I received the product below to review in exchange for sharing my honest opinion.

Did you know that there are 55 million self-employed Americans? From freelancers to independent contractors, self-employed individuals are working all around us. As an independent contractor myself, I sometimes feel alone but obviously I’m not!

Well for over 10 years now, I have been preparing our taxes using TurboTax as my family grew and as I became self-employed. From single to married to kids, houses and investments, TurboTax has had my family covered.

As a self-employed individual, I do it all but as a busy mom and wife, it is getting harder to find all the hours in the day that I need. It is said that “The average self-employed worker has more than 1,000 financial transactions per year, yet one-third do not claim any business-related expenses, according to Intuit.”

This year TurboTax has launched TurboTax Self-Employed with some great money and time-saving benefits:

• SmartLook™: Provides customers with priority access to a live, one-way video connection to a TurboTax expert and CPAs or Enrolled Agents who specialize in self-employment taxes and can offer personalized, real-time answers to their tax questions – at no additional cost. Customers can also schedule an appointment with an agent at a time and date that works best for them.

• ExpenseFinder™: Finds deductible business expenses that self-employed may not know they can claim, saving them money. It proactively uncovers business expenses by securely gathering and automatically scanning bank accounts and credit card transactions and recommending potential deductible business expenses. Customers then confirm which expenses apply to their business to help them get every deduction they deserve.

• QuickBooks: Included at no extra cost when customers file their return through TurboTax Self-Employed. You also get year-round tracking with:

• • Receipt Capture: With a snap of a picture, receipts are stored for easy access to proof of expenses.
  • Mileage Tracker: Tracks miles automatically and logs trips right from a mobile phone. Users log an average of $7,393 in potential mileage deductions per year, finding an average 45 percent more potential deductions by logging miles.
  • Expense Tracker: Tracks and categorizes expenses in real time throughout the year. Users find on average $4,340 in potential tax savings per year, cutting their tax bill by up to 36 percent. In total, QuickBooks Self-Employed has uncovered over $1.1 billion in potential deductions.

Why do I use TurboTax?

You really can’t make a mistake with TurboTax, unless of course its user error of forgetting to put something in or putting the wrong numbers in. TurboTax asks all the questions and even double checks with other questions. “Did you get married?”  “Do you own a house?” “Do you have investments?” and so forth.

While I am still compiling all our tax documents and waiting on documents to come in, I have already started inputting my information over at TurboTax to get a head start. I have a system of inputting documents and then marking that I already did them. While my blog did start out as a hobby, it has grown to become my full-time job and I know I don’t take advantage of all the deductions I should. I love that TurboTax makes it easy to find what I qualify for and make it so I don’t forget anything!

As you go, TurboTax asks questions and you can even watch your Refund go up or down. I like seeing how different numbers I input make a difference.

Not Self-Employed? TurboTax is still for you!

I have been using TurboTax since college and it has grown with me as my life events have occurred. I used to buy the physical copy of TurboTax but recently switched over to TurboTax online. Everything is stored securely and if I need to reference it later, all I have to do is log in!

You can have TurboTax guide you with questions or just work on everything you’d like by just clicking on the topic.  I like to have it guide me so I don’t miss anything. Oh and you can work on TurboTax on your smartphone, tablet or desktop!

Stay Connected with TurboTax:

TurboTax WEBSITE | TurboTax FACEBOOK | TurboTax TWITTER | TurboTax PINTEREST

BUY IT:  Check out TurboTax online or find it at your local mass retailer!

WIN IT: (1) US winner will receive TurboTax Premier Online 2016

Need help entering a giveaway?  Check out my blog post for some help!

GIVEAWAY ENTRY:

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This giveaway ends February 24, 2017.