Rating: 
Summary: A TurboTax refugee
Review: I abandoned TurboTax because of all the annoying SPY & activation issues people have already written about, but I have used it for about 7 years before that.
As expected TaxCut does not have as many good features. The itemization of imported items (at least from Quicken) is inferior. A lot of the linking and printing features are slightly inferior. I don't miss the lack of video clips etc.
For me freedom from big brother and the future hassles that might cause were worth the step down in features.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustration and Nightmares
Review: TaxCut appears user friendly until you actually try to enter any data that is not completely straightforward. For example foreign tax paid could not be entered in dollars, which makes no sense. Also the fidiuciary returns were completely wrong, most of the forms aren't on the CD (this is the Business Platinum version) and you can't download them because the program doesn't recognize the downloads. It often did not enter my corrections, crashed repeatedly, and left me with the feeling that I have no confidence in its accuracy. Final insult is that it would not print properly. As a result, I am now taking it all back to my CPA and will never let anyone I know buy Tac Cut, ever.
Rating: 
Summary: As good as TurboTax
Review: The interface is similar to turbotax. I switched from turbotax and had no problem using it. E-filed 2 weeks ago and got my refund deposited into my checking account today...
Rating:
Summary: Zero stars would be too many
Review: This product was a huge disappointment.... P>First off, the price doesn't include e-filing costs or state tax forms. You can get rebates to cover the federal e-filing charge and the state tax prep software, but not the state e-filing charge. ... Second, the questionnaire was poorly designed. For example, the questions relating to IRAs were obviously written by somebody who was a little unclear on the concept that there is such a thing as a non-deductible IRA. It was capable of handling it, but a lot of the questions didn't make a lot of sense. Also on the IRA subject, it asks you what your contribution was this year and then what your basis "is" in the IRA. It does not say whether it means what was your basis before this year's contribution or what is it now. Despite the use of the present tense, it really want the number before this year, but don't expect the help to tell you that. Even the IRS form is clearer. Finally, the service was able to e-file my federal return with payment by direct withdrawal from my account, but could not do this with the state filing. The message simply said that my payment information had not been transmitted to the state tax office. It gave no indication of why. Their tech support line also had nothing better to suggest than try again. ... Don't waste your time with this product.
Rating:
Summary: Glad I switched
Review: I have been using TurboTax since 1995. This year I switched, mainly because of the TurboTax activation code issue, but I also liked paying less. The interface was ok (I found it easier than TurboTax) and the interview worked fine. Moving around was fairly easy, albeit a little slow at times. Updates worked with only one flaw: I had to run them twice each time (once to update Federal and again to get the state updated). I always had problems getting TurboTax to update itself anyway, so running the update twice was no big deal. The internet proxy issue was kind of a pain. I did finally get my Federal Tax return through my firewall, but I had to allow temporary access around the proxy to get it to work. I also had to edit a .cfg file in the Tax Cut program directory to get it to stop using the proxy. I can certainly see where some people would have problems with this. It does work through a NAT firewall/router, just not through proxy servers. I hope they fix this before next year. So, for fewer bucks I was able to complete my taxes, eFile them, and avoid spyware/activation code issues. TaxCut was a little frustrating to use for eFiling because of the proxy server issue, but I was able to work around it ok.
