Rating: 
Summary: Do yourself a favor - Buy TurboTax instead
Review: I've used Turbotax and Taxcut the past 5 years. My taxes are slightly complex - mortgage, stock trades, S-Corp, and Turbotax makes it very easy. It removes the complexity by asking clear questions.Taxcut is poorly designed. If you've never used Turbotax, you'll think Taxcut is OK. I spend so much time because Taxcut will re-ask questions about ordinary dividends under a totally different section. I have no idea if they are talking about the dividends from my equities or dividends from some other form (partnership, etc). So then I think - hmmm - what do they want here - I don't know. For my State Taxes I withheld my overpayment to apply for this year. In Taxcut, I can't figure out how to get it in. I print the form and there's a line item for it - but in Taxcut software I've gone thru every question 3 times - can't be found. So now it says I owe state taxes and a penalty - but I don't. I may have to manually do my state taxes - since it's easier then using Taxcut. There are numerous examples of confusion with Taxcut. I've never had those with TurboTAx. Yes it costs a bit more, but it's worth is unless your taxes are very basic.
Rating: 
Summary: As Good As Any Tax Software, Yet Cheaper!
Review: It never ceases to amaze me how people decide to denigrate a product because of "trouble" with a vendor (shop someplace else!), customer support (is any of it good these days?), unrealistic expectations (a $20 software program isn't a $75/hr financial consultant), their system problems (when was the last time you ran disk clean-up?), etc. Let's stick to reviewing the PRODUCT, shall we?
OK, TaxCut Deluxe is a real bargain. It's consistently cheaper than Intuit, does as good a job (yes, I've used both), saves time and money by filling in a ridiculous number of tax forms, electronically transmits everything (getting you a faster refund), and pays you back for the cost of one e-file and the state version. So it doesn't meet ALL of the people's needs ALL of the time ... what product does?! It has always handled everything I could throw at it, and has caught things I know I would have missed without it. I can't give it 5 stars, because of a minor input glitch (the program would jump back to the top of a column whenever I clicked the next box in one input screen), but otherwise, it was fast and easy.
Now, if you want to gripe about other things, use online forums. Amazon has ALWAYS been a straight-shooter with me, that's why I keep coming back! I've used countless software programs, yet consistently have problems with only one manufacturer (#@!* Microsoft!). Finally, I'm not one of the 2 dozen people in the US who need Form XC-3249Q. If your like most people, you'll love this software, and have more money in your pocket afterwards ... and isn't that what you REALLY wanted to know?
Rating:
Summary: Made the switch from TurboTax.
Review: Last year, I switched from TurboTax to TaxCut. The main reason being that the makers of TurboTax decided to include a piece of spyware with their software which couldn't be deleted from your computer. Plus, you had to jump through considerable hoops in order to even install it. No more of that nonsense for me. TaxCut, to be honest, seems to be a step behind TurboTax. Not a huge step, but a step nonetheless. The program is intuative enough, and will get the job done for you without the hassles though. Basically, it's a trade off. You get slightly less functionality with whole lot less hassle.
Rating: 
Summary: Switched from Turbotax last year too
Review: The transition went better than expected as I was able to transfer schedule B and similar stuff that saves retyping...not just name, address, etc. Turbotax users will, of course, find the interface a bit different...but the learning curve isn't steep. When I had a question, I was able to talk to support on the phone without paying for it. Speaking of paying, Taxcut is usually 20-30% cheaper than equivalent Turbotax...has been for a long time, so I'd expect those making the change to reap the savings benefits for years to come. Also, this year I got Money 2004 Deluxe for free after rebates with Taxcut Deluxe running $...after rebate. Since Quicken has gone way downhill in recent years [read user reviews] it seemed a good time to make the change.
For those concerned about spyware/adware, a common complaint with Turbotax: I ran Adaware 6 & Spybot S&D after installation and found no spyware or ad generators.
Rating:
Summary: Horrid, buggy software
Review: This is horrendous. I switched from TurboTax to TaxCut last year because of all the spyware hoopla. Last year wasn't so terrible, but this year's version is proving to be a complete POS. When I finally finished my tax returns and was ready to e-file, I was told that I had "errors" on my state return. When I went to fix the error, I discovered that the "error" was a form that was missing my child's name...for "interest or income reported for a minor" (something like that). I did not HAVE any interest or income to report for my child. All the numbers on the form were zeros, so I couldn't figure out why the darn program was even USING that form. I couldn't figure out how to remove the form, and couldn't enter in my son's name, because if I did it said I would be unable to e-file my return! ARRRGGGHH!!! I couldn't even find where the information was supposed to be coming from, because the dialog box with that information in it stated that the information wasn't coming from any other form. It made absolutely no sense. I finally emailed customer support and then shut my computer off for the night. Today, when I turned my computer on and opened the program...voila! No more error. It makes absolutely no sense what.so.ever. DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE!! Just bite the bullet and buy TurboTax instead. Download some free anti-spyware software and remove the spyware after you install TurboTax. *sigh* I will never make this mistake again.
Rating:
Summary: It does the job
Review: This review is for people who use 1040. I did not have any major problems when using the TaxCut:-
1. I managed to import data from TaxCut 2002 so I saved time when doing my tax.
2. It did all the calculations for me (save time)
3. All the smart 'gadgets' ask the questions to make you aware of your financial matters during 2003.
4. Any discrepancies, it will tell you when you 'run' the
'Check my form-utility' thing. So, you can do the validations yourself.
5. When it comes to doing tax, this thing is as good as it gets - if you compare it to the tax advisor(1040 form only! I cannot talk for other types of forms). I cannot justify paying $150 to a tax advisor when my return is about $500.00.
6. When you e-file, it asks for your Adjusted Gross Income. It's very handy because TaxCut remembered it for me - by retrieving it from my 2002 data. Potential Problems(Well these are the problems that I faced)
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1. Resolution problem. my laptop has a very high resolution (1600 X 1200) so some of the texts and lines do not appear correctly. I had to re-install it on my pc (has a regular resolution) and it works fine!
2. E-file tax rebate problem
What an Einstein! Who put a rebate form in the Quick Guider. I'm not a messy person so I threw away the quick guide. Guess what, I threw away the e-file rebate for ($14.95). I am still waiting for them to get back to me.
3. Multiple stamps for multiple rebate forms
My god! I have to use 4 stamps to get the rebates back. Plus you have to photocopy your receipts 4 times, and the serial numbers too. Yup, when giving back money, they don't make it easy for you.
4. It rounded some numbers for my capital gains/loss(in state form) , i.e. $37.8, but left it 'un-round' in my federal formi,e $32.78.
Hence, I received some warnings when trying to e-file the state tax.
5. The annoying part is when you want to get back to the software, it doesn't know where you left off. Hence, you have to remember what you did last time. Overall, I am pretty happy with TaxCut. I was using Turbo Tax for a while but the 'copyright' thing bothers me. I don't want a software vendor to install any malicious monitoring program on my pc. My suggestion:
1. Make sure you gather all your receipts first before start working on the forms - That is one thing that it can't do; advise you that you forget to file your capital gains/losses.
2. Print out the forms and verify the numbers before you e-file them. I just wanted to be sure.
Rating:
Summary: Tax Cut Doesn't Cut it
Review: This software had us owing over $700.00. We knew something was wrong so on top of the $26.00 I paid for the software I then went to have a tax person look them over for another $30.00. Apparently the software automatically puts numbers in that it shouldn't. Bottom line, we did them over ourselves and got a return of over $2,000.00 which is about our usual amount. I begged my husband to try this software. Never again.
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