I’m not the most financially literate person out there, I will admit. As such, the idea of doing my taxes, much like the rest of the population I’m sure, is utterly revolting. This year, I decided to file my taxes with TurboTax Free Edition, since, as their commercials allude to, it is “Free. Free, free free free.”

With my various tax forms collected and my mind mentally ready for the dull process that would be filing taxes for the next hour, I met my sister for hot chocolate and brownies and we sat down hoping that TurboTax would be nice and painless. I can safely say that for the most part, it was. When you begin the filing process with TurboTax, the website first asks if you’ve already filed with TurboTax in the past. If you have, the program will automatically pull up as much information about you from your account so it can make filing your taxes again faster and easier, as was the case with my sister. I had never used TurboTax before this tax season, and so TurboTax came loaded with a number of questions to find what forms I would need to fill out and what information I would need to get the most out of my return. Again, this was all relatively simple, and the easy-to-read interface TurboTax uses made finding which forms I would need in a matter of clicking a few buttons rather than sleuthing out what forms meant what or if I qualified for tax breaks I didn’t know about.

Adding to the simplicity of the process is the fact that TurboTax includes definitions and explanations of what different forms are used for and what different questions are actually asking; at one point, TurboTax asked if I had any college expenses that could count for tax breaks, and at the click of a button, I could read a few examples of what counted, including a number of books that I had bought. All of that meant filing was made as stress-free as possible. TurboTax also lets you choose how you’d like to pay your taxes or get your tax refund returned to you, and only minimal steps are required to find which option is best for you. 

Of course, a large part of TurboTax’s Free Edition is that it’s free, and while it certainly tries to shove expert help down your throat for a small fee at every waking moment, I’m convinced that you don’t need it, provided your taxes aren’t special in any way. I did, however, opt to spend fifty dollars on top of the free edition when TurboTax alerted me that I wouldn’t be getting the fullest from my tax return because of a scholarship or something or other. But all that seemed to do was cause a loading screen for a moment before the potential tax return number that TurboTax updates as you go to not change and, TurboTax to decide I was ready to file. Helpfully that money could come straight from my tax return instead of my wallet, but I definitely felt pretty shafted after that.

All in all, TurboTax’s Free Edition makes filing taxes quick and mostly effortless, and if you can stomach the constant attempts to take your money with the shallow promise of a larger return, then it’s a welcome asset for someone trying to muscle through tax season. I’ll almost certainly end up using it again next year, if not perhaps for its ease, then at least because it already has my information saved.