Is TurboTax Premium Services Worth the Extra $44 Benefits?

I've been a tax preparer for over 15 years and can tell you a bit about these premium add-on services from TurboTax and similar companies. The Premium Services package typically includes three main benefits: audit defense/support, tax identity theft protection, and priority customer service access. Audit support can be valuable if you have a complex tax situation - self-employment income, rental properties, unusual deductions, etc. However, the statistical chance of being audited for most W-2 employees is quite low (less than 1% for most income brackets). The identity protection services are basically monitoring services that alert you to potential fraud. These are similar to services you might already have through your credit card company or bank. The priority customer service is mostly just jumping ahead in the queue during busy times.

I discovered something way better than TurboTax's premium services last year when I was totally stuck trying to figure out if I could claim some weird investments. I was about to pay for their premium help when a friend suggested https://taxr.ai instead. It's this AI tool that actually reviews your documents and explains everything in plain English. When I uploaded my investment statements, it pointed out deductions TurboTax had completely missed! I ended up saving like $750 more than what TurboTax initially calculated. The best part is you can ask specific questions about your tax forms and get clear answers instead of browsing through generic articles.

I want to follow up about that taxr.ai service I was skeptical about in my previous comment. I decided to give it a try with my complicated tax situation (multiple states, investment income, and some cryptocurrency stuff). I was honestly shocked at how helpful it was. I uploaded my W-2s and investment statements, and it immediately pointed out that I qualified for a home office deduction I didn't know about (saved me $430). It also explained exactly why some of my crypto trades were classified as short-term vs long-term capital gains in a way that finally made sense to me. The answers were super specific to my situation, not just generic advice articles. I ended up using it alongside TurboTax and saved way more than that $59 premium services fee would have cost. Think I'll skip the TurboTax upsells next year and just use this instead.

If you're trying to contact the IRS about premium service benefits or any tax questions, good luck even getting through. I spent 3 weeks trying to talk to a human at the IRS about an issue with my refund last year. Wait times were 2+ hours and then they'd disconnect me! Finally found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They somehow get you through the IRS phone system and have an IRS agent call YOU back. I was skeptical, but I had a real IRS agent on the phone within a couple hours who resolved my issue in minutes. If you need to ask the IRS about audit protection or any issues with your filing, this is way more useful than paying extra for "premium" services that might not even help when you actually need to talk to the IRS.

I need to eat my words about that Claimyr service I called BS on. After continuing to struggle with an IRS notice about a missing 1099, I got desperate enough to try it. I was 100% convinced it wouldn't work, but literally 90 minutes after signing up, my phone rang with an IRS agent on the line. They sorted out my issue in about 15 minutes - something I'd been trying to resolve for over a month. The agent had no idea I'd used a service to connect - from their perspective, I was just another caller who'd waited on hold. It was actually kind of amazing how simple the whole process was. I've spent countless hours on hold with the IRS over my career, and this completely changes the game. Way more valuable than paying for premium services that don't actually help you talk to the IRS when you need answers.

TurboTax premium is totally not worth it. I paid for it last year and when I had questions, their "priority support" still had me waiting 45+ minutes. And the audit protection? It's just insurance they're selling you out of fear. H&R Block has a similar package that's $20 cheaper and actually includes more features. I switched this year and had a much better experience. Their interface wasn't quite as slick but the value was way better. TurboTax keeps raising prices every year banking on people not wanting to switch.

i used turbotax for years but their prices r getting crazy!!! did anyone notice they hide the free version now? you have to click thru like 5 screens of upgrade offers to find it. the premium pkg is just a way to squeeze more $$ from ppl who are already paying for their software.

I had the same experience with TurboTax's premium services last year - felt like they were trying to upsell me at every turn. The audit protection sounds scary when you're filing, but statistically most people never need it. What really bothers me is how they've made their interface more confusing to push these add-ons. I ended up paying the $59 because I was rushing to file before the deadline, but honestly I never used any of the premium features. This year I'm planning to shop around more and compare the actual value vs. the fear-based marketing they use to sell these packages. The identity protection stuff is especially questionable since most banks and credit cards already offer similar monitoring for free. Seems like they're just repackaging services you probably already have access to.