product.

H&R Block's Importing Options

H&R Block At Home does not have the importing capabilities that TurboTax does. Yes, you can import from TurboTax, but there are extra, cumbersome steps required to import from other financial products like Quicken or Microsoft Money. 

Customer Support

H&R Block At Home has support topics available, as well as online chat. If you have a more advanced question you can call and speak with an H&R Block trained tax professional. However, this support comes with a cost. H&R Block charges $19.95 per question answered. It should also be noted that you can avoid this charge by upgrading to H&R Block Premium, which includes one free question, or H&R Block Best of Both, which gives you free, unlimed support.

Visit H&R Block's website to see their current tax products.

Tax-Compare.com's Conclusion

Both TurboTax & H&R Block have several strengths that make them stand out from the crowd. If you are looking for a lot of flexibility when importing data from outside resources and want the cost of professional advice included in your base price, then TurboTax will be a great option for you. If, however, you want a product which is typically one of the least expensive on the market, as well as the opportunity to speak to a live tax professional at an additonal cost, then H&R Block will more than likely suit your needs.