Rating: 
Summary: Terrible - I Tried Both - Buy TurboTax for Business Instead!
Review: Hi Everyone,I am in the unfortunate position of having bought BOTH TurboTax and TaxCut, so I can give a first-hand comparison. Since I'm limited to 1,000 words, I'll give one example and my opinion: SPARE YOURSELF AND BUY TURBOTAX. I am is the President & CEO of a small S-corporation. I am also cheap. I thought I'd save a few dollars and purchase TaxCut Premium instead of TurboTax for Business - my thinking was that I'd be looking out for the "little guy" developers while saving my pennies. End result: I had too many problems to list. The software was buggy and hard to understand (at one point I lost my return data by downloading updates for all forms - this causes an array overflow in TaxCut). More importantly, the TaxCut interview is terrible, almost non-existent. As an example: my company was first incorporated this year. That means I can amortize startup and organizational expenses, but in order to do so I need to attach an election statement. TaxCut gave me no way to make this election, and no interview whatsoever to cover that topic. Their "interview" just tells me to fill out form 4562, section VI (which I could do with a pencil). I finally got so fed up with TaxCut that I bought TurboTax to compare the two products. I suspected that TurboTax might be more capable. I was right. Back that the startup expenses example: TurboTax immediately deduced that I was a new corporation from my short tax year, SUGGESTED that I make the election, and provided the appropriate statement forms. Fantastic! This is only one of hundreds of examples...but space permitting, I am trying to do you a favor: don't be penny wise and pound foolish - buy TurboTax.
Rating: 
Summary: Buggy and Crude, and That's the Good News!
Review: I had been a faithful TurboTax user since 1996, but this year decided to give TaxCut a chance as I do not like the way Intuit does business, and was hoping for a better option. Unfortunately, I will have to go back to TurboTax next year as TaxCut is very substandard. I have a moderately complex tax return (including a Schedule C business) and have a fairly firm understanding of the tax codes that pertain to me, which was a good thing, as the interview is NOT complete in several important areas, and presumes that you know how some specifics apply to you. This was especially true in business deductions, and the dreadful Schedule D interrogation. I had one issue on a broker statement that was never addressed in the interview, nor was any help available on how the program wanted it entered (it was a 'cash in lieu' transaction). I checked the help pages and indexes, but it had no idea. I finally had to essentially do my Schedule D by hand and make sure the numbers were correct, as the only way to enter it was as a dividend (which it technically was not.) I have never had problems like this with TurboTax. I am grateful that I had no foreign taxes paid this year; I don't think I would have had the patience for that. Another problem I had was with the entries for the form 8606 ('Nondeductible IRAs') which couldn't figure my basis from my 2002 return plus my 2003 contributions. The verbiage used to ask the questions in the IRA interview BEGS you to make an error in entering the basis. When I used the 'show form' function, unlike TurboTax, it will not show the IRS form, it shows the IRS form plus a lot of TaxCut worksheet entries intermingled with the real form which is extremely annoying, when all you really want to do is look at the real form to see what the program is doing for certain entries. The interface itself is laughable. It takes up about the middle half of my monitor, and there is no way to maximize it. Why on earth TaxCut would ignore huge bands of space on the sides of the presentation and make the font small and hard to decipher in a central window is a mystery to me. Beware of the interview. If you have anything other than an extremely simple return, it is inadequate, and you will need help (I recommend the J. K. Lasser "Your Income Tax 2004" book) figuring out how to enter some data. My overall biggest complaint, though, without doubt, was the error check at the end of the program. After I finished entering my data, it said I had nine errors that had to be corrected, and ten warnings, that I should examine. In all cases the 'errors' were due to things TaxCut did not do correctly. For instance, it imported my 2002 TurboTax results and saw I filed Schedule C-EZ, but this year I needed a regular Schedule C. TaxCut was not smart enough to delete the C-EZ, and in fact came up with a paragraph long explanation of where I needed to look for entries pertinent to the C-EZ and manually delete them or change them to refer to the new Schedule C, and only then could I delete the Schedule C-EZ (which was, at any rate, empty.) The other 'errors' were because TaxCut doesn't grasp what 401K contributions do to your W-2. I wrestled with fixing these errors for about two days. Ugh. I can't recommend this product. I gave it two stars only for the simple reason that after all was said and done, it did compute the taxes correctly, and the state taxes were actually a snap. Save yourself a headache, buy TurboTax instead. I don't like Intuit either, but I like staying sane more than I dislike Intuit. Never again will I use TaxCut.
