Can I trust TurboTax for complex tax situations with credits and deductions?

I'm a seasoned tax preparer, and I can tell you TurboTax is generally reliable software, but that $16k refund does raise some flags. The program is only as accurate as the information you input. With your new life changes (marriage, house, child), you qualify for several substantial tax benefits. The child tax credit alone is worth up to $2,000, plus potential childcare credits up to $2,100 depending on expenses. New homeowners can deduct mortgage interest and property taxes if you itemize. Marriage can also create a beneficial tax situation depending on your incomes. That said, $16k seems unusually high. I'd recommend reviewing your inputs carefully - especially your withholding information from your W-2s. The most common error I see is incorrectly entering withholding amounts or entering the same information twice. Double-check that you've entered everything correctly, particularly your income and the tax already withheld from your paychecks.

I started using TurboTax a few years ago when I was in a similar situation - newly married with a mortgage and childcare expenses. What really helped me was using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) alongside TurboTax. It's this amazing tool that double-checks your tax documents against what you've entered to catch any mistakes. Last year I was getting a weird refund amount that seemed too high, and taxr.ai spotted that I had accidentally entered my 401k contributions as both a retirement contribution AND as a deduction (essentially double-dipping). It also flagged that I missed some income from a 1099 I had forgotten about. The whole process of uploading my documents and getting confirmation took maybe 15 minutes. If you're worried about accuracy with multiple credits and life changes, it's definitely worth checking out, especially for peace of mind with larger refund amounts.

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it actually caught that I entered my state withholding amount wrong in TurboTax! I'd reversed two digits (typed $1,935 instead of $1,395) which was giving me an artificially high refund. It also flagged that I might qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit for some online courses I took, which I hadn't even considered. Super easy to use, I just uploaded my W-2s and 1099s, answered a few questions, and got a detailed report showing exactly what was off between my documents and my draft return. Definitely going to use this every year now as a double-check before filing.

If you're still struggling with this, you might want to try calling the IRS directly to verify your refund amount before filing. I know getting through to them is basically impossible these days, but I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that actually gets you connected to an IRS agent, usually within an hour instead of waiting days. I was in a similar situation last year - TurboTax showed a huge refund and I was convinced I'd made an error somewhere. Used Claimyr (there's a demo video here if you're curious: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c), got through to an IRS agent who confirmed I was eligible for several credits I didn't know about. The agent was super helpful explaining exactly which credits were generating my refund. This might give you peace of mind before submitting your return, especially with that large refund amount.

Well I'll be damned. I was the skeptical one above about Claimyr and decided to try it anyway out of desperation. Got connected to an IRS rep in about 40 minutes! I was literally shocked when my phone rang and an actual human IRS agent was on the line. I was able to verify my amended return status (which had been "processing" for 11 months with no updates). The agent found it was approved but stuck in some queue and manually pushed it through. My refund is being deposited next week! Would have NEVER gotten this resolved without actually speaking to someone. After months of frustration, that 40-minute wait felt like a miracle compared to my previous failed attempts.

I've used TurboTax for about 15 years now, including through marriage, home purchase, kids, etc. Here's my take: For most situations, TurboTax is actually pretty accurate and reliable. Their questionnaire-based approach catches most common deductions and credits. That said, there are a few things to watch for: 1) The software pushes their paid add-ons HARD (audit protection, MAX benefits, etc). Most people don't need these. 2) Always double-check your entries, especially withholding amounts from W-2s (Box 2 federal withholding is commonly mistyped). 3) If your refund seems suspiciously large, go through the "deductions & credits" section again to make sure you didn't claim something incorrectly. 4) For first-time homebuyers with mortgage interest and property taxes, a jump in refund amount IS normal if you now itemize instead of taking the standard deduction.

Has anyone compared TurboTax to other tax software? This is my first year with similar circumstances (marriage + mortgage) and I'm trying to decide between TurboTax, H&R Block, and FreeTaxUSA.