Rating: Summary: TurboTax Review: This is great software. I am a computer & finance specialist, and have been using TurboTax to do my taxes for the past several years. With this software, I can easily do the taxes for family and friends. Don't bother paying more for the Deluxe version if you don't need to, this is enough. Great product, I will buy it every year.
Rating: Summary: The only way to do your taxes Review: This is my third year using Quicken TurboTax and it will be my first year using the state tax version. I'm sold on it. 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.My advice: Don't do your taxes without it.
Rating: Summary: Easy and Accurate, but Think Before Buying Review: This product makes taxes very easy. It does put a bunch of ads on your desktop, but those are easily removed. The one thing I would recommend considering is that www.turbotax.com also allows you to do your taxes on-line, without having to order the product. After rebates and everything, this on-line option ends up being the same price as what Amazon is offering (you'd save only the shipping and hassle of having to mail in the rebates). Also, you can get an additional rebate (on the on-line filing) through some on-line brokerage firms.
Rating: Summary: Bad Software, and getting worse Review: This was the last year I will use any Quicken products. Turbo Tax consistently gives confusing message boxes (i.e. Did it print? <Cancel> <OK>), refuses to allow the user to change electronic filing status, and overall is designed only for the simplest forms. It would not allow me view the files before sending. Starting and stoping the program is burdensome at best, with the obvious intent that someone sits down and fills in ALL the information in one sitting. I can not recommend avoiding bad interfaces and design enough. This program once had promise, but now is as complicated and cumbersome to use as Windows itself.
Rating: Summary: Bad Software, and getting worse Review: This was the last year I will use any Quicken products. Turbo Tax consistently gives confusing message boxes (i.e. Did it print? <Cancel> <OK>), refuses to allow the user to change electronic filing status, and overall is designed only for the simplest forms. It would not allow me view the files before sending. Starting and stoping the program is burdensome at best, with the obvious intent that someone sits down and fills in ALL the information in one sitting. I can not recommend avoiding bad interfaces and design enough. This program once had promise, but now is as complicated and cumbersome to use as Windows itself.
Rating: Summary: software is not ready for prime-time Review: When one starts the software, it immediately instructs one to update it through the Internet. However, the software crashed repeatedly when it was about to install the updates. Furthermore, if your legal residence is in one of the US territories (i.e.: Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Mariana Islands, etc.) this software is absolutely useless. I decided to buy the software after I ran into serious difficulties using the online version, thinking that the CD version would have less glitches. Well, it appears that both suffer from the same problems.
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