Home :: Software :: Personal Finance :: Tax Preparation  

Investment Tools
Money Management
Other
Tax Preparation

TaxCut 2003 Premium (Mac)

TaxCut 2003 Premium (Mac)

List Price: $39.95
Your Price: $39.95
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Warning: No Mac State taxcut available !!!!
Review: After purchasing this item and beginning my tax adventure I started to realise that the State Tax edition was unavailable. I contacted the company and they said mid February. In mid February they stated early March but were unable to commit to a date. There web site states:

There are currently no updates available for our 2003 Macintosh states. Please check back at a later date.

There help desk and customer service mentality are extremely poor.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Forget any support for Mac users!!
Review: Bought this program, as I have for several years, to do my taxes early. TaxCut always wishes for you to do an "update" on their software before using it. When I tried to update, I got a message that the update would not be available until mid February. When I wrote support and complained and ask about it, they said not to expect an update for the Mac until the end of February. Then, I was told later, they didn't know when it would be updated. What good is it if I can't do my taxes with it when I purchase it? The Windoz version is already complete according to their site. Save yourself the hassle and get another program for the Mac to do your taxes this year!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Misses deductions and loses data
Review: Having used MacIntax and TurboTax before, this was my second year using TaxCut Premium for Mac, and the software this year seems to be worse than it was previously. The interview left out several important deductions related to mortgages and mortgage refinancing. These missed items were worth hundreds of dollars in deductions for me, and if I hadn't read through the online IRS forms, I would not have known to take the deductions.

Also, the promised electronic filing rebate form was not in the box where it was supposed to be.

There were two even more distressing things. First, TaxCut lost some important data (regarding a passive loss carryover from the previous year). It simply disappeared despite my having carefully entered the data. Second, it converted our rental income into a "royalty" and wouldn't let me override this to make the correction. Both of these errors caused the final form to list a larger tax burden than was actually due. I eventually gave up and went to TurboTax on the web.

I won't be using TaxCut next year.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No Forms for DC
Review: I concure with everyone who purchased TaxCut for Mac in good faith that updates would provide you with everything needed to complete your taxes. I certainly assumed TaxCut would be as complete as TurboTax had been in years past, especially when it came to completing the state (District) forms. What a breeze it had been! So surely TaxCut would do the same.

Well, it doesn't. I'm one of the unfortunates to be living in an area where the state forms aren't available. And after attempts to contact TaxCut for at least an explanation as to why this wasn't evident beforehand, I gave up, bit the bullet and began the process of completing the federal portion.

When I got to the window within the federal section that reminded me that my state (District) wasn't supported on the Mac (yeah, rub it in again, TaxCut), I followed the directions and clicked on the District of Columbia link for downloading the forms/publications from DC's tax department. The link took me to an interactive map of the U.S. on TaxCut's website with embedded links to every state's tax department. What a great convenience... if you live anywhere else in America BUT DC. In fact, DC doesn't even exist on the map! So much for our nation's capital.

My regret this year is that I didn't follow the advice of friends and file through TurboTax's Online service. Sorry, TaxCut folks, I'm back with TurboTax next year!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best of an Imperfect Lot
Review: I don't find TurboTax (or anything from Intuit) to be particularly well-designed from an interface perspective, and TaxCut also has some flaws. But I've been using it for the last two years and I have to say it's the best tax filing software on the Mac that I've used to date.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Where is the State Version?
Review: I don't have any particular problems with the federal version. I don't necessarily think that it is better or worse than Turbo Tax, which is the software that I usually use and will probably be using next year. But my question is this: Its Feb. 12, where is the state version? The PC version is out, why does it take so long to get the Mac version? I got an email saying that the State Mac Version for Virginia was available to download, only to go to their web site and find that it wasn't available except for ordering.

I think this will be the first and last year I use TurboTax.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Non-intuitive interface and functionality
Review: I found this software very strange. I have used TurboTax online in the past and things have been a breeze. My taxes changed signifigantly this year so I decided to buy Taxcut because it doesn't have Spyware. Taxcut would have skipped quite a few deductions had I not known that I could take certain deductions - I kind of had to force myself into the forms and override certain things. Also, I did my roomates' taxes and it skipped over a $3000 education deduction that she was entitled too. I don't really care for the interview style of filing - answering a series of questions and it files your taxes according to your answers - because it missed several deductions I was entitled to. All in all, I'm very dissappointed and won't be using this software again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Made the switch from TurboTax.
Review: I switched from TurboTax last year. The main reason being the issues with spyware in the PC version of that program. I also didn't like all of the hoops they were trying to make their customers jump through. Or the fact that they charge a 25% higher premium price for the Mac version of their software.

Using TaxCut for the first time was a decent experience. The program itself is easy to use and negotiate. Jumping back and forth in the return was a fairly simple process. The downside, most of the FAQ pages seemed to go nowhere.

I was able to quickly import my tax info from the previous year's TurboTax files without any problem. The user interface is easily understandable. Overall, TaxCut seems to be a step or two behind TurboTax. But the end results are the same, a tax refund which more than pays for the program. And those steps behind are small steps.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easier to use than TurboTax
Review: I used TurboTax since 1989, but I switched to TaxCut last year after Intuit initiated their draconian license activation complete with spyware! I will never use TurboTax again. TaxCut is easier to use than TurboTax.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worked great
Review: I'm running system 9.2 and had no problems with download, installation or running TaxCut. This is the fourth year I've used it with no problems, and that included the e-filing. Very user friendly.


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates