Free TurboTax Online Software for Simple Tax Returns

TurboTax Free Edition Online is online software that walks you through completing your taxes by interviewing you with easy questions to fill out income tax forms. TurboTax Free Edition shows the amount of your refund or taxes owed as you go through the tax interview and when you finish the interview your return is checked for errors. You can print and mail your return, but why not use e-file, which is free with TurboTax Free Edition, very secure and gets tax refunds deposited faster.

TurboTax Free Edition Online is not affiliated with the IRS Free File program, so if you have a simple tax return and use Form 1040EZ to file your taxes, you can use TurboTax Free Edition even if your Adjusted Gross Income surpasses the IRS Free File limit.

To get started, open Internet Explorer or Firefox and go to TurboTax Free Edition Online.

Click on Start Now.

• If you have a TurboTax account, you can log in with it.
• If you have not created an account to use TurboTax in the past, create an account now or wait until later to get started on preparing your income taxes right away.
• Once you create an account, when you return to TurboTax Free Edition you can just click on Sign Into My Account at the top of the page to log in.

Now, click on Guide Me at the bottom of TurboTax Free Edition to start the interview with step-by-step questions that you answer to fill out your tax forms.

Click on Specific Topics to see a list of tax topics, which shows parts of TurboTax you still need to go through. The tax topic lists also give you a way to enter tax data without using the interview.

Before tax topics appear, you will be asked if you want to use TurboTax Basic Online with features for finishing your income taxes quicker and more support options. Click on No Thanks to continue with TurboTax Free Edition or click on Upgrade, Pay When You File to get the features in TurboTax Basic.

Click on More Information links for short explanations of income tax terms. If you want more detailed explanations, upgrade to TurboTax Basic. But the information TurboTax Free Edition provides is sufficient for the simplest of returns.

TurboTax Free Edition is plain vanilla tax software, but does not skimp on support. TurboTax Online Support is well organized, and although the new Live Community is not listed as a feature, I found it through the Help menu. Data transfers, imports and downloads are not supported.

TurboTax Free Edition tax topics include advanced tax topics from higher TurboTax versions, revealing topics that do not pertain to simple returns. There are offers to upgrade to a paid TurboTax version, but these ads are an even trade off for free software.

TurboTax State Online imports federal data from TurboTax Free Edition, and you can prepare a state income tax return for $25.95.

Learn more about TurboTax: TurboTax Versions, Prices and Features