TurboTax vs TaxAct: Is the Premium Worth It?

The Experiment

Last February I did something slightly unhinged: I filed the same tax return through both TurboTax Self-Employed and TaxAct Self-Employed. Same 1099-NEC from my freelance work. Same 1099-K from DoorDash. Same mileage logs, same home office, same health insurance premiums. I entered identical numbers into both platforms and let each one run through its deduction-finding process.

The refund came out the same. Down to the dollar. TurboTax didn't find some secret deduction that TaxAct missed, and TaxAct didn't shortchange me on anything. The IRS doesn't care which software prepared your return — they care whether the numbers are right, and both platforms got the numbers right.

What wasn't the same was the experience of getting there. TurboTax cost me $129 plus $59 per state filing. TaxAct cost me $69.99 plus $54.99 per state. That's a $63 difference for the federal return alone. And the question I've been thinking about ever since is this: was I paying TurboTax for a better result, or was I paying for a more comfortable ride to the same destination?

The answer is more complicated than I expected.

What Each One Costs

Tax software pricing changes every year and fluctuates during filing season, so treat these as the numbers I saw when I compared in February 2026. Both companies regularly offer promotional pricing early in the season that creeps up as the April deadline approaches.

The gap has actually narrowed from what it was a few years ago. TaxAct used to be dramatically cheaper — like $40 for self-employed filing — but they've been raising prices. TurboTax, meanwhile, hasn't raised theirs as aggressively. The delta used to be $80+. Now it's $63 on the federal side. Still meaningful, but not the canyon it once was.

There's a third option here that I should mention: both companies offer free versions for simple returns. But if you have 1099 income, you're not eligible for the free tier on either platform. You need the self-employed tier, period. The free tiers are for W-2 income with standard deductions — a different universe from where side hustlers live.

Where TurboTax Earns Its Price

The moment I understood what TurboTax's extra $63 actually buys, I was entering my home office deduction. TaxAct asked me for the square footage of my office and the total square footage of my home, then calculated the deduction. Straightforward, efficient, done in 90 seconds.

TurboTax asked me the same questions but then followed up: "Did you make any improvements to your home office this year?" Yes, I replaced the desk and bought a monitor. "Were these items used exclusively for business?" It walked me through depreciating the desk versus expensing it under the de minimis safe harbor election. Then it asked if I'd considered the simplified method versus the regular method and showed me both calculations side by side — simplified gave me $1,500, regular gave me $2,340. I took the regular method. TaxAct would have given me the same deduction if I'd known to enter those items, but it didn't prompt me.

That's the fundamental difference. TurboTax anticipates what you might not know. It asks follow-up questions that a tax-savvy person would already know to address but that a first-time filer might miss. The software functions like a patient, slightly repetitive CPA who asks every possible question even when the answer is probably "no." TaxAct, by comparison, gives you the forms and trusts you to fill them out correctly.

For my DoorDash mileage deduction, TurboTax asked if I'd tracked actual expenses or used the standard mileage rate, explained the difference, and then — this was genuinely helpful — told me that I couldn't switch methods on a vehicle that I'd already depreciated using actual expenses in a prior year. That's a real rule that real people mess up. I knew about it already, but a first-year filer probably wouldn't.

The guidance engine is what you're paying for. Not better math. Not access to different tax forms. Not a different outcome. You're paying for software that assumes you might not know the rules and walks you through them in language that doesn't require an accounting degree.

Where TaxAct Holds Its Own

TaxAct's interface is not as polished as TurboTax's. The design feels about three years behind — functional but not elegant, with some screens that feel cluttered and transitions that aren't as smooth. I'm not going to pretend this doesn't matter, because user experience affects how carefully you fill out forms, and confusion leads to mistakes.

The thing is: if you know what you're doing, TaxAct is faster. Significantly faster. I completed my entire return in TaxAct in about 47 minutes. The same return in TurboTax took me an hour and 22 minutes — and that included skipping through guidance screens I didn't need because I already understood the concepts. TurboTax's thoroughness becomes friction when you're not learning from it.

TaxAct also imports 1099s and W-2s cleanly. The import function worked for all three of my income documents on the first try. TurboTax's import worked for two out of three — my DoorDash 1099-K imported fine, but my freelance client's 1099-NEC failed the import and I had to enter it manually. Minor annoyance, and your experience will vary depending on your specific income sources, but TaxAct's import was smoother for my particular situation.

The accuracy guarantee is functionally identical between the two. Both promise to cover penalties and interest if their software makes a calculation error. Both reimburse the difference if you get a larger refund with the other product. In practice, these guarantees almost never get triggered because the math is the math — software doesn't miscalculate taxes. The guarantees exist for marketing, not because errors are a realistic concern.

TaxAct's self-employed plan also includes phone support, which it didn't a few years ago. The support agent I talked to was a bit slow but ultimately helpful when I asked about the QBI deduction threshold for my income level. It wasn't the "talk to a CPA" experience that TurboTax offers, but it wasn't nothing.

The Deduction Question

This is the part everyone wants to know: does TurboTax find more deductions?

In my experiment, no. But that's because I already know my deductions. I've been filing with 1099 income since 2020, and after the first year — the year I missed quarterly estimated payments and got hit with that $1,800 penalty — I did a lot of homework. I know about the home office deduction, the standard mileage rate, health insurance premiums for self-employed filers, the QBI deduction, phone and internet percentages, and professional development expenses. I went into both platforms knowing exactly what I planned to deduct.

A first-year filer would have a different experience. TurboTax's deduction finder asks you about categories you might not have considered — "Did you pay for any professional licenses or certifications?" "Did you purchase any tools or equipment for your work?" "Do you have a dedicated space in your home for work?" — and each question branches into follow-ups. The software casts a wide net. TaxAct asks some of these questions too, but fewer of them, and with less follow-up depth.

