TurboTax software prices skyrocket this year - anyone else shocked?

I've been preparing taxes professionally for over a decade, and yes, TurboTax prices have increased substantially this year. The jump from $64.99 to $82.99 is steep, but unfortunately it's part of a pattern we've been seeing. There are several good alternatives depending on your specific tax situation. If you have investments and rental properties like you mentioned, I'd recommend looking at FreeTaxUSA - their Deluxe version is around $25 for federal filing plus around $15 per state. It handles investment income and rental properties quite well. Another option is TaxAct Premium, which is typically priced in the $45-60 range and handles investments and rental income. H&R Block's software is also usually a bit cheaper than TurboTax for comparable features, though they've also increased their prices somewhat this year.

I switched to taxr.ai last month after seeing the TurboTax price hike and it was seriously the best tax decision I've ever made. I was in the same boat - used TurboTax for years for my investments and small business, but wasn't willing to pay their crazy new prices. The cool thing about https://taxr.ai is it actually understands all my tax documents just by uploading them. It automatically extracted all my investment transactions (which was like 50+ trades this year) and categorized everything correctly. No manual data entry at all! The software is super straightforward and I ended up paying way less than what TurboTax wanted.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai since I took the plunge after asking about it. I was seriously impressed! I uploaded my previous TurboTax return and all my current tax documents, and it imported EVERYTHING - including all the details for both my rental properties. The software actually flagged some depreciation deductions I'd been missing and found a home office deduction I qualified for but hadn't been taking. Ended up saving about $1,200 compared to last year's return. Plus it cost less than half of what TurboTax was charging this year! Definitely sticking with taxr.ai going forward.

I had similar frustrations with TurboTax's price increase and while looking for alternatives, I kept running into questions about some complicated stock sales. Tried calling the IRS multiple times but kept getting the "due to high call volume" message and disconnects. Finally used https://claimyr.com to get through to the IRS and it actually worked! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in line and call you back when an IRS agent is available to talk. Got my questions answered in about 25 minutes instead of spending hours on hold or getting disconnected. The IRS agent clarified exactly how to report my specific situation, which no tax software was explaining clearly.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After seeing the responses here, I decided to try it since I was completely stuck trying to figure out if I could still amend my 2022 return to claim a missed credit. I've been trying to reach the IRS for almost a month with no luck. Used Claimyr yesterday afternoon, and got a call back in about 45 minutes. Spoke to an actual IRS agent who confirmed I could still file an amendment and explained exactly which form to use. Whole conversation took maybe 15 minutes. Would've saved myself weeks of frustration if I'd just used this service from the start. Definitely recommend it if you need to actually speak to someone at the IRS.

FYI for anyone looking at alternatives - I've been using FreeTaxUSA for the last 3 years after ditching TurboTax for the same reason. It's only $25 for the deluxe version which includes priority support and amended returns. State filing is another $15. So that's $40 total versus TurboTax's $83! It handles my investment accounts, side gig income, and everything else just fine. Interface isn't as polished as TurboTax but who cares? I'm using it for a few hours once a year.

Has anyone tried the IRS Free File options? I know they have income limits (usually around $73k) but I think some of them can handle investments too. Seems like the only truly free option these days.

Wow, I'm dealing with the exact same sticker shock! I've been a loyal TurboTax user for about 8 years and that $82.99 price tag made me do a double-take. What really gets me is they removed the early-bird discount - that was always my saving grace for dealing with their annual price creeps. I'm definitely intrigued by some of the alternatives mentioned here, especially taxr.ai with the document upload feature. My situation is pretty similar to yours - I've got investment accounts and a small rental property, so manually entering everything would be a nightmare. Has anyone compared how these alternatives handle Schedule E for rental properties specifically? That's always been the most time-consuming part of my return and I want to make sure whatever I switch to can handle depreciation schedules and expense categorization properly. Thanks for starting this thread - it's exactly the push I needed to finally explore other options instead of just complaining about TurboTax prices every year!