Rating: 
Summary: A no hassel software program
Review: After a diasterous last year with Tax Cut, several computer crashes and rollbacks to 98SE, I did not think I had much of a chance with TurboTax this year. Although I could not transfer my last years Taxcut info to Turbotax this year, I could not even open last year's saved Taxcut data with Taxcut! I had to enter my basic information and from then on I had no problem with the downloads, electronic filing and direct deposit. The schedule C, depreciation and deduction information were all very helpful. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Came out same as tax accountant last 2 years
Review: I have had trouble trusting the program entirely with tax preperation, so I did this comparison. First, I figured up my taxes for my personal/sole proprieter cabinetry business taxes on TurboTax and then went to my regular tax accountant who used to be an IRS auditor, and he is very thorough. Both times my taxes came out almost exactly the same. I'm impressed, and intend to do all my own taxes this year.
Rating: 
Summary: TurboTax Tanks
Review: I used TaxCut for years and switched to TurboTax seven years ago for one year. It miscalculated a depreciation, so I went back to TaxCut. Last year I got sick of TaxCut because it seemed to be entirely oriented to selling advice from H&R Block.
Looking for the best deal on TurboTax this year, I found a rebate from the sales price...plus [another] rebate for purchasing the new version of Quicken - or so I thought. Turns out it is one or the other. I guess that's OK, since the reviews of Quicken 2003 say stay away.
Now, after the Jan 15 software update, I still can't import my 2002 TaxCut return, nor is it loading my Quicken data. Additionally, I've been searching the web for external opinions of TurboTax while waiting for their Online Chat help to answer, only to discover that the general opinion of both the TurboTax product and their product support is extremely negative.
It appears that Intuit intends to go out of business because they can't put a decent product on the street anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: ok, not so bad after all
Review: I was very upset when I could not get the updates for this program and the state sofware downloads on a 56K modem. Since that time I've upgraded to a cable modem and was able to finish my taxes with turbo tax. A very good product, after all. We have two businesses, lots of stock buys and sells and other misc. things that needed to be handled. The software had a lot of help and information along the way. The sofware really does a good job at walking you through all of the details. For many fields requiring a dollar value you can pull up a detail summary and type in all of the items that make up that dollar value (itemized deductions for example). When you print all your tax information you can print these details as well. That way you can see where you got that figure - very convenient to have this included. Lots of tax help and explanations available when you don't understand something. Provides error checking and running tab of what you owe or are getting back (always visible in top right corner of the screen). Provides check to see if anything might cause a red flag for audits and gives you reasons and ways to avoid raising red flags. Overall, I'm impressed.I will be using this software again next year. (below is my original post prior to using the software) _____
I bought this software from intuit Web site a few months ago and installed it from a CD. I tried to dowload the free State software, first with my internet security on and then with it turned off (even though there is no mention that you need to disable your firewall). Still after 1 hour and 45 minutes the download was not complete. Because it is now tax time, and this company seemingly doesn't have enough staff for customer support, I can get no help with getting this State software dowloaded. I also cannot successfully download the turbo tax updates for the product. I am on a 56K modem unfortunately, but that should not be a problem. It is midnight now and I am still waiting for a live chat session (there was a 40 minute wait). So far, all I need is the product that I paid for and I can't even get that. I am very nervous about actually having to rely on the product to file my taxes. My guess is that a refund is out of the question, but next year, I'll try TaxCut.
Rating:
Summary: Beware E-Filing With TurboTax
Review: I'm a sole proprietor who has used this version of TurboTax for a few years and liked it immensely in the past. This year though, I got caught by a software glitch that made an unauthorized $2,300 direct debit for this year's first estimated tax payment from my bank account. I'm in graduate school and working less this year, so this hurt. Luckily my bank stuck with me to get the claim processed, but my initial customer service from TurboTax was horrible. They've finally realized their snafu and sent me an email with an actual customer service number to call that doesn't have a $20 fee attached to the call. I called and they promised to refund any overdraft charges and give me a free version of the product for 2004. They say they're fixing the problem, that only .25 percent of their customers had the problem, but I will never e-file through them again. Not sure yet about using TurboTax again.
Rating:
Summary: A no hassel software program
Review: I've used TurboTax several years in a row now and once used TaxCut. Frankly, Turbo is easier to use for me after all is said and done. The download for the free state forms was a bit tricky this year, though the reasons are still unclear, but they did eventually download. Our taxes were completed in just a couple of hours, we'll get back a nice tidy refund as always. I've never been too particularly fond of Microsoft's TaxCut with all it's pushy pitches to get their other software programs so this was the best answer for me.
Rating:
Summary: Fair deal considering
Review: I've used TurboTax several years in a row now and once used TaxCut. Frankly, Turbo is easier to use for me after all is said and done. The download for the free state forms was a bit tricky this year, though the reasons are still unclear, but they did eventually download. Our taxes were completed in just a couple of hours, we'll get back a nice tidy refund as always. I've never been too particularly fond of Microsoft's TaxCut with all it's pushy pitches to get their other software programs so this was the best answer for me.
Rating:
Summary: opaque and useless
Review: If you need to file a schedule C, or live in New York State, I would suggest spending your money on the services of a tax professional rather than this cripplingly flawed piece of software. (Based on my past years' experiences and several comparative reviews I've seen of the 2003 software packages, TaxCut is even worse!) The interview questions are confusingly worded for Federal, but are completely opaque for State, as if the questions were pulled directly off the state IT-201 form. I thought these programs were supposed to explain things. The help links skip definitions of many key terms, and are almost wholly absent from the State questionnaire, where examples and explanations are most needed, especially when tax is computed differently from the federal rates. What's worse, the State program asks for data that was already entered in the Federal questionnaire without even giving a worksheet or line number to refer to! If you go back to Federal and look it up, watch out: you'll have to answer every State question again to get back to the screen you had reached. There is absolutely no point to using this program. Go see an accountant -- you will thank yourself.
Rating:
Summary: complicated returns? this is your best choice
Review: PC version on Win XP. I only used for my personal return and this is my 3rd year with turbotax product. It is the only one that has any chance of handling more complicated returns with business income- none of the others even listed the forms I need. This year there was a glitch with form 6252- it imported data from last year but did not prompt me in the interview. I called support on tax day and had a live person within a few minutes. Later I used the chat for a follow up question.
service- 5 stars
software- 4 stars
overall value- 5 stars
I completed a complex return and 2 others a little less complex in less than a day. The help window on the side and other pop-ups (on request) answered every question I had (other than software issue) I also recommend "It's deductible" which integrates wonderfully with turbo and pays for itself many times over.
Rating: 
Summary: Get the regular turbotax, not this
Review: The name "Home and Business" is misleading. This product will *not* help you do any taxes for your business. It will help you print out W2s and other forms for any employees, but it won't help you complete a business tax return if you have a partnership, LLC or corporation. For that, you need the similarly-named TurboTax For Business. If you have a sole proprietorship, this product might be useful if you have lots of depreciation. However, all it will do is a 1040 for individuals. It does a good job of this, and it is more helpful than regular Turbotax in calculating depreciation et al. for Schedule C. But again, I stress: if you are not a sole proprietor, you likely will not need this. The remainder of the product is the same as TurboTax Deluxe for individuals.
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