by Larry Magid
This post first appeared in the Mercury News
For most of the past decade, I used a CPA for my tax returns. Last year, I returned to doing it myself on TurboTax. My tax return is relatively complicated, but TurboTax walked me through it and made it pretty easy. And this year was easier than last, because TurboTax already knows a lot about my financial situation.
Multiple versions
There are multiple versions of TurboTax depending on your tax situation. The first decision you need to make is whether to use the online or the desktop version. The online version is for one return only, and it’s free to start, but you need to pay before you view, print or electronically file your return. The price for the online version ranges from free (for a simple return with no schedules) to “$89+.” It’s difficult to know exactly how much you’ll pay, but it depends on factors such as whether you own rental property, run a business or have sold stock. As the company discloses, “Actual prices for paid versions are determined based on the version you use and the date and/or time you print or e-file, and are subject to change without notice.”
One nice thing about the online version is that you can use it on any internet device, including computers, phones, and tablets.
The desktop version allows you to file up to five federal returns and one state return. Like the online version, it allows you to file electronically, which is easier, especially if you’re a procrastinator who files just before the deadline. I remember driving 30 miles to the only post office open late on tax day.
The terms of service say it’s for “your own federal 2024 tax year returns and related 2024 state tax returns.” The activation code may not work for those who don’t log in with your TurboTax ID. You can buy the desktop version at TurboTax.com, but you might get it for less at Costco, Amazon or other retailers. When I bought the Home & Business version at Costco for $76 (it’s now $95), they sent me a download link for Windows and Mac versions. If you buy it at TurboTax.com, the basic version costs $40. There are also Deluxe, Premier, and Home and Business versions for $70, $105 and $120 respectively. These prices are subject to change and may be cheaper at other outlets.
Pulls in information automatically
One of the things I like about both versions is their ability to pull in information from banks, investment companies and some employers, which saves you the hassle and potential errors of typing in the information yourself. This is especially useful for dividends, capital gains and other investment income and losses that are often cumbersome to enter yourself. I also like that it shows you how much you owe or will get back in real time as you work. It’s either fun or disheartening to see the numbers change, depending on which direction they go in.
There are several other e-tax filing services, including H&R Block and TaxSlayer. Search “The Best Tax Software for 2025” for reviews from PC Mag and CNET. For information on free services, search for “IRS Free File,” and make sure you’re on the IRS.gov site.
Tracking finances
Regardless of how you prepare your taxes, you may need detailed information on your transactions. And even if you don’t need this at tax time, you might want to consider a personal finance management tool for day-to-day tracking, net worth reporting, budgeting, investment analysis and tracking and other financial tasks.
I used to use Mint to keep track of my expenses, but its owner, Intuit, closed that site and pointed people to Credit Karma, which doesn’t provide nearly as much information as did Mint. So, I’m now experimenting with two alternatives: Rocket Money and Monarch Money.
Both of these services allow you to link to financial institutions to import transactions automatically. The free version of Rocket Money does track your transactions, which may be all you need for taxes and basic personal bookkeeping. The paid version costs $6 to $12 a month. Paying gets you additional features such as financial planning, unlimited budgets, net-worth tracking, credit report monitoring and more.
I opted for a paid version so that I could export my transactions to an Excel spreadsheet, which I use at tax time. The only thing annoying about the export process is that it doesn’t download immediately but sends you an email with a download link. You can get a 7-day trial subscription.
Monarch Money has pretty much all the features of Rocket Money except cancellation assistance.
For better and worse, it’s otherwise more comprehensive than Rocket Money, with lots of budgeting and personal accounting features including cash flow and reports. This is the service to get if you want to get into the weeds on your finances, but from a user interface standpoint, I found Rocket Money to be a little easier to navigate. Still, once I spent time figuring out Monarch Money’s features, I came to appreciate all it can do, including producing detailed reports that can be downloaded into a CSV file for use by Excel, Google Sheets and other spreadsheet programs. Both Monarch Money and Rocket Money have e-mail tech support and both responded to my questions within one day. Monarch was particularly helpful and prompt. An email support person got back to me within a couple of hours with a response and responded almost immediately to a follow up question.
Monarch Money costs $8.33 a month if you pay by the year or $14.99 if you pay monthly, but there is currently a 50% discount code (newyear2025) for the first year. Like Rocket Money, there is a 7-day free trial.
Another option is Quicken Simplifi, which I found to be reasonably intuitive, though a bit cluttered. It makes it easy to import data from financial institutions and provides a lot of detail. It can also be used to track business finances and create invoices.
Whichever product you use, one bit of warning. If you’re like me, you might be shocked at how much you spend on things that you might not need such as restaurants. For some, that could be a good tool for helping them cut back on expenses and manage their money. For others, it could be a major guilt trip.
Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.