TurboTax Offers Free Tax Advice

I’m not often surprised by changes in the offerings from tax software providers, but the TurboTax announcement that they offer free tax advice from tax professionals got my attention. The usual focus is on prices and how many returns are included for the given price. Free tax advice is definitely an interesting new offering.

One restriction is that this service is not available to users of the Business Incorporated version. The focus seems to be on helping people with less complex tax situations. Another restriction is that they will answer question about 2011 personal returns and not previous years. The service is available now and will end on May 4.

I will definitely be interested in hearing reviews of this service. How are the wait times? How good is the advice? How much time are they able to spend with taxpayers who need help? If it works out well, this could definitely change the tax preparation experience.

Comments

  1. meowieFebruary 13, 2012 at 4:18 AM

    I signed up for the automatic purchase of TurboTax every year. Intuit calls it the TurboTax Advantage. As an added benefit, I have access to a Tax Professional during tax season. (I use TurboTax Premier but I don't think that's the reason I have this benefit.)

    Last year, I had a question about rental property expenses. I sent my question to the link or email address provided and I received a response either on the same day or the following day.

    I was very satisfied with the clarity and thoroughness of the response. My question was straight-forward so it did not require multiple email exchanges.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andy RFebruary 13, 2012 at 2:00 PM

    Is this advice about tax return preparation or tax planning for the future?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael JamesFebruary 13, 2012 at 2:55 PM

    @meowie: It seems that all users get access to a tax professional now making it unnecessary to sign up for automatic purchase every year or pay for the Premier version of the product if your primary concern is access to a tax prefoessional.

    @Andy R: The web site says that you can get advice on your 2011 taxes which leads me to believe that it is just for tax preparation and not planning for the future, but I'm not certain of this.

    ReplyDelete

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