Rating: 
Summary: hopelessly annoying,needlessly confusing,potentially expensi
Review: I've never used tax software before. While it has some advantages, there are sufficient traps,confusions and incompletions to make this a potentially hazardous undertaking. Little things like being very obtuse about including your estimated tax in total taxes. Big things like not having the rules for underpayment penalty of taxes in the software. Come on guys, it's not that hard they're in IRS Pub 17. Dumb things like trying to assess a premature IRA withdrawl penalty for a 1099-R pertaining to a matured life insurance policy. Then there's the mess with Sched K-1. None of these are ready yet, try downloading. 5 hours later, it gets all the way through and crashes. In some ways it was better than manual. At least it would have been if I could control it and or complete it. I guess I'll just use this as a set of crib notes for manual prep. Oh well
Rating:
Summary: Did my taxes, but felt like I was being sold the whole time!
Review: I've used Turbotax for years, but had several issues with the software this year:1. I was pitched additional services thoughout the program, including it's deductible, state forms, audit protection, tax review and worst of all tax advice. The tax advice was the worst because they charge you $19.95 per CALL for advice that the IRS gives you for free. The IRS advice by the way is quick, professional, and confidential. While using the program, I felt like I was at a time-share sales meeting. 2. The program kept asking me to calculate the cost basis on my IRA even though I am 41 years old and will not take a distribution for at least 25 years. I finally plugged in 0, but am concerned that this is now baked into my taxes somehow? 3. Each time I opened the program, I had to repeat the easy step interview. My prior answers were still there, but I had to waste time confirming them all. 4. To question the IRA basis, I was offered the choice of looking through the FAQs on-line (not there), paying $19.95 per CALL for tech support, or "chatting" for free. I chose to chat. The person responded to me only 3 times in 16 minutes and was unable to answer my question. She was clearly not a native English speaker (maybe she didn't understand my question?). At the end of the chat, she said, "when you close the chat window, you will (sic) asked to complete a short survey. Can we agree that my answers solved you (sic) questions?". I said they did not, and surprise! I did not get a survey. Turbotax has not responded to my emails on these issues. I hope it did my taxes correctly - fortunately, they are simple enough that it would be pretty hard to mess them up. If your situation is more complex, I wouldn't risk it.
Rating: 
Summary: Only 4 this time since
Review: it wouldn't import from ItsDeductible. However, for $20.00, it does everything I ever need it to do. Their website is easy to follow (I've never needed it, though). The only reason to get the next model is if you want money advice. This one does forms, it's just too easy. It thinks of things you wouldn't have, etc, etc. What can I say, I've used this since 1998, tried TaxCut once and it was horrific! I just get my papers out and sit down and answer the questions. Woohoo!
Rating: 
Summary: Last Chance to make a first impression
Review: Just tried several times to buy Turbo Tax Download off your website. This would be my first purchase on Amazon. Your server just locked up during each attempt. Hopefully no charge on my Amex Card. Best Buy here I come.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth it if you're going to itemize...otherwise forget it
Review: Okay, the download process was a nightmare as described by my earlier review. However, three hours later I have a very comprehensive itemized return, which would have been way too complex to do on my own without the guidance of the filing questions. The good news is that I had done my taxes by hand last night and came up with a large amount owed, and after using the deductions calculator in TurboTax ended up with a refund instead. So it more than paid for itself.
My major complaint is that there appears to be no way to review the content of your return until the very last "print and submit" step, and I wanted to check the numbers prior to actually submitting it.
Rating:
Summary: Worth it if you're going to itemize...otherwise forget it
Review: Okay, the download process was a nightmare as described by my earlier review. However, three hours later I have a very comprehensive itemized return, which would have been way too complex to do on my own without the guidance of the filing questions. The good news is that I had done my taxes by hand last night and came up with a large amount owed, and after using the deductions calculator in TurboTax ended up with a refund instead. So it more than paid for itself.
