For the last two years, I have used TurboTax Business Corporations and Partnerships software, produced by Intuit, to complete my partnership tax return. I have found it to be the best quality software I have ever used.
I also tried Tax Cut Home and Business software. I found that Turbo Tax software was far and away better than Tax Cut, which is put out by H & R Block. For example, Tax Cut never permitted me to view my forms and review them. Instead, it conducted an interview, and kept me trapped within that interview. I made a serious error on the earned income credit section of my personal tax return, and missed out on two hundred dollars worth of tax refunds. Fortunately the IRS caught it and gave me my refund anyway. But it could easily have been otherwise.
TurboTax Business, on the other hand, allowed me to review my return on paper before continuing with the interview process. I could check for errors, both in the software and by saving the file into PDF format. I reviewed the PDF version of my return in Adobe Acrobat. This was very essential for me since in my business tax return, I cannot afford to make mistakes.
TurboTax allows the user to import information from QuickBooks if necessary, and also imports data from previous returns if you used TurboTax to complete your return in past years.
One feature I found very useful was that previous years of TurboTax business were available on Intuit’s site. This was extremely helpful, since my business is on a fiscal year, and by the time I’m ready to do my return, the next year’s software is on the shelves. This is easily found by searching on the previous year on their website.
The program is organized into convenient sections, each of which is represented by tabs at the top of the screen. If at any point you feel that you want to go to another part of the interview, you can do so easily by clicking these tabs. These include Start, Income, Deductions, Depreciation, Balance Sheet, Misc., Review, State, Print & File and Finish.
The software computes most things for you, but if you feel you need to override one of its calculations, you can do so easily. The software will even warn you if you have too many overrides, since this can put you at risk for an audit. TurboTax Business Corporations and Partnerships Software will also give you basic information on other audit risk factors, such as the type of business being run, operating in a certain industry, warnings about changes which need prior approval, etc.
Other features in TurboTax Business software include a very extensive help system. You can search the help files on your own computer; and if you can’t find the answer to your problems there, you can choose to be forwarded to the TurboTax website. The help files include IRS publications so that you don’t have to scour the web for them. They can be accessed offline. The program can also connect you to TurboTax Service and Support, and Live Tax Advice. The software includes error checking, and links to have your return reviewed by a professional. You may also get Audit Defense for around $39.99 on TurboTax’s website. This service permits you to receive full protection from professionals in the case that you are audited. You need not speak to the IRS. They will do all the talking.
