TurboTax is an American preparation and filing suite of products initially developed by Michael A. Chipman of Chipsoft in the mid-1980s. It became an Intuit product due to an acquisition in 1993 of its creator, San Diego-based Chipsoft. Now known as Intuit Consumer Tax Group, it is still based in San Diego, where it moving into a new office complex in 2007. Intuit Corporation is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

It is currently one of the most popular filing packages in the United States.

Overview
There are a number of different versions, and they are available for both federal and state income returns. This product is designed to guide users through their returns step-by-step.

Generally, federal editions are released late in the year around December, and the state editions are released in mid-January to mid-February. They normally release new versions as soon as the IRS completes revisions to the forms and approves the programs. The process is similar for those states that collect state income taxes.

In 2005 TurboTax extended its offering by allowing any taxpayer to use a basic version of its federal product for free as part of the Free File Alliance. By 2006 that offer has been limited to free federal online preparation and e-file for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is $28,500 or less (or $52,000 for those in the military) and those 50 or under.

With any version, you can either choose to e-file your taxes and submit them electronically once you have finished entering all of your information, or you can print and mail them. Federal e-filing is included in the price of your program, but you do need to pay an additional fee to e-file your state taxes. E-filing typically allows consumers to receive their refunds in about nine days.

As you use the software to enter financial information and answer questions, you’re also given the option to submit questions to the online community and to receive help if something doesn’t make sense and you need additional support. I’ve asked several questions in previous years, and within a few hours received extremely helpful answers from other users who got me moving in the right direction.

Desktop version – These are the desktop versions you download from their website and install on your computer. It is very easy to install but some users might not be comfortable installing software on their own. You also need to have a computer that is new enough and fast enough to handle the newest versions. The perceived benefit of the desktop version is that your financial information is not stored somewhere on the internet. Plus you can work on your return without the need of an internet connection.

It's a great choice so give it a try...