TurboTax Version Differences

TurboTax (formerly QuickTax) have done it again. The Basic version of TurboTax is half the price of Standard and the major difference seems to be the instructional video that comes with Standard.

It is surprising that there are not many stores stocking the Basic Edition and most of the displays are for Standard and above. The box notes on TurboTax are misleading in that they imply that the Basic version is only for "simple" returns whereas if you have anything more than a T4 and no deductions then you need to buy the $40 Standard version. The truth is that the $20 Basic version contains all of the CRA forms, including RSP deductions, Flow throughs (T5013A), Foreign Tax handling and even Alternative Minimum Tax calculations.

It is a wise move on Intuit's part to rename their tax software TurboTax as now users in the USA will now find this post while in the past when the software was called QuickTax it was only Canadians that would have found this post when looking for advice on what version to purchase. I am sure that there are similarities in the US versions in that Basic covers all of the IRS forms and the only difference is the video and all of the other "Maximize your 401k"