Rating:
Summary: this year is harder than ever!
Review: I have scarcely two weeks to file my corporate business taxes, yet Tax Cut serenely says: NOT APPROVED FOR PRINTING across the top of the form. Ye gods, I can't even print out a sample form to help me file a hand-written form! This cannot be right. I have used Tax Cut (Home & Business) for the past three years because I have both personal, corporate, and trust returns to file, and the Tax Cut version is far less expensive than TurboTax, which peddles separate software for each use. Like others, I find Tax Cut for Business buggy and not intuitive, but I have previously been able to work through it. But this year's experience--not being able to print a return in time for filing--has really soured me on it. The online help is pretty shabby too.
Rating: 
Summary: IF YOU NEED 1041 YOU ARE STUCK WITH THIS
Review: I have used the personal Taxcut for years and love it....I needed to file a 1041 for a family trust beginning last year so I looked into the business version of Turbotax and Taxcut...Turbotax didn't list a 1041, so I had to get Taxcut Home and Business....The 1041 form was buggy and frustrating (save your work often) but I managed to produce the forms and attachments eventually even though inexperienced in trust taxes...a word to the wise: don't wait until the last minute to download upgrades (you get a program "shell" in the box and almost everything must be downloaded from H&R Block)...I had to file for extension --not a major hassle since it's automatic and for 6 months with business taxes-- because I couldn't get the upgrades pre-April 15th.
Rating:
Summary: Worst software I've ever tried to use
Review: I purchased this software based on reviews I read on Amazon where Turbo Tax wasn't rated as highly on the day I was researching. In reading the reviews today, I am gratified to learn that my problems were common among other users.
The problems I encountered were extreme difficulty installing the software and then not having updates available yet. When they finally were available, then I had trouble getting the updates to download and function properly. I had a problem getting assistance because the help people operate on East Coast time so they aren't available in the evenings when I'm working on this. I cannot believe that any product related to taxes would provide such limited hours of support. Long and short - after about 6 frustrating days, I gave up on TaxCut. I went to the IRS and my state website and downloaded extension forms as I had run out of time, patience, and sanity. For the aggravation I just experienced, I want to warn anyone else that this software is horrible. Since I had to do so much uninstalling and reinstalling, my computer is noticeably slower than before my Tax Cut experience. I hope that I didn't screw up my computer as they had me doing all kinds of things to it to try to get the software to download. They said the registry was not fully installing for some reason. Now I think maybe my computer was trying to tell me something - like "please don't load this garbage into my hard drive" - STAY AWAY FROM TAX CUT HOME & BUSINESS!
Rating:
Summary: Use At Your Own Risk
Review: I selected this product because it was the only comprehensive business product I could download (why pay for and wait for shipping if you can avoid it?). I experienced many of the problems of the other reviewers, including: --Gaps in the interview process that simply refer you to IRS instructions. --Software refused to launch after installing state product, requiring a reinstall. Fortunately, I had already printed out a draft of my return, so I'm just looking at having to do some data entry rather than start from scratch. --State product for my state (NY) was worse than the free, fill-in version of the form available from the New York State website. Not only did it simply display the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance instructions instead of walking me through my return, but the "updated" form refused to print because, according to the software, it wasn't approved by New York State. Fortunately, TaxCut offers a no-questions-asked refund, which I took them up on for the state business product. Because the refund is for a downloaded product, I didn't have to mail any disks back or fill out any forms to get my refund. I'm sticking with TaxCut, bugs and all, for my federal return because it is less than half the price of TurboTax , and because I don't want to pay for and wait for shipping of a product I have no way of knowing is any better. Here's what I suggest for other intrepid souls who wish to use TaxCut to file their business returns: --View the product for what it is: simply an aid to filling out your own taxes. --Become thoroughly familiar with your own tax situation; get tax books and download the IRS forms and instructions as well. Don't rely on the software to know anything you don't--and be pleasantly surprised when it does. --Check your completed return carefully for any anomalies (mine inexplicably included a form I didn't need). --Do not purchase the state product; you'll do much better with the interactive forms available from your state website.
