Business Tax Software Compared: How TurboTax Business, H&R Block, and TaxAct Handle 1065, 1120-S, and 1120 Returns for Small Entities

Your S corporation return is due March 16, and the TurboTax you have used for years cannot file it. That surprise hits thousands of owners every filing season: the personal tax product on your computer handles your Form 1040 just fine, but the moment your business became a partnership, a multi-member LLC, an S corporation, or a C corporation, your entity return moved to a separate product with a separate price, separate e-file limits, and a separate deadline. Buy the wrong box and you find out in March, when there is no time left to switch.

This guide compares the three mainstream DIY options for small-entity returns — TurboTax Business, H&R Block Premium and Business, and TaxAct Business — on the dimensions that actually matter: which forms each covers, what they really cost once state returns and e-files are counted, how much guidance you get, and where each one falls short. It closes with the buying checklist and the mistakes that cost entity filers real money.

Why Entity Returns Need Separate Software​

Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs that have not elected corporate status file on Schedule C inside their personal return, so one personal-tier product covers everything. Everything else files an entity return:

• Partnerships and multi-member LLCs file Form 1065 and issue a Schedule K-1 to every partner.
• S corporations file Form 1120-S and issue K-1s to every shareholder.
• C corporations file Form 1120 and pay tax at the entity level.

These returns have their own calendars. Calendar-year partnerships and S corporations are due March 15 (March 16 in 2026, because the 15th fell on a Sunday); calendar-year C corporations are due April 15. Extensions run to September 15 and October 15 respectively. The K-1 timing matters for your personal return too: you generally cannot finish your Form 1040 until every K-1 you receive is final, which is why entity software that prepares clean, correct K-1s is worth more than its sticker price suggests.

The late-filing penalties are also entity-scale. A partnership or S corporation return filed late currently draws a penalty of $245 per month or part of a month for each partner or shareholder — a ten-partner LLC that files three months late can owe over $7,000 before interest. Software with a built-in extension workflow (Form 7004) earns its keep fast.

The Three Contenders at a Glance​

All three products cover the big three entity forms — 1065, 1120-S, and 1120 — plus the common schedules (balance sheet, depreciation on Form 4562, rental income on Form 8825). List prices move through filing season and drop sharply around Black Friday, so treat the figures below as typical shelf prices, not quotes.

TurboTax Business: The Most Guidance, at the Highest Price​

TurboTax Business is the premium DIY option and the most hand-holding of the three. Its interview format walks through each form line by line, explains elections in plain language, and imports prior-year TurboTax Business data so recurring items carry forward. For first-time entity filers — say, an LLC that just elected S status — that guidance is the product.

Three things to know before buying:

1. It is desktop-only for DIY filers. Unlike personal TurboTax, there is no fully online TurboTax Business you can run in a browser; you download and install it on Windows or Mac. If your bookkeeper uses a Chromebook or you work across machines, that matters.
2. It does not include your personal return. TurboTax Business prepares the entity return only. You still need a personal TurboTax edition for your Form 1040, which effectively doubles the software budget for a one-owner S corporation.
3. Expert help costs extra but exists. Expert Assist (on-demand answers) and Full Service (a tax professional prepares the return) are available for business filers, which makes TurboTax the easiest of the three to escalate when you get stuck.

TurboTax Business is the best fit for owners filing an entity return for the first or second time who want the most thorough interview and are willing to pay for it — and for anyone who values a clean upgrade path to professional help inside the same product.

H&R Block Premium and Business: Personal Plus Entity in One Box​

H&R Block's standout feature is the bundle: Premium and Business combines a full personal return with partnership, S corporation, and C corporation preparation at a shelf price that typically undercuts TurboTax Business alone. For a one-owner S corporation, that single purchase can cover both the 1120-S and the owner's 1040 — the cheapest path of the three to a fully filed household.

Other strengths:

• Support depth. H&R Block's network of offices plus online and phone support means you can get a human being involved, including in person during filing season. None of the other two DIY products offers a walk-in option.
• Five federal e-files included, matching TurboTax, with state e-files running about $20 each.
• Familiar import flow from prior-year H&R Block returns and from common bookkeeping exports.

The trade-off is a less polished interview than TurboTax for complex situations — multi-state apportionment, intricate basis adjustments, and tiered-entity K-1s get less hand-holding. H&R Block is the best fit for cost-conscious owners who need both personal and entity coverage in one purchase and like knowing an office exists if things go sideways.

TaxAct Business: The Value Pick for Confident Filers​

TaxAct Business is the budget alternative that still covers all three entity forms. Online editions are priced per entity type (partnership, S corporation, and C corporation editions each run roughly $110–$165 for federal), and desktop editions bundle multiple return types. It is consistently the cheapest way to file a single straightforward entity return online.

What you give up for the lower price:

• Less guidance. TaxAct's interview is serviceable but thinner than TurboTax's — fewer plain-language explanations, less proactive surfacing of elections and deductions. Confident filers who know what belongs on each line will be fine; first-timers may miss things.
• Add-on support. Xpert Assist provides professional answers for an additional fee, but there is no in-house full-service preparation tier comparable to TurboTax Full Service or H&R Block's offices.
• Per-entity pricing online. If you have both a partnership and an S corporation, two online editions can erase the price advantage over a desktop bundle — check the desktop pricing before buying two online products.

