I was a TurboTax Live Full Service Tax Expert. Here are my thoughts.

The program is great in theory. Instead of doing the taxes yourself, you upload all your documents and someone like me does your taxes and produces a finished product in 7-10 days. However, there are a few people I believe who I believe should not be utilizing this service.

1. Old people. I came across a few senior citizens and many of them did what they needed to do. You need to upload your drivers license or state ID to verify you are who you say you are. You also need to communicate through the program or the app with any questions or concerns. Some old people were so anti-technology I had to straight up tell them to go to a local tax professional to get it done. They just couldn’t understand the requirements of finishing their product.

2. People with really simple returns. Are you unmarried with one W2, no investments, no rental income, and no carryovers? Why exactly am I doing your taxes? You’re paying money for me to do something that takes me 5 minutes to do. TurboTax was created so that you didn’t have to rely on people like me to do your simple returns. It’s not that hard folks.

3. Do you have publicly traded partnerships, multiple businesses, complex foreign debt instruments, and the like? Spend the extra money and go to a qualified tax professional. Even if it isn’t particularly hard, if it takes too long to do, you’re taking my time away from someone else who needs my help as well.

This is also an honorary mention and doesn’t require a bullet point. I am a credentialed tax professional. I have ethical standards I must follow at all times and I won’t put my name on a tax return I feel is fraudulent in nature. I’m not going to report you to the authorities however I have every right not to do your return if I feel you are trying to pull a fast one. It’s nothing personal.