TaxCut 2004 Deluxe

Rating:
Summary: This product is horrible. I don't trust it for my taxes.
Review: And here's why ..

--> I originally did an Itemized Deduction and since the Standard Deduction is higher, I chose Standard. On the forms, Itemized Deduction was printed. I went back to the screen and it still says Standard Deduction.

--> The software says that I have an underpayment on the first review. So I go back and do the review again (didn't change anything) .. and the underpayment warning went away. Now I'm confused on whether I really have an underpayment.

--> I elected not to display my phone number on the forms and it's still printed on the forms.

--> I have a long first name. The software won't allow you to put in more than 10 characters in the first name field.

--> The NJ state forms are printed with characters on top of each other and not readable. Since IRS will be scanning these forms, I am not sure how long I will have to wait for TaxCut to correct the format.

--> On the boxes where it display Refund or Owe amount for Fed and State, the amounts are so far off the screen that you can't even see it. Example: instead of displaying "Refund: XXX.XX" , it's displaying "Refund:..........................................XXX.XX"

--> There are typos on the interviews. I see questions like "Did you ...... form New York" It should be FROM New York.

--> On the screen, the "Delete" button is on top of the "Back" button. If I want to go back, I'll have to click on the tabs on top.

I bought the TaxCut Deluxe and also bought state version for NY and NJ. I have been doing my own taxes for many years using TurboTax and thought I'd give TaxCut a try. Needless to say, I will be buying TurboTax again this year and take a lost on this TaxCut.

Rating:
Summary: A great product!
Review: Despite what other reviewers say, I have found this version of Tax Cut to be just as great as the past versions I've used and a great product overall.

I've found the questions to be extremely helpful in deciding if I should take itemized or a standard deduction. I also found the questions extremely helpful in figuring out which college tuition deductions I should take advantage of. The questions I think are the best thing Tax Cut does. If you have any doubts about what kind of deductions to take, or if you're eligable for those deductions, the questions are a very easy way that the software gives you to work through your doubts and understand why or why not you're eligable for certain things on your taxes.

One caviat I would put on my review though is that I have an extremely simple return. I don't have investment income, etc. Perhaps the program does not work as well for more complicated returns and that's what other reviewers are griping about, but for a simple return where all the data entry you do is from your W-2 forms and maybe one additional form like a 1099-T, Tax Cut works great!

Rating:
Summary: Unable to update program or get State files.
Review: I don't know if this is just a bad day but their servers fail when updating files and also when attempting to purchase the State program. You would think Feb 1 wouldn't be the worst day but it is failing each time I try. Not like doing taxes isn't stressfull enough, but HR Block isn't helping either.

Rating:
Summary: Works perfectly again
Review: I don't know why some people seem to be having trouble this year, but I experienced no updating problems or anything else this year. I've used TaxCut for about 5-6 years and I've never had a problem with it. I like the way it runs through the various parts of the return and forms and I've always found it logical and pretty easy to navigate and make changes.

And for what it's worth, none of the federal forms are final until Jan 31. It's rare that things are changed after they release them in late-Dec or early Jan, but they are officially drafts until Jan 31. So it's not surprising to have the program stall you until a finalized form is ready.

Avergae time of deposit after e-Filing: about 9 days since I've been using this software.

Rating:
Summary: Good Program, but Can't Download State
Review: I have been using TurboTax for the past 3 years, but this year, it kept freezing up when I tried to e-file. The customer support was kind of spotty, so when I saw TaxCut, I decided to give it a try. I found this program be easier to use than TurboTax and the refund came out to be exactly the same. I had no problems e-filing, I got a response from the IRS about 12 hours after filing, instead of 24-48 hours. The only problem I had is downloading the State program, after about 3 tries, I guess I'll have to buy it over the phone. Seems like it's an off year for all tax programs, here's hoping they fix it for tax year 2006. I think I'll stay with this one for a while.

Rating:
Summary: Problems this year
Review: I have used Tax Cut for at least 5 years and this year the program has some problems.I think next year I will try Turbo Tax and hope that its a little better than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Clunky and technical issues
Review: I have used Turbo Tax in the past (and will in the future), but thought I would kill two birds with one stone by getting Microsoft Money with their offer.

First, Tax Cut isn't as thorough (e.g. doesn't prompt me to fill out form 8283 for Noncash Charitable Contributions even though I need to) or helpful (we live in state with no income tax so the calculation for sales tax is advantageous - they don't have a link to the IRS website to the tables that I need to use).

More importantly, when I ran the final review, there are four errors that require software updates in order to be resolved. After several failed attempts to update, I went to their website, searched for a fix and, finding none, used the chat feature for support. The guy told me to download the update directly from their website (why they didn't have that anywhere on their FAQs or problem listings, I don't know), and contact them if I continue to have problems. Surprise - when I tried to install the update, I received an error message telling me that I don't have Tax Cut installed on this computer. So I'm back online with the chat folks hoping for a resolution.

Let's hope this goes better than my problems with DeductionPro (see my dismal review of that software for more info). In that case, I wound up returning it for the Turbo Tax version (Its Deductible - which worked perfectly). I may wind up ditching Tax Cut for Turbo Tax and starting over. ARG!

Rating:
Summary: How can something good get so bad?
Review: I used this last year and found it to be a reasonably good tool. This year is another story. I have just returned it to Amazon. Here are some problems with it:
- Buttons overlap on the screen
- Amounts do not appear in their fields in their entirety. So a $5,000 amount may look like: "$5,0"
- Lists of items (such as a list of your dependents, a list of forms you have filled, etc) are EMPTY. To find the items in there you have to search the forms!
-Not all forms are there. I never managed to find form 5498 (IRA contributions)
- Advice appears wrong to me. It told my wife that she could have only contributed up to $0 (zero) dollars in her Roth IRA and that she should withdraw her contributions by April 15th to avoid penalties. I checked and it appears that in reality she could contribute up to $3000.
- After answering in the negative if I had paid for my own move to a new home, it continued asking me if I paid in 2004 or 2005.

I am sorry I spent about 4 hours on this nonsensical, amateurish, terribly made piece of junk!

Rating:
Summary: It might be the IRS...
Review: The IRS updates its forms over the entire tax year, with some forms not finalized until the last minute. My point is that some of the problems people are experiencing may not be the software, but the IRS updates.

Rating:
Summary: I had no problems
Review: Worked perfectly fine. The math was correct as well as the graphics.