TurboTax Self-Employed Review

**This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of TurboTax. All opinions are my own.

For many self-employed individuals, working with an accountant is something that would be nice to do, but it can be expensive. It’s not that anyone doubts the value of using a professional, but when you’re freelancing or trying to manage your own business, every dollar counts.

Here’s the thing, getting access to a tax expert or accountant doesn’t have to be expensive if you use TurboTax Assist & Review Self-Employed. The software puts an expert in your corner so you can ask them questions or have them review your work. This is all done in real-time so you can feel confident when you hit submit.

Now, if you prefer to have someone file your taxes for you, you can use TurboTax Full Service Self-Employed. There’s also the regular version of TurboTax available. Regardless of which option you choose, you can file at home.

In my TurboTax Self-Employed review, I’ll go over how TurboTax makes filing easy and why it may be the best solution for freelancers and self-employed individuals. In addition, I’ll be sharing my TurboTax promo code which will get you 15% off their services.

TurboTax Self-Employed fees

• TurboTax Assist & Review Self-Employed – $84.99 per return (Regular price is $99.99)
• TurboTax Full Service Self-Employed – $179.99 per return (Regular price is $199.99)

To get access to your TurboTax promo code, just click one of the links above and the 15% discount will automatically be applied.

I think paying $84.99 for TurboTax Assist & Review Self-Employed or $179.99 TurboTax Full Service Self-Employed is well worth it. What you’re paying for is access to experts who will be able to give you advice on ways to reduce your taxes.

Yes, you could probably do the research on your own and find out all the same info, but think about how much time that would take. You could spend hours looking up info when you could just pay for the expert advice. Your time is likely better spent doing other things such as running your business.

If you’re not self-employed, you can still use my TurboTax promo code to get 15% off any of their other products. Best of all, you only pay the TurboTax fee when you’re ready to file.

TurboTax Self-Employed review

I never understood why how to file your tax refund was never taught in high school. This is ridiculous considering everyone needs to do their taxes every year. It’s no wonder why so many Canadians get stressed out when it’s tax season.

TurboTax is the only Canadian tax preparation software designed specifically for self-employed individuals so there’s no need for you to worry. From foreign income to all your expenses, you’ll be guided all the way.

If you’ve never done your taxes, let me tell you that using TurboTax is simple. All they’re really doing is asking you a series of questions that will help fill out your taxes. All of the questions are pretty straight forward (it’s like talking to a friend). But if you’re ever confused about something, you can usually click a link for additional details. For example, if you’re not sure what to deduct, you can get TurboTax to guide you.

While you’re preparing your taxes, you can have TurboTax import any tax documents available directly from the CRA. This is an incredible option as many freelancers still have a traditional job and will have T4 statements. It even pulls documents such as your RRSP contributions and trading summaries.

Most freelancers worry about potentially missing out on various tax credits and rebates that apply to them, but I don’t think that’s an issue with TurboTax as when you get to the self-employed income section, it clearly explains you can claim. Even if you’re not 100% sure of certain expenses, TurboTax will make sure you’re doing things right. For example, it was able to calculate what I could claim in vehicle and home office expenses based on what information I had available.

Throughout the return process, I noticed that TurboTax would provide tax tips or do things automatically such as applying for the Climate Action Incentive credit (available to residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario). I loved this as I felt like it was educating and informing me about my tax return.

In total, it took me about two hours to do the tax returns for me and my wife, but that’s because it was my first-time doing things solo and I was taking notes for this Turbotax review. Don’t worry, you don’t need to complete everything in one go. You can save your process at any time and pick things up later if need be. Your incomplete tax return only gets deleted at the very end of the tax year.

Live expert advice

As soon as you begin filing, you’ll be prompted with the option to connect with an expert right away. I laughed at this since it sort of implies that TurboTax knows you may need the help immediately

One of the most popular articles I’ve written is about freelance taxes for Canadians. There are hundreds of questions people have asked about what to do when it comes to their taxes. I’m happy to answer any questions, but why not ask an expert?

All you need to do is click the “Expert Help” button located at the top of your screen. That will pull out a panel where you can search for the answer to your question or you can choose to connect to someone live.

You’ll then be asked to type in your question and to provide a phone number. In about five minutes or less, a tax expert will call you. The reason they’ll call you back is so they can review your question and have the answer ready when they speak to you.

If by chance you need more help or have any additional questions, you can allow the expert to co-browse or do a 1-way video chat (you see them, they don’t see you). I personally didn’t need to co-browse or do video, but it was nice to have that option.

Once I finished my tax return, I scheduled a call with an expert to take one last look. They made a few suggestions that helped me get a slightly bigger tax return which more than covered the cost of the service.

For reference, the full-service experience is much easier. Once you’ve verified your information and identity, you’ll be in touch directly with an expert who will walk you through the next steps. You’ll then upload any additional forms and documents and schedule a review call before the final submission.

Final thoughts

Many people may be considering filing their taxes at home for the first time to save them time and money. Using TurboTax Self-Employed is a great solution because it provides access to real experts to ensure you’re filing correctly no matter where you are without spending a fortune. Try it now for free and get 15% off when you’re ready to file with my TurboTax promo code.

As an added bonus, you’ll get QuickBooks Self-Employed for free when you file your taxes. To qualify, you must pay for your 2019 TurboTax Online Self-Employed or TurboTax Live Assist & Review Self-Employed return by June 6th, 2020. You’ll also need to sign up for QuickBooks Self-Employed by the same date via the link provided in your TurboTax Online account.