# Turbotax Turbosux!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbotax-turbosux/748088>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 6, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbotax-turbosux/748088 "2016-03-06T03:17:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbotax-turbosux/748088/21 "2016-03-09T15:30:11Z")

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I always did taxes on paper, until I began investing in MLPs and dealing with K-1s. I tried it the first year and managed to get through it alive, but the second year I got bogged down with carry overs from the prior year and gave it up. (It’s my impression that many professional accountants and tax preparers also struggle with K-1s.) TurboTax ever since.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbotax-turbosux/748088/22 "2016-03-09T15:34:41Z")

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I’ve never had problems with H&R Block’s software. It’s generally been much cheaper than TurboTax, and it’s been very user-friendly, with a minimum of upselling. I print and mail; that option is displayed prominently.

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**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbotax-turbosux/748088/23 "2016-03-09T19:16:08Z")

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> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> I’ve never had problems with H&R Block’s software. It’s generally been much cheaper than TurboTax, and it’s been very user-friendly, with a minimum of upselling. I print and mail; that option is displayed prominently.

+1 on H&R Block, though I e-file. But I nearly got tripped up this year: when I had everything entered, it said I owed almost $400 instead of the usual (small) refund. I checked the forms and found that I was being dinged for not having health insurance in 2015. Turns out the default response to “Did you have health insurance in 2015?” — a question I never saw — is “No;” once I corrected that it showed the correct result.

If I had gone through the interview instead of importing last year’s return and plugging in numbers where needed, I would have been asked the question and the application would have gotten it right in the first place. Still, I think a better approach might have been to provide no default answer and catch it at the pre-filing check.

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