No, you most certainly don’t. In fact you really shouldn’t! Here’s why…
If TurboTax was only unnecessarily expensive we could live with it, unfortunately it is also pure evil.
As mentioned in the following link, Intuit (the company behind TurboTax) actively lobbies the U.S. government NOT to adopt a simpler tax process: https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11320386/turbotax-boycott-lobbying-tax-filing-season-tax-day-april-15
Turbo Evil.
Thankfully, whether it is personal or small business taxes you want to file, you have options.
You can do your taxes yourself with “Free File Fillable Forms”
https://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-ditch-turbotax-1832155535
After some digging I found that you can also do your personal Federal taxes COMPLETELY free with FreeTaxUSA.com.
It was truly easy to use (I feel just as easy or more easy than turbotax).
For personal taxes, the Vox.com article also recommends:
Credit Karma Tax, now in available for the third tax season, is free no matter what your income is for both federal and state returns. FreeTaxUSA offers free federal filings and
For Business taxes there are a lot more forms and you file different things throughout the year (941 forms, 1099 forms, 1120s) depending on your company’s setup.
Thankfully there are options here too.
It’s possible to do it all yourself with a bit of free advice from the SBA (Small Business Administration; a free government provided business mentoring service). With their help I did that in the past.
For my own business and helping my friend with his business taxes, I have started using tax1099.com‘s extensive list of business tax forms that can be filled out and filed online through their service. Currently you can choose the pay as you go option and pay $4.99 for each form you file.
I hope this info has helped you, or better yet saved you money.
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