I’ve used both TaxCut and TurboTax. I found on average that TaxCut was easier for me to work with. The only software flaw in my mind is theie update process. It’s not very smart. You run an update, fill in the forms and go to file therm and it wants to check for an update again. Doesn’t seem to remember it did that an hour ago!
I hate their lousy rebate process. You have to mail in the form in the box. There’s no way to do it online.
Time to start the process for this year. What are you using and why do you prefer that package or program?
I used Turbo Tax for years until about 3-4 years ago when they implemented some sort of DRM trickery that installed spyware on your system. Sorry, don’t remember all the details, but there was a big uproar about it at the time.
Anyway, I switched to TaxCut that year and have used it ever since. Both seem to do the job well enough, and I had good results with both.
I THINK that Turbo Tax did away with the DRM after that first year, but I’m not sure.
I have always used TurboTax just because that is what I started with and I am happy with it. I would be reluctant to change for fear of losing tax history which is one of the biggest benefits in the first place.
Both programs will import the other’s data. I switched to Tax Cut during the DRM fiasco a few years back. I was able to import all the data from my prior years returns.
Looking at the store displays it looks like rebates and extra programs for free are down, as is the price.
I have seen the Tax Cut Premium with free state program for $29.95, which IIRC was the price after rebate last year.
I never used any software - just H&R Block’s services.
Nevertheless, I’ve been considering using TurboTax, so I called them to ask about the spyware matter, and if they’re still using it. However, I would have have had a 10 minute wait, so I hung up. I wonder what kind of answer I’d have gotten.
If anyone else wants to give it a whack, the number’s 1-888-777-3066. The automated answering system isn’t bad. You’re given two choices and if neither’s suitable, you then just hang until a live person can talk to you. But like I said, i got the ten-minute wait caveat.
I am with you, BarnOwl. Although I am a software guy, I have to agree with the commercial that shows the wife saying “ask the box” when the couple gets an audit letter. I know that the IRS code is more than ambiguous enough that software is not going to replace the people involved. When it comes time to be “guilty until I prove I am innocent” (which is how the tax courts work :eek: ), I want a person - not a box.
I hear what you are saying. I only use these programs for my kid’s returns that are stone simple. For my own, I use a CPA. Last year, just for giggles I tried doing my return with TC. Let’s just say the CPA pays for himself.
That is part of the problems as well in reverse. H&R Block and the like are only using their own software and hitting “send” at the first indication they have a legal return for you. Let’s face it, they aren’t hiring the top Harvard and Wharton prospects to do the routine returns. They are part-timers who get trained in making a return acceptable to the IRS. TurboTax and TaxCut give you the same things that they get to see but you certainly care about you own return more than they do and you are free to run scenarios that may save you big money all you like. TurboTax literally saved me over $13,000 last year by asking about an unusual situation which we met. I have little faith that a tax preparer would have hit on such a big money return let alone all the rest of them I have found over the years.
Most importantly, doing your own return even once takes the boogie-man out of taxes and shows you what you should do could do and what you should have done. That is something that many people that blindly hand over their papers each year to a routine tax preparer never achieve.
I use TaxAct.com, and its cheaper than either Turbotax or TaxCut. Does a fine job, and it’s cheaper than either of the others. the interface is not quite as nice, but it’s adequate.
I have used TurboTax in the past, and it is not substatially different.
Have used TurboTax since it first came out. Switched to TaxCut one year because it had a great promotion when it first came out, but found TurboTax more to my liking. So back to TurboTax with no regrets. Most years my returns are very straight-forward. Some years, more complicated, but TurboTax has handled things just fine.
Seconded. Have used TaxAct for four years now and it works fine. What used to take me 30 minutes to just do the Social Security tax worksheet now gets done in a nanosecond. The Sched D and other tricky things work flawlessly, as does importing last year’s data. And as noted, even with the state tax and efiling, it is a bargain.
Almost (“almost,” I said) makes it fun doing my taxes.
