It has become clear that filing your taxes electronically is the fastest method to get that refund check, the problem is that there are many tools dedicated to do the e-file. A lot of them can help you get the most deductions, while preventing that nothing gets overlooked, and some other tax preparation tools only make the process faster and simple. To make it easier for you to find the right tool, here are the top three tax preparation tools you should be using to save time and hassle while getting the maximum return possible, and they are fully compatible with Windows — note that the tools we are mentioning today also provide the ability to prepare your taxes online:

TurboTax

TurboTax from Intuit it is clearly one of the best personal tax preparation tool that you can find out there.  The service offer by this company guarantees that if you are using their online services or the desktop application, you are going to get the maximum refund possible. TurboTax is not difficult to use, but the complexity will depend on your returns. However, TurboTax was and still a pretty robust personal tax tool for people who are skeptical filing their taxes on their own but still feel don’t want to pay a professional. If it happens that you get stuck, you can always count with TurboTax support who can give you advice to resolve any issue that you may encounter, and the support can even give you a hand making sure you don’t have any errors or mistakes in your taxes. Just being able to pick up the phone and call support for help is the reason for many people to use TurboTax.

TaxACT

TaxACT is both a complete online service and a Windows desktop application solution for your tax preparation. It comes with all the features you would expect, it also has an easy to follow guide to make filing your taxes and straight forward process. This product doesn’t share the same level of popularity as other big players, but TaxACT has been around for years and keeps improving, and more people are using it today. You’ll have to deal with the upgrade to the deluxe edition to get access to more features or get your prior year’s returns, but this is something additional and it’s up to you. Also you can get the ultimate version of TaxACT that includes, access to prior years, all the Deluxe options, plus they will file the state return too. If you run into any trouble, they’ll pay any penalties or fines due to improper filing of your tax return.

H&R Block At Home

H&R Block At Home is an addition to the well-known company that offers walk-in tax filing service, and the company now has a variety of software packages with different set of features that you can have. One thing that is important to point out is that, all packages offer by H&R Block comes with their audit defense service — what does this mean? They will send an actual lawyer to represent and help you if you are being audited by the IRS –, and also comes with a great customer support that can answer questions about the software and any tax related question when you find yourself stuck preparing your taxes. But it is more than likely that you are not going to need any help with this software solution —  the software is simple, has video and audio that can walk you through and tutorials.  [poll id=”28″]Image credit Flickr All content on this site is provided with no warranties, express or implied. Use any information at your own risk. Always backup of your device and files before making any changes. Privacy policy info.