Rating: 
Summary: Worked for Me
Review: I used Turbo Tax for many, many years. A couple of years ago I bought a copy and used it a month or so later. Forward planning!! Well, all the rebates you have send in within 30 days of purchase. I got NO response from my many e mails to the company. I was ripped of to the tune of about a $100!! I will no longer purchase anything made by that company. I have used this product now for a few years and am very happy with it. I have had no problems with rebates, the program, etc... I recommed proofing the whole thing before you finalize it. I found something I mis understood but I had already sent it. It was to their favor so I didn't worry about it.
Rating:
Summary: Worst program EVER
Review: If this product even exists next year, I will be amazed. This program is by far the WORST program I have ever used. The interface is bad. The installation is buggy. The data entry only "remembers" the first letter of what you type and you don't find that out until later in the interview process. The updates disable the program so it no longer loads. The tax forms are still "out of date" and "unapproved" even though it is days before the corporate filing deadline. And then there is that slight problem of it not printing. Oh, and I tried installing this on three different computers with three different configurations (XP-Pro, 98, NT). It doesn't work on any of them! The fact that it does not work (in different ways, of course) really shows its bugginess... I would have almost thought the install on my CD was bad if it was consistently sucky. But no. This is just a horrible piece of software. At one point I did get some semblance of the software to run (no printing, but I didn't know that until I finished the effort), but in the so-called "interview" it just lists off almost random questions that you have to figure out what the hell they mean. If I was that much of a tax-wiz, I wouldn't need a program like this! I expected some layman's-language guidance, but instead get random quotes from the IRS form. With no explanation, even when I click on the supposed "help" (which tells me how to use my mouse or tab in the program - gee that helps). I am absolutely taking them up on their 100% guarantee and getting a refund. This embarrassment of a program should never have seen the light of day, and can only be horrible joke of some kind. Run away from this program, and get a refund if you already wasted your money on this.
Rating:
Summary: Worst program EVER
Review: If this product even exists next year, I will be amazed. This program is by far the WORST program I have ever used. The interface is bad. The installation is buggy. The data entry only "remembers" the first letter of what you type and you don't find that out until later in the interview process. The updates disable the program so it no longer loads. The tax forms are still "out of date" and "unapproved" even though it is days before the corporate filing deadline. And then there is that slight problem of it not printing. Oh, and I tried installing this on three different computers with three different configurations (XP-Pro, 98, NT). It doesn't work on any of them! The fact that it does not work (in different ways, of course) really shows its bugginess... I would have almost thought the install on my CD was bad if it was consistently sucky. But no. This is just a horrible piece of software. At one point I did get some semblance of the software to run (no printing, but I didn't know that until I finished the effort), but in the so-called "interview" it just lists off almost random questions that you have to figure out what the hell they mean. If I was that much of a tax-wiz, I wouldn't need a program like this! I expected some layman's-language guidance, but instead get random quotes from the IRS form. With no explanation, even when I click on the supposed "help" (which tells me how to use my mouse or tab in the program - gee that helps). I am absolutely taking them up on their 100% guarantee and getting a refund. This embarrassment of a program should never have seen the light of day, and can only be horrible joke of some kind. Run away from this program, and get a refund if you already wasted your money on this.
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE of the Business Product
Review: TaxCut Business has many problems. I am suprised that it is even on the market. This product does not even deserve 1 star! The interview is not exhaustive. The user must have a fair amount of tax knowledge to adequately utilize the software. The interview does not suggest forms that should be used. The update process corrupted my data. A long session with tech support concluded with me re-entering the return. After this pain, for some reason, I decided to stick with it and download the state business product. After much work, the return would not print because the forms had not been approved by the state. When I asked customer service about this, they assured me that approved forms would be available in a few weeks. Well, as of this writing it is 3/9/04. Business returns are due on 3/15/04. Exactly how long should I wait for "approved" forms? All in all, the product is difficult to use. If you are not an advanced computer & software user, you will really feel some pain. I could go on, but read the other reviews, some good points are brought up. I'm on the way to return the product for a refund.
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