TaxAct Business is the best fit for owners who have filed entity returns before, know their forms, and want the lowest price for a clean, uncomplicated return.

Seven Things to Check Before You Buy​

Price tables hide the details that determine your real cost and your real risk. Confirm these before purchasing any of the three:

1. Every form you need, including the odd ones. All three cover 1065, 1120-S, and 1120. If you also need Form 1041 for a trust or estate, Form 990 for a nonprofit, or payroll forms (940, 941, W-2, 1099), check that edition — trust and nonprofit returns often require a different product or tier.
2. State coverage and state e-file fees. Most small entities owe at least one state return, and some owe several. State modules cost extra everywhere, and e-filing each state return usually carries its own fee. Two or three states can add $60–$100 to any of the three products.
3. How many federal e-files you get. TurboTax Business and H&R Block include five; TaxAct's allowance varies by edition. If you prepare returns for multiple entities or family businesses, count heads before you buy.
4. K-1 preparation and recipient copies. Every partnership and S corporation return ends in K-1s. Confirm the software prints or e-delivers recipient copies and handles state K-1 equivalents — a product that files the 1065 but fumbles the K-1s has not finished the job.
5. Prior-year import. Switching brands means re-entering depreciation schedules, carryforwards, and shareholder or partner basis by hand. If you are changing products this year, budget real time for the transition and reconcile every carryforward to last year's return.
6. Extension filing. Make sure Form 7004 is supported and that the workflow reminds you an extension of time to file is not an extension of time to pay. C corporations that owe tax with an extended return still face interest and penalties on the unpaid balance.
7. Audit support and accuracy guarantees. All three advertise some form of audit guidance or accuracy guarantee, but the scope differs — read what is actually covered (guidance on responding to a notice versus representation) rather than trusting the badge on the box.

Common Mistakes Entity Filers Make​

Buying a personal-tier product and expecting entity support. TurboTax Self-Employed and H&R Block Self-Employed handle Schedule C beautifully and entity returns not at all. If your LLC has two members or elected S status, you need the business product — the personal one cannot be upgraded into it.

Missing the March deadline. Partnership and S corporation returns are due a full month before individual returns. Owners who have always filed in April discover the March 15 deadline the expensive way, at $245 per partner per month. Put both the entity deadline and the September 15 extended deadline on the calendar the day the entity is formed.

Filing the personal return before the K-1s arrive. Your 1040 needs final K-1 numbers. Filing early with estimates and amending later costs more than waiting — or extending the personal return — in the first place.

Forgetting state entity returns. Many states require their own partnership or S corporation filing with its own deadline and its own late penalties, plus franchise or minimum taxes even in loss years. Federal software does not remind you about states you never configured.

Tripping the e-file mandate. Businesses that file ten or more information returns in aggregate — W-2s, 1099s, and similar forms added together — generally must e-file them. Count early in January; paper-filing when e-filing was required draws its own penalties on top of any late-filing issues.

When Software Is Not Enough​

DIY entity software handles clean, single-state, continuing operations well. Hire a CPA or tax preparer instead when any of these apply:

• First-year elections. Form 2553 (S election), Form 8832 (entity classification), and accounting-method choices are nearly impossible to unwind once made. Professional advice before the election beats software after it.
• Ownership changes. A partner entering or leaving, a shareholder buyout, or a new investor mid-year creates basis, allocation, and built-in-gain questions that interview software answers poorly.
• Multi-state operations. Nexus, apportionment, and composite or withholding obligations for nonresident owners are the fastest route from a $150 software purchase to a five-figure notice.
• IRS or state notices. If you are responding to an examination, a proposed adjustment, or a penalty notice, you need representation judgment, not a form filler.
• Persistent losses or debt workouts. At-risk limits, passive-activity rules, and cancellation-of-debt income interact in ways that punish guesswork.

A common middle path works well: use DIY software for the routine annual return and pay a professional for a planning session, an election year, or any year something unusual happened.

Clean Books Are What Make Entity Software Work​

Every product above is only as good as the trial balance you feed it. Entity returns ask for a full balance sheet, a reconciliation of book to tax income (Schedule M-1 or M-3), loan and capital account detail, and depreciation schedules — all of which come straight from your books. Owners who reconcile monthly can export a year-end trial balance in January and start the return immediately; owners who reconstruct the year from bank statements in March pay for the delay in stress, extensions, and missed elections.

Three habits pay for themselves every filing season. Reconcile every account monthly so December's close takes hours, not weeks. Track shareholder and partner basis, loans, and distributions in dedicated accounts during the year — these are the numbers entity software asks for first and the ones reconstructed ledgers get wrong. And keep depreciation records with placed-in-service dates and methods attached to each asset, so Form 4562 is an export rather than an archaeology project.

Keep Your Books Tax-Ready All Year​

Choosing between TurboTax Business, H&R Block, and TaxAct matters less than the books you bring to whichever one you buy — clean records turn entity tax season from a reconstruction project into a data-entry afternoon. Beancount.io provides plain-text accounting that gives you complete transparency and control over your financial data, with a version-controlled ledger your preparer can review line by line. Get started for free and see why developers and finance professionals are switching to plain-text accounting.