Used TurboTax for several years until one year Tax Cut caught my eye, and it was about $10 cheaper than TT. It was pretty simple, about the same as TT. The next year (last year, I think), Tax Cut didn’t come out with a version for the Mac, so we bought TT. We were very happy with it, particularly the built-in deduction element- saved us thousands. This year, Tax Cut sent me free software for the Mac- I guess they took a lot of heat for not doing a Mac-compatible version last year. But we chose to buy TT Premier this year instead of using the free Tax Cut- we’re overall happier with it. Depending on how smoothly it goes with TT, I might run it on Tax Cut as well, since I have it, and compare the results.
H&R uses Ultra tax. It is a huge and thorough tax system . My son works for The company that owns and sells it. He is an online troubleshooter and it is far more than Turbo Tax.
Used TaxCut for years then, last year and without notice, they decided not to bother with a Mac version. But I could use the OnLine version! they enthused when I complained. (If I’d wanted to use the on-line version, I would have thankyew!)
I switched to TurboTax. I saw no appreciable difference between the two programs, frankly.
This year, H&R enthused themselves back to Mac users (including the mailing McNew mentions.
I started out with TurboTax about a million years ago. Switched to TaxCut one year when I had the chance to use it for free. I’ve been using it ever since because I liked it better and then never had a reason to switch back.
I’ve been using Turbo Tax for years, beginning a few years ago when I sold some stock I’d bought in an employee stock purchase plan. Prior to that, I’d only ever had to file the 1040EZ or 1040A, and had no problem doing that myself. I’ve found the software very easy to use, and like the automated calculations. I live in NJ and work in NY, and there is a worksheet you have to do (in NJ) to figure if it’s more beneficial to take a credit for taxes paid to other jurisdictions or some kind of property tax credit; it’s much easier having the software compute that. Also like the advantage of quick refunds when e-filing (even though I have to pay to e-file).
I am not sure what office you are referring to, Shagnasty. My preparer has a Masters in Taxation from a top business school and is an Enrolled Agent. That pretty much blows away most qualifications for CPAs out there & I have a much higher level of confidence that she understands the nuances of the tax code that my return touches than a piece of software that follows a binary logic tree. She reviews and interprets tax case law as needed for me, which is something TurboTax is just not going to do. Moreover, she represents my return before the IRS.
If you had a $13,000 savings on your taxes, it sounds like you probably have a return that is hardly “run of the mill”. In that case, why would you ever leave your return to the care of a regular H&R Block office or in the care of a $50 piece of software? How do you know that it was right when it came to that savings? Did the software apprise you of the risks of following its advice or did it just respond to the way you answered the questions? Did you just blindly accept it’s answer? If TurboTax is wrong, are you situated to pay that back with penalty and interest in a couple years? Will the box argue the case law with the auditor in that case? :eek: All very scary to me and all too real of a possibility.
I guess I also have to disagree with you about how much “caring” will do for you when you are dealing with the IRS. Doing your own taxes does nothing for you when you allow a piece of software do the driving for you and you still have to defend the results with the IRS. Caring about your return compares little with understanding the tax code that you are dealing with. The IRS is seen as a boogie man for a valid reason. You literally have to prove you are innocent if you end up there. Not all IRS agents play nicely & when you are in that situation, you need a professional representing you and that return. My preparer is licensed by the IRS to practice in tax court, which again is something I do not think I would get with TurboTax or any other software.
Of course, you get what you pay for. If you want preparers with this kind of teeth you need to go to Block Premium Office - not just the run of the mill H&R Block office - and definitely not on a $50 piece of software. Block Premium is worth every penny in my opinion. I do not understand why they do not advertise that part of their business more.
Rick,
Can you go into more detail about how complicated your taxes are? I own a house, I also get 1099’d on some of my income. Beyond that I suppose I’m pretty run of the mill. I’ve used a CPA in the past, but I’m finding it difficult to justify $400 - $800 that I anticipate that I’ll have to pay to her, when I can get a software package for less than $100.
