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With the deadline to file your 2016 taxes just a couple weeks away on Tuesday, April 18, it’s officially crunch for anyone who has yet to file.
To help ease the pain of filing taxes, you may want to consider online tax-preparation software that will help you get your affairs organized. Two of the most popular choices are TurboTax or H&R Block.
A few of us on the Insider Picks team ran our taxes through both to see which one got us a better return. In our admittedly very small sample group, TurboTax was the clear winner, with five out of the six of us preferring it to H&R Block. At the end of the day, though, they’re both pretty similar and only as good as the person inputting the data, so you shouldn’t stress too much.
Here’s what we thought of TurboTax and H&RBlock:
Breton Fischetti, senior director, commerce
The winner: H&R Block
Not everyone is going to have the same tax experience, because it’s all very personal. But I have one job, one W-2, and a retirement account, so I’m an ideal customer for online tax software because I don’t have a lot of nuance to my taxes.
When I did my taxes in 2015 and 2016 I used both TurboTax and H&R Block up to the point where they asked for payment (when you file). They both charge around $ 70 to file (~$ 35 for federal, ~$ 35 for state). Having been a loyal TurboTax customer for a few years, I was interested to see how H&R Block compared.
For the last two years, running through the basic federal- and state-filing software has yielded me several hundred dollars more in my return. I’m going to keep checking both each year, but I’m very happy with H&R Block for my situation.
Ellen Hoffman, commerce editor
The winner: TurboTax
Nobody likes tax season, but it’s not as bad as everyone makes it out to be — at least in my experience using TurboTax the past few years. Filing takes up a couple of hours of my time once a year. H&R Block is a user-friendly service, no doubt, but it’s designed for simple tax returns. I typically use TurboTax because I have a slightly more complicated return since I have to file two state tax returns, one for the state where I reside and one for the state where I work.
When I tried running my taxes through H&R Block this year, the software ultimately prompted me to make an appointment with a consultant. For the overall ease of use and convenience of completing my taxes from the comfort of home, TurboTax continues to be my preferred tax-filing software.
Tyler Lauletta, commerce reporter
The winner: TurboTax
While both TurboTax and H&R Block succeed in their goal to take the stress out of handling your taxes on your own, I personally preferred the experience offered by TurboTax. I’m guessing this is due, in part, to the fact that I’ve used TurboTax the past few years, so I’m more comfortable interacting with it and was able to get through the process faster. When the final numbers came in, TurboTax also left me with a slightly higher return, but the difference was negligible.
Brandt Ranj, associate commerce editor
The winner: TurboTax
While neither program ended up working out for me, I did use the tax tools from both TurboTax and H&R Block. In both cases the process didn’t take very long; that said, if I had to recommend one, I’d go with TurboTax. Instead of having you upload your W-2, TurboTax asked for my employer ID, social security number, and total income. From there it was able to import the rest of my data, which was very convenient.
I also found the language TurboTax used to be a little easier to understand, which I appreciated as someone attempting to file on their own for the first time. The differences between these two options wasn’t gigantic, but they were big enough for me to prefer TurboTax overall.
Kelsey Mulvey, commerce reporter
The winner: TurboTax
The mere thought of taxes gives me a lot of anxiety. I’m always confused by “tax jargon” and terrified I’ll forget to add a vital piece of information. While both H&R Block and TurboTax yielded comparable returns for me, I’d recommend TurboTax out of the two. My 2016 taxes aren’t so cut and and dry: I switched companies and have a bunch of 1099s from my freelance work. Not only did TurboTax make it incredibly easy to add multiple forms to my profile, it filled the entire process with encouraging phrases — like “You can do this” — to make filing your taxes seem not as scary.
Mara Leighton, commerce intern
The winner: TurboTax
Just by default of seeing more commercials on it or hearing the name more than competitors, I’ve always used TurboTax for my tax refunds. Both H&R Block’s and TurboTax’s user interfaces are purposefully easy to navigate, and both allow me to snap a photo of my W-2 in the app and have my info logged that way, something I value an exaggerated amount since my taxes are usually pretty straightforward. Any of my biases on usability are likely due to my experience with TurboTax, but in terms of return I did earn about roughly ~$ 15 more in refunding when using TurboTax.
