For most small business returns, TaxAct is the better value and TurboTax is the more familiar, more expensive choice. TaxAct documents online, do-it-yourself filing for partnerships, S corporations and C corporations at a lower list price, while TurboTax Business is sold mainly as a Windows desktop download for entity returns, with expert-assisted options that cost considerably more. If you have clean books and a simple ownership structure, TaxAct does the job for less. If you already live in Intuit's world and want the most polished interview, TurboTax earns its premium for some owners.
This comparison is built from published pricing, vendor documentation and patterns in user reviews, not from filing live returns, so read every figure as a starting point and verify current pricing with each vendor before you buy. Tax software prices move during the filing season, and the 2026 season (for tax year 2025 returns) saw several mid-season changes. Nothing here is tax advice. If your return involves multiple owners, basis questions, depreciation choices or state nexus issues, a CPA or enrolled agent is worth the fee.
For the wider picture of year-round bookkeeping tools that feed these returns, see our guide to the best accounting software for small business.
The short answer depends on what kind of return you file
The first question is not which brand, it is which form. A freelancer or single-member LLC reports business income on Schedule C with a personal Form 1040, so the right products are TaxAct's Sole Proprietor or Self-Employed tiers and TurboTax's Self-Employed online edition or Premium tier. A partnership or multi-member LLC files Form 1065, an S corporation files Form 1120-S, and a C corporation files Form 1120. Those entity returns are where TurboTax Business and TaxAct's business products actually compete.
Buying the wrong product is the most common mistake reviewers describe. An S corporation owner, for example, still needs a personal return to report the K-1 income, which means paying for two products with either brand. Count both when you price it out.
How We Compared These Tax Products
We compared TurboTax Business and TaxAct's business line using each vendor's public product and pricing pages, TaxAct's own published competitor comparison, retailer listings for the TurboTax desktop product, and recurring themes in user reviews on Capterra and similar sites. We did not prepare or file a return in either product, and we do not report invented accuracy rates or time savings. We weighed four things: which entity forms each product supports, the documented cost for a federal return plus one state, how much expert help is available and at what price, and whether the product runs online or only as desktop software. Where sources disagreed on a price, we say so.
Pricing priced out for a typical small entity
TaxAct's competitor comparison page, as of April 2026, listed its partnership and S corporation products at roughly $160 to $170 federal, its C corporation product at about $170, and state returns at about $69 each. Its Xpert Assist option, which adds access to a tax expert, raised the partnership and S corporation price to roughly $249 to $299. Retailer listings put TurboTax Business desktop at about $190 for the federal return with federal e-file included, with business state forms sold separately. The same TaxAct page listed TurboTax's expert-assisted partnership and S corporation option at about $449.
| Item | TaxAct Business | TurboTax Business |
|---|---|---|
| Forms 1065, 1120-S, 1120 | Yes, online or download | Yes, mainly desktop download |
| Federal DIY list price (reported) | About $160 to $170 | About $190 |
| State business return | About $69 each | Sold separately, verify current |
| Expert-assisted option | About $249 to $299 | About $449 (as quoted by TaxAct) |
| Platform | Browser plus PC download | Windows desktop; Mac support varies by listing |
| Accuracy guarantees | Accuracy and maximum refund guarantees documented | Accuracy guarantee documented |
Priced for a two-owner partnership in one state, TaxAct lands somewhere around $230 to $240 before any expert help, and TurboTax lands higher once its state product is added. The gap widens if you want a human to review the return. These are reported list prices that change through the season, so verify current pricing on both sites.
Where TurboTax Business earns its higher price
Reviewers consistently describe TurboTax as the more polished interview. The question flow is clear, the explanations are written for non-accountants, and the error check before e-filing is well regarded. Owners who keep their books in QuickBooks also like staying with one vendor family, since Intuit documents ways to bring business figures across and the vocabulary matches. Our TurboTax Business review covers those strengths in detail.
The desktop format is also a quiet advantage for some owners: the return lives on your own machine, and multiple federal e-files are commonly listed as included, which helps if you need to file a corrected return.
Where TaxAct pulls ahead for most small entities
TaxAct's case is price and access. It documents online filing for every entity type it sells, so you can work from any browser rather than a single Windows PC, and its list prices sit below TurboTax at every comparable tier. Its expert-assisted tier also costs well under TurboTax's reported equivalent. Reviewers describe the interface as plainer and less hand-holding, and some report needing to know which form line a number belongs on, but owners who already work with an organized trial balance rarely find that a problem. Our TaxAct Business review goes deeper on its tiers.
Weaknesses both products share
Neither product is bookkeeping software. Both assume your income, expenses, payroll figures and fixed asset records are already correct, and both produce a bad return from bad books. Reviewers of both brands report the same frustrations: prices that climb as the April and March deadlines approach, upsells during the interview, and limited help when a situation does not fit the standard questions. Depreciation, multi-state apportionment and owner basis tracking are the areas where reviewers most often say they gave up and hired a preparer.
If your books are not in order yet, fix that first with a year-round tool such as QuickBooks Online, which our QuickBooks Online review covers, and come back to the filing question when the trial balance is clean.
Who should pick which
Pick TaxAct if you file a straightforward 1065 or 1120-S, want to work online, and care about cost. Pick TurboTax Business if you want the most guided interview, already use Intuit products, and are comfortable on a Windows desktop. Pick neither if you are a sole proprietor, since both brands route you to personal self-employed products, and tools like the one in our Keeper Tax review may fit better. And pick a professional if your return has unusual ownership changes, multiple states or large asset purchases.
The bottom line: choose TaxAct for a straightforward partnership or S corporation return at a lower price, choose TurboTax Business only if its more guided desktop interview is worth the premium to you, and hire a professional when the return is anything but simple.