My major complaint is that there appears to be no way to review the content of your return until the very last "print and submit" step, and I wanted to check the numbers prior to actually submitting it.
Rating:
Summary: TurboTax quality is slipping. Time to look at alternatives.
Review: This is my fifth year of using Turbo Tax Basic to file my return. I have always liked the product but disliked the company. I have always found Intuit's customer service poor and their insistent marketing distasteful. But I can live with that as long as the quality of the product was acceptable. However, this year's product (Turbo Tax Basic on CD) is without a doubt the buggiest version of Turbo Tax I have ever used. I have previously worked for the IRS and have and MBA and I do my own taxes. They are not terribly complicated and my problem is not with the actual tax calculation portion of the program (which worked OK) but rather with the installation and startup of the program. I currently am teaching Information Systems at a Texas university so I know my way around a computer. However, I could not initially install the program because of the "necessary version files" problem. Intuit posted a patch on their site to work around that problem and I got the program installed. Now, when I go back to restart the program I get a "Your configuration has been modified pdr.ini startup. Please re-install). I haven't even wasted my time trying to figure that out, I just reinstalled the program. Doing taxes is stressful enough without having to worry about your tax software crashing on you or fearing that once you close the program it won't start up again. I have also read terrible reviews about the latest version of Intuit's other flagship product, Quicken. It appears that the company is getting sloppy in its development and testing. I have my 2003 return in pdf format so at least I can file it. I haven't decided if I will submit it electronically yet or not. I would hate to have it "eaten" by an unstable product. But what I have decided is that next tax season I plan to review alternative products.
Rating:
Summary: No Activation! Still Better Than TaxCut
Review: This is my sixth year using Quicken TurboTax and it will be my forth year using the state tax version. Intuit listened and dropped the product activation this year. I know that it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth but I'm glad they dropped it. Still, I can't imagine going back to pen and paper to do taxes. The program takes you step-by-step through the tax process by asking you questions about the various sections of the forms. It also prompts you to make you remember about things that may have slipped you mind, like other deductions. And, it makes suggestions for deductions that you may not have thought about. At the end of the process you can print out the forms for mailing in the traditional format or in a format that's easy for the IRS computers to read. In addition, you can opt to file electronicly. The help section IS very helpful. It actually makes sense of the rules and instructions for filing your taxes and explains the relevant sections of the tax code in easy to understand language. My one suggestion is that you have all your papers with you before you start the process. You can, of course, save your work and come back to finish or edit it, but it is a pain to be half way through and remember that your mortgage statement is two floors away. I tried Taxcut last year because of the product activation on TurboTax. I had problems with it right off. It stated on the box that you could import TurboTax files but when I tried it wouldn't let me. The Taxcut web site suggested that this was a common problem and that you had to edit your TurboTax file (with TurboTax) to bring it down to a certain size. Still, it didn't tell you what that size was ok or really give you any idea on what to cut out. (I thought all of the our tax info was important). My advice: TurboTax is still the best tax prep software. Don't do your taxes without it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazon's Download Software Stinks, or Has Insuff. Bandwidth
Review: To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with this program. But in the end I figured I wouldn't be out too much for the $20 price. I ended up being very happy with this software.
Just for comparisons sake I did my taxes on my own (on paper) before using TurboTax. I actually ended up getting an extra $500 back on my return because of TurboTax. Needless to say it payed for itself!
The program is easy to use and comes up with deductions that I never would have thought of. After installation and a download for updates I was able to finish my taxes in about 30 minutes. If you want to make tax time a little easier and possibly get back more money (or pay a little less) then this program is for you.
Rating:
Summary: TurboTax Impossible to Download!
Review: TurboTax may or may not be a good product; I was never able to successfully download it!
Unfortunately I needed it the day I purchased it, and the "Help" offered by the Amazon.com links were not specific enough to identify the source of the trouble. After three hours I gave up and requested a refund.
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