Rating:
Summary: Better than TurboTax
Review: I switched to TaxCut this year because I am unwilling to put up with TurboTax's "product activation" inconvenience, but I used TT for many years, and also checked out this year's TurboTax (ex-wife's copy) for comparison purposes. The programs share several annoying flaws: 1. Neither works right on a network, which is nonsense; lots of people have home networks for sharing printers, internet connections, etc., and it is often convenient to do at least some work on one's business computer. In the case of TT, given their piracy paranoia, I presume this is intentional, so lots of people at an office can't share a single copy on a network. What's TaxCut's excuse? TurboTax at least tells you, up front, that they "don't support" use on a network. Tax Cut doesn't (or, if it does, I missed it). 2. The quality and quantity of help and technical support have been going down year by year in TurboTax, whether within the program, by phone, or on their web site. This year, TaxCut is no better, help-wise, than TT (dunno about past years for TC, since, until this year, I was a loyal TurboTax user). Neither is really acceptable this year if you have a problem, and neither is as good as TurboTax was a few years ago. I encountered problems with both programs that I only managed to fix because of people on newsgroups and boards--no thanks to Intuit or Block. At TurboTax, things may be slightly worse, simply because they're having to devote so many resources to dealing with product activation problems. But Tax Cut is no great shakes in the help/tech support areas. And past TurboTax experience suggests that both will only get worse as April 15 gets closer. 3. Both TT and TC are obnoxious about hawking their other programs/services/tie-ins. I find the TaxCut interview process slightly better designed than TurboTax's, as I didn't have to mindlessly click "no" to inapplicable questions as much with TaxCut as with TurboTax. TaxCut also makes it easier to deal directly with forms. For people who don't know what they're doing, but don't have ultra-simple returns, TurboTax's more mindless approach may be better. But all in all, the programs are very much alike, to the point that I assume a lot of espionage and comparison is going on between them. I'd give Tax Cut a very slight edge on functionality, and it's considerably cheaper. If you don't object to Intuit's product activation nonsense, I'd still give TaxCut an endge. Of course, I *do* object, very, very strongly, to TurboTax's product activation nonsense. I find it completely unacceptable, and I will not buy TurboTax, or any other Intuit product, as long as they're using it. Lucky for me, Block doesn't have the nonsense, and is a more-than-acceptable alternative otherwise.
Rating: 
Summary: No TuboTax and No TaxCut
Review: This year I have bad experience with both TurboTax and TaxCut. First, TurboTax. I bought it but never installed it. I can accept their activation scheme and I can accept their hidden directory on the machine. But when I learned that they also install a background process on the machine that runs forever even after TurboTax is uninstalled, I said enough is enough. Then I bought TaxCut. The first problem was the GUI layout. On my NT machine a lot of fields overlap so I cannot read the numbers. Second, when I imported my last years tax return from TurboTax, it listed the depreciation items of a rental property multiple times. Third, TaxCut complains that my wife's name has '-' in it and therefore I cannot file my return by paper. Well, that is how her name shows on the social security card. Fourth, when I worked on the depreciation items of a rental property for my state tax return, TaxCut asked me to open the Tax form, read the state tax instructions, and fill in the form myself! In other words, the only difference from filling a paper form is that the form is on the computer screen. Eventually I had to dig out my return of the previous 2 years and learn how TurboTax did it. So I think I need go back to TurboTax after all. I will buy a new computer and dedicate the old one to TurboTax. They can do whatever they want on that machine.
Rating: 
Summary: TaxCut is the answer to Turbo Tax
Review: I just used TaxCut for the first time after being a Turbo Tax user for many years. I was delighted! Contrary to some reviews on this site, I found that this year TaxCut does read in last year's Turbo Tax file, making the switch totally painless. The features that I had appreciated in the previous software were there. The free state program makes it a deal. No D-Cilla spyware on your computer! E-filing was a total breeze. This program is so easy to use I didn't have to consult help of any kind. From reading other reviews it appears that TaxCut may have a problem if you have to deal with multiple states -if that is not your case, TaxCut will work great for you.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as TurboTax
Review: I chose Taxcut this year because of the spyware Turbotax was installing with their software. You know what? I don't do anything wrong (pirate, illegal copies) with the software anyway so what's the difference? Anyway, I miss TurboTax. Taxcut is not very helpful in guiding me through complex forms (itemized deductions, proporty tax stuff). In fact, I could not get any interview guidance with writing off my home office until I went in and manually began filling out the form. After that is when I could use the interview process. The help in Taxcut is very primitive. When I got stuck within a form and clicked on the help button, it took me to the page, "Getting help with Taxcut". Not useful at all. I look forward to TurboTax next year.
Rating:
Summary: Just say NO!
Review: I was lured to TaxCut by spyware mistake in TurboTax. I cannot reget more. For: a. Immensely lower quality. Items left marked "To Do" after I gone through them several times. Questions asked "Are you subject to ...?" In order to use this program you must know already everything in tax law, or its plain useless unless you return is extremely simple. b. And it finally got my return REJECTED!! Why? I did not supply Electronic Funds Withdrawal amount and date! Check printout, I DID supply. OK, proposed solution: refile a return, select check as a payment option. Now it does not allow me to refile a return since in has already been filed. Technical support? Forget about it, holiday. Advice: avoid HR Block at all costs. Or at least until their software team is fired without reverence package. Good luck to you, taxpayer.
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