Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

There is a lot of confusion about this. The main distinction to note is that there is a difference between *preparing* a tax return and *e-filing* a tax return. There is also a difference between *e-filing* a tax return and just *filing* a tax return using TurboTax : E-filing means the prepared tax return is submitted to the tax authority electronically. You can, if you wish, print the prepared tax return instead, put it in an envelope, and sent it to the tax authority by mail - this would be *filing* the tax return, as opposed to *e-filing*. For the TurboTax Deluxe Fed + Efile + State 2013 software, you are paying for software which will enable you to *prepare* up to 5 Federal tax returns and and *prepare* up to 5 State tax returns for ONE state only. When it comes to submitting the Federal tax returns, there is no e-filing fee - you can e-file up to 5 Federal tax returns electronically with this software, and there's no additional cost to do so. You can still print them out and mail them in if you wanted do, but I don't see why anyone would want to since e-filing the Federal tax returns is free, unless you have additional documentation the IRS require. When it comes to submitting the State tax returns, you have two options: (1) you can print out the prepared tax return, put it in an envelope, and mail it to your state tax authority, and the only cost would be the stamp to send it, OR (2) you can *e-file* the prepared tax return via TurboTax, and there would be an e-filing fee of $19.95 per tax return to do so. That's basically all there is to that. There has also been comments about a $29.95 refund processing fee. I'll explain what I believe this fee is about. When you have finished preparing your state tax return and elect to e-file it for the $19.95 fee mentioned above, you have an option to pay that $19.95 fee online by credit card right there and then, or have it deducted from your state tax refund. If you pay by credit card right there and then, there should not be any return processing fee. If you instead elect to pay that $19.95 fee by having it deducted from your tax return, guess what - you're going to get hit with a $29.95 refund processing fee. That is what that fee is all about, I believe. Clearly it is better to pay the $19.95 by credit card right there and then, if you are able to. Another point to note: if you need to file tax returns in more than one state, you will have to pay for additional software to *prepare* returns for those additional state(s) - I believe the cost is around $39.95 for each state, and that will allow up to 5 tax returns to be *prepared* (not e-filed) for each state purchased. You will still be subject to another $19.95 e-filing fee for each state return filed as well. For the 2013 tax year, I am aware New York State are not charging an e-filing fee if your Federal AGI is under $58,000. Whether TurboTax will still charge the fee regardless I am not sure. If this helped clarify the fee situation for you, please click YES next to the "Was this review helpful to you?" below, and maybe it will stay on top of the reviews list for others with the same questions. Any Intuit TurboTax staff reading this please comment if I've said anything incorrect here and I will amend it accordingly.