I ran a thought experiment: what if I'd filed my first-year 1099 return (the disaster year, 2020) through both platforms, knowing only what I knew at the time? I think TurboTax would have caught 2-3 deductions I missed. Not because TaxAct is incapable of handling them — the forms are there — but because I wouldn't have known to look for them, and TurboTax would have prompted me.

That $1,800 penalty I paid? Part of it was because I didn't make quarterly payments, which neither software would have prevented. But part of my unexpectedly large tax bill was because I missed deductions — mileage I didn't track, a portion of my phone bill I didn't claim, the self-employed health insurance deduction I didn't know existed. TurboTax's guidance engine is built for exactly that scenario. I'd estimate it would have saved me $400-800 in that first year, which more than covers the price difference.

After year one? The value drops off a cliff. Once you know your deductions, you don't need software to remind you about them. You need software to calculate them correctly, and both platforms do that identically.

Filing Experience, Side by Side

TurboTax's onboarding feels like being welcomed into a doctor's office. It asks about your life situation — married? Kids? Own a home? — before it gets to the tax stuff. This is partly to determine which forms you need and partly to set the emotional tone: we're going to take care of you. The design is clean, the language is conversational ("Let's make sure you get every dollar you deserve"), and each section starts with a brief explanation of what you're about to do.

TaxAct's onboarding is more utilitarian. It gets to the numbers faster, which I actually prefer now that I know what I'm doing. The interface uses more technical language — "Schedule C" instead of "Your Side Business Income" — and assumes you have at least a basic familiarity with tax concepts. It's not unfriendly, just less hand-holdy. Think of it as the difference between a full-service restaurant and a well-organized cafeteria. The food's the same quality; the service model is different.

One thing TaxAct does better than TurboTax: showing you the actual forms as you fill them out. There's a "forms view" option that lets you see the Schedule C or Schedule SE you're building in real time. For someone who wants to understand what's actually being filed — and I think every side hustler should understand their own tax return — this is valuable. TurboTax hides the forms behind the interview interface and only shows you the completed forms at the end during review.

TurboTax's review process is more thorough. Before you file, it runs what it calls "the final review" — a check that looks for common errors, missing information, and potential audit flags. My review flagged that my mileage deduction was above average for my income level (it was legitimate, but the flag was helpful to know about). TaxAct has a review step too, but it caught fewer potential issues in my test.

Audit Support and CPA Access

TurboTax's Live Assisted tier — which is what "Self-Employed" includes by default in 2026 — gives you access to a CPA or enrolled agent for questions while you're filing. You can screen-share your return and get real-time advice. I've used this once, when I had a question about whether a specific expense qualified as a business deduction or a personal expense (it was a gray area involving a phone upgrade). The CPA I spoke with was helpful, gave me a clear answer, and the conversation took about 11 minutes. This is a real service with real value.

TaxAct's equivalent is Xpert Assist, an add-on that costs $54.99 on top of the self-employed plan. It provides access to a tax professional for questions. I haven't tested it directly, but the reviews are mixed — some users report helpful interactions, others say the advice was generic. It's not the same caliber as TurboTax's CPA access, which benefits from Intuit's scale and the fact that they've been recruiting tax professionals for their platform for over a decade.

For audit support specifically, both offer paid add-ons. TurboTax's MAX plan ($49) provides full audit representation — an enrolled agent will handle all IRS correspondence on your behalf. TaxAct's Protection Plus ($39.99) provides similar coverage. Neither is necessary for most filers, but if getting audited is something that keeps you up at night, the insurance is relatively cheap from either provider. The IRS audits about 0.4% of returns, and the rate for Schedule C filers is slightly higher, but "slightly higher than very rare" is still very rare.

Who Should Use Which

I've been using TurboTax Self-Employed since 2021, and I'm switching to TaxAct for my 2026 filing. That decision would have been wrong three years ago and it's right now, and the reason is simple: I learned what TurboTax had to teach me.

If this is your first year filing with 1099 income — your first Schedule C, your first encounter with self-employment tax, your first time trying to figure out what's deductible and what isn't — TurboTax Self-Employed is worth the premium. The guidance engine will catch deductions you'd miss, explain concepts you haven't encountered yet, and give you access to a CPA when you get stuck. That $63 price difference could easily save you $500+ in missed deductions during year one. It's not even close.

After that first year, once you understand your tax situation — once you know your deductions, you've set up mileage tracking, you're making quarterly estimated payments, and you generally know what to expect at filing time — TaxAct does the exact same job for less money. The forms are the same. The math is the same. The outcome is the same. You're just not paying for guidance you no longer need.

There's a third path worth considering, and I want to be honest about it even though it doesn't generate any affiliate revenue for me: IRS Free File is available if your AGI is under $84,000, and several free-file providers handle Schedule C. The interface is usually worse than both TurboTax and TaxAct, and there's no guidance engine at all, but if you already know your taxes and you want to pay nothing, it exists.

The move I'd recommend for most side hustlers: TurboTax for year one. Pay attention to what it teaches you. Write down every deduction it finds and every concept it explains. Then switch to TaxAct for year two and bank the savings. TurboTax is the class. TaxAct is the final exam. Once you've passed, you don't need to keep paying tuition.

Bruce Samuels

Personal Finance Writer

Bruce has been filing self-employed tax returns since 2020, when an $1,800 underpayment penalty taught him to take side hustle taxes seriously. He writes from DeSoto, Texas, and still double-checks his quarterly estimates three times before hitting send.