TurboTax Premier 2003

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as last year's
Review: I was very happy with last year's version for 2002 tax returns. I own rental property and using TT helped guide me through depreciations and other considerations that I had done differently on my own. This year's edition of TT has become confusing and even completely passes over the deductions for automobile use. I've read a couple dozen of the many reviews for the Deluxe version and the same problems exist here. You'll have to download a fairly large update and you'll likely have problems with fonts. I realize the tax code has changed dramatically, but that doesn't let Intuit off the hook. Read the reviews of the Deluxe version and you'll likely be scared away.

Rating:
Summary: Premier not worth it; stick with Deluxe
Review: I've been using TurboTax for many years. Until now, I've always used TurboTax Deluxe for the free state download. This year, I decided to try TurboTax Premier for the "Tax-Slashing Tools".

I don't think the Premier features (over "Deluxe") are worth the extra cost. What you get is a bunch of very basic tax advice related to sale of equity investments, use of IRAs, and contributions to 401(k) accounts ("contribute as much as you can"). It also contains some stuff related to rental properties, but I don't own any real estate, so it doesn't apply to me.

I will be sticking with Deluxe from now on. Maybe if I buy a house I'll try out Premier in the future, but not until then.

I have tried TaxCut (2000 or 2001, I don't remember), but I didn't like it compared with my previous use of TurboTax. So until TurboTax changes for the worse, I don't plan to try TaxCut again.

Rating:
Summary: Free support is non existent.
Review: Not worth the price. The State entries depend on the Federal entries and if wrong cannot be corrected and filed electronically.

Rating:
Summary: Last minute buyers should avoid
Review: TurboTax Premier would not install on my XP system. It just hung during the part where fonts are installed. This bug is known to tech support but nothing they told me or sent me worked. Getting help was arduous. I'm going back to TaxCut.

Rating:
Summary: Last minute buyers should avoid
Review: TurboTax Premier would not install on my XP system. It just hung during the part where fonts are installed. This bug is known to tech support but nothing they told me or sent me worked. Getting help was arduous. I'm going back to TaxCut.