User friendly tax software

[Alec Anderson]

I'm attempting to do my taxes and they are a little more complicated this year, as I house hacked and rehabbed my first house, while living in it. I was thinking of using Turbo Tax or HR Block's software. I've also heard Credit Karma has a new free tax feature and was curious if anyone has tried that out, and if it would be user friendly for my situation. Can I get some good recommendations please? I'm pretty good at figuring things out, but I'm not a tax expert, so the ideal software would have to ask the right questions..

[Dave Toelkes]

@Alec Anderson,

The problem with doing your own taxes with a tax preparation package such as TurboTax is that you really need to have a good idea of what you are doing, what is allowed, etc.  The on board help is good but there are some situations where TurboTax depends upon you to find your own way through the maze with no assistance from the Help module (Form 1116, for example).

Why not get professional assistance for the first couple of years, and, at the same time do your own taxes with DIY tax preparation software.  Compare your DIY return to the professionally prepared return and learn what you don't know about doing your own taxes.  At some point in time, you may feel confident enough to rely on the DIY tax prep packages.