Free Tax Software Reviews: TurboTax Free Online 2011

Important Offer Details, Disclaimers/Footnotes (1-3)

TurboTax now offers 2 totally free ways for many Canadians to prepare their taxes: TurboTax Free Online Edition and TurboTax Student Online Edition. Find out if you qualify to use either solution here.

TURBOTAX FREE ONLINE EDITION - For Income-Only Tax Returns
You can use TurboTax Free Online Edition if:

You Earned Income: You receive T-slips, like T4s & T4As. You may have have tip income and/or pension income.
- You earned less than $60,000 in household income¹
- You are not self-employed.
- You do not have investment income or RRSPs.
- You have not made any charitable donations or investments.
You Have Simple Deductions: You receive only 'standard' federal & provincial deductions.

TURBOTAX STUDENT ONLINE EDITION - For Post-Secondary Student Tax Returns
You can use TurboTax Student Online Edition if:

You Were a Student in 2011: You paid tuition fees during the 2011 calendar year and you hold a T2202A, TL11 or its equivalent.
You Made Under $20K: Your household income does not exceed $20,000 gross (that is, before taxes).

If You Don't Qualify...
You can still start your tax return with either free online edition... If, when you're doing your taxes, TurboTax finds that you don't meet the "free" qualifications, you'll be given the choice to move into the right TurboTax solution for your needs (requires payment).

So don't worry! You won't lose any of your work. And you won't be asked to pay until you're ready to print/file your return.

1. Customers with household income equal or exceeding $60,000 will be prompted to upgrade to TurboTax Standard Online Edition.

We know that there are potential threats associated with making transactions over the Internet. But rest assured that, when using our products, we've built in the safeguards you need.

In fact, we offer the same level of security that banks do, which is why our software is one of the only tax software products trusted by major banks.

You can count on the most advanced technology to protect your personal and financial information.

Preparing your taxes online with TurboTax

One of the benefits of choosing to file online with TurboTax is that you can work on your taxes anytime from any computer with an Internet connection.

To ensure your information is absolutely secure, we:

Password-Protect Your Return: Only people with access to your password can open or make changes to your tax return.
Firewall-Protect Your Return: Your tax return is stored on high-security firewall servers.
Use 128-bit SSL Encryption Technology: Used by major Canadian banks, this technology ensures that your data is secure.

Privacy Policy

The short version: We're not going to share your info with anyone.

The longer version: Intuit Canada will not collect, use or disclose your personal information without your knowledge and consent, except where permitted or as required by law.

We encourage you to review our Privacy Policy in full, and contact us if you have any questions.

Mac OS X

Processor: PowerPC Process G3 or faster Intel-based processor

OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard):

Google Chrome 4.x or higher
Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher
Apple Safari 3.x or higher

OS X 10.5 (Leopard):

Google Chrome 4.x or higher
Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher
Apple Safari 3.x or higher

OS X 10.4 (Tiger):

Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher
Apple Safari 3.x or higher

OS X 10.3 (Panther):

Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher

Non-OS Requirements:

Printing: Adobe Reader 7.0 or higher (or compatible PDF reader)
Memory: 256 MB RAM
Internet Connection: High speed
Monitor: 1024x768 screen resolution

Microsoft Windows

Processor: Pentium or Pentium-equivalent processor or higher

Windows 7:

Google Chrome 4.x or higher
Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.x or higher

Windows Vista:

Google Chrome 4.x or higher
Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x or higher

Windows XP:

Google Chrome 4.x or higher
Mozilla Firefox 3.x or higher
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.x or higher

Note: 128-bit encryption is required.

Cookies and JavaScript must be enabled.

Non-OS Requirements:

Printing: Adobe Reader 7.0 or higher (or compatible PDF reader)
Memory: 256 MB RAM
Internet Connection: High speed
Monitor: 1024x768 screen resolution

1	Customers with household income equal or exceeding $60,000 will be prompted to upgrade to TurboTax Standard Online Edition.
2	For the Free Online Edition, email support is free. For the Student Online Edition, Standard Online Edition, Premier Online Edition and Home & Business Edition, technical support by phone, email and chat is free. Long-distance charges may apply. Limitations apply. Intuit reserves the right to limit each telephone contact. Support availability subject to occasional downtime for systems and server maintenance, company events, observed Canadian holidays and events beyond our control. See turbotax.ca/support for more details.
3	Income tax preparation software companies must seek NETFILE Certification from the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) for tax preparation software products that are to be used in conjunction with CRA’s NETFILE electronic tax filing service. NETFILE Certification of this product from the CRA may or may not have been obtained at this time. Please consult the CRA website at netfile.gc.ca beginning February 2011 to determine the status of this product’s application for certification.