Deduction Pro

Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for the 2004 version...
Review: Do a search of 'DeductionPro' (no spaces between the words). Otherwise you'll never find it. Goofy search engine.

Review: 3 stars because this software is often oversold, to people who don't really need it. It's most useful to people who donate a lot of household items to charity. This product helps you determine a more accurate 'fair market value' that will fly with the IRS should you be audited. If you have a habit of grossly inflating the value of such donations (examples - donating a 486 computer and deducting the value of a new or semi-new computer today) it won't help you much.

Also, if you do not have a mortgage (and therefore do not pay interest in a mortgage), don't tithe large percentages of your income at church, and don't give away lots and lots of stuff to charity every year, you probably should not bother with this software. You're unlikely to exceed your standard deduction on your taxes and won't need to itemize.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible Interface
Review: Don't even bother...Even an excel spreadsheet is easier than this. There is no way to enter multiple different items that were given on the same date. You have to type the date for each item individually (not even a copy/paste function). When looking up the value of an item you have to go through multiple menu's that aren't arranged well. Very clunky and disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible Interface
Review: Don't even bother...Even an excel spreadsheet is easier than this. There is no way to enter multiple different items that were given on the same date. You have to type the date for each item individually (not even a copy/paste function). When looking up the value of an item you have to go through multiple menu's that aren't arranged well. Very clunky and disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Software of Very Limited Value
Review: I bought DeductionPro because I'd donated a lot of old clothing, furniture and books to charity last year, and I wanted some assistance organizing and valuing those contributions for my tax preparation. DeductionPro allowed me to enter all of this information, provided a table for estimating their value, and prepared the required IRS form for claiming those deductions since they were valued at over $500.

Beyond that, there's not much to this software. Its user interface is not very slick. There fields have limited space to enter information, the error messages are not helpful, there are no good instructions, and it's overall look and feel is pretty amateurish. I wasn't very impressed. However, since it comes free with TaxCut, it was clearly worth the money I (didn't) pay.

There's nothing here that you can't get by simply using tax preparation software. The only real value add is the valuation tables, and they are pretty limited. You can also use it to record cash donations, out of pocket expenses and other kinds of deductions. However, unlike TaxCut, there's limited advise available for doing so, and no obvious benefit to using this software for those things.

On the whole, using DeductionPro benefited me, but it's nothing to write home about. If you don't need the merchandise valuation tables for non-cash donations, I wouldn't spend the time or money to use this software. Your tax prep software will do it all just as well. If you do need help valuing your donations, then this might make your life a little easier, but not much.

Rating:
Summary: It is useless!!!
Review: I bought the software and the first step it requires you to do is to enter organization name and address. It gives you so little space for both that I can't even enter my church name in a meaningful way. I can barely enter street address of all the organizations. I have to use the TaxCut software to modify the names once they are imported. It's useless! The only good thing is that I do get my rebate so at least it's free.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the money
Review: This program is basically a simple database that allows you to enter your donations. It will help you value your donations, but it's difficult to do in the program. You need to know which category your item is listed under before you can find it's value in this program. It doesn't let you search for your item to find the value. I don't see any value in this program. Entering all of your donations in this program is a hassle. It's easier to enter them directly into your tax program.

Rating:
Summary: This software stinks!
Review: Warning: After successfully saving my file, I continued to input over 100 line items in this program (a very time consuming task). When finished, I tried to save but received an error message. Then when I tried to open my file, the message said it wasn't a valid file format. My file was corrupted and cannot be retrieved, and the technical support had no idea how it happened or whether it could happen again. I am in the process of returning this program.

The non-cash charitable contribution section is a great idea, but it's cumbersome: you have to scroll down a very long list each time (no key words). Plus, there are many every-day items that aren't on the list; bicycle helmet is, but dishware isn't.

I haven't tried the alternative, but this program is awful.