# TurboTax Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/turbotax/ 12 people recommended TurboTax in Hacker News comments, 13 had mixed feelings and 57 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 10 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. These are opinions from Hacker News comments, not financial advice. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended, mainly for pushes pricier editions and charges fees for returns many think should be free; those who recommend it cite fast, simple filing with a polished interface, working browser and desktop versions, and tax law updates built in. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Pushes pricier editions and fees (5 comments in the sample): "I eventually decided to abandon them a couple years after they started forcing me to buy some ultra premium pro edition" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48218436)) "which turbo tax is not free for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45819102)) "Intuit's actual business model is convincing millions of people that their taxes are so complicated they need to spend $60 on a program" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48216886)) - Lobbies against free government filing (3 comments in the sample): "the company that lobbies to make filing your taxes hard and to destroy any free simple government app to file taxes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46567575)) "Think about how companies like TurboTax lobby the government to not build electronic tax filing stuff." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47332457)) "TurboTax lobbying against free self filing and government filing is politics and technology." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46635305)) - Buggy, slow desktop and web app (3 comments in the sample): "the desktop version is a buggy pile of trash. I wasn't able to use it at all even on a windows machine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48218380)) "Every single click is a spinner image for 1 second while the layout adjusts and fetches data." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48218992)) "it is pretty buggy and getting worse, they clearly want you to move off the desktop software" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48217268)) ## Why people recommend it - Good browser and desktop versions (3 comments in the sample): "TurboTax, for all its faults is one of those where the desktop app is better than the webapp they keep pushing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47661614)) "TurboTax has had a great browser-based version for over a decade now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568883)) "The best thing in my opinion is using the TurboTax Desktop software" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50282216)) - Fast, simple filing (2 comments in the sample): "I answered five questions, entered the date that I wanted IRS to take out the taxes we owed and we were done." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47237852)) "it saves me enormous amounts of time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48226331)) - Polished, slick interface (2 comments in the sample): "I was impressed at how slick the TurboTax website was" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48218374)) "it put my bank to shame in terms of UI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48219240)) - Accurate and current with tax law (2 comments in the sample): "Turbotax has the latest 2026 tax changes coded into the app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47354995)) "It gets things right I’ve had expensive CPAs get wrong." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45859152)) ## Other tax software people recommend - [FreeTaxUSA](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freetaxusa/): 20 recommend, 2 mixed, 5 criticize - [IRS Free File Fillable Forms](https://hackerapproved.com/p/irs-free-file-fillable-forms/): 11 recommend, 2 mixed, 5 criticize - [Cash App Taxes](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cash-app-taxes/): 5 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "TurboTax", https://hackerapproved.com/p/turbotax/ (12 recommend, 13 mixed, 57 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.