I was at Costco the other night, and ended up picking up a copy of TurboTax Premiere. I’ve been a user of TurboTax every year since 1999, and have owned Intuit stock since last year. Intuit’s Turbotax franchise is a cash cow. Every year, users buy another copy. There’s minimal software development year to year. I’ve been using it for 8 years, and the cosmetic changes are minimal. The more important part is incorporating changes to the tax code, and even there we’re not talking rocket science.

In the past I’ve purchased the Deluxe version, but this year I decided to go with the Premiere edition for an extra $20 or so. The Premiere version includes more features geared towards Rental Property owners and Investors. While I don’t consider myself much of either, I am at least technically both. Shelling out the extra money for a few more features seemed like a worthwhile experiment. Intuit offer 4 different version of TurboTax:

  • Basic - If you’re doing pretty good with the 1040 EZ then I imagine the basic version is more than enough
  • Deluxe - If you itemize your deductions, then Deluxe is probably the way to go
  • Premiere - Some additional features for Investors (Better entry and tracking of cost basis) and Rental Property Owners (Depreciation)
  • Home & Business - This version is for people who have their own business.

Originally I was going to download TurboTax as that was more convenient, and my cursory search online for a deal returned no stellar deals. However at Costco, I was pleasantly surprised to find TurboTax selling at price point that was better than anything I found online, about $20 cheaper than the listed prices at Intuit. I purchased Premiere for $54. Deluxe was being sold for about $31 or about $15 cheaper than list price.

I’m still waiting on a number of tax documents mostly from my banks and brokerages, but I’m hoping to be done with my taxes by mid February.