Rating: 
Summary: EASY
Review: (E)asy - (A)ccurate - (S)traightforward - (Y)ou'll love it!
Rating: 
Summary: Updated: down to 1 star from 5...was: Excellent, as usual
Review: ...I purchased this in mid-March. Let's face it, buying tax software early invites a frustrating experience. There are last minute tax changes and bugs that will need ironed out. If you HAVE to have your taxes submitted in January, go to H&R Block.Otherwise, TurboTax continues to be a rock-solid choice. I have a complex return, with capital gains, mulitple income sources including K-1s, lots of optional schedules to fill out and a lot of deductions. TurboTax handled it all without a single glitch, as usual. The "reminder" feature that lets you know when you have an income source or deduction from a previous year that you didn't take this year is a real life-saver. Not only can you catch a deduction that otherwise would have been forgotten (where DID you put that Salvation Army receipt?) but forgetting that stock dividend can trigger an audit. The E-File is a great feature and worked like a charm, as did the state download and submission. TurboTax has made tax time a minor burden where it used to be a multiple day consuming nightmare. ...it is worth every penny, and it is deductible if you itemize! Also, if you are the kind of person who waits until the last minute, TurboTax is the ONLY way to go. Within a couple of hours your tax return will be ready to submit!
Rating: 
Summary: No [C-Dilla] on Mac version, but...
Review: ...Intuit charges $10 more for the Mac product. I guess you are paying for the premium of not having to worry about activation codes, limits on printing, and numbers of returns you may process. Don't let the grousing PC users scare you off from a pretty good product -- its always nice finding those little perks for the Mac user that stick it to the WinTel hegemony. I have always liked these Intuit products, especially if your tax returns aren't terribly complicated or exceptionally simple. The product seems to be up to the usual level of quality, but if they do institute the security system on Turbo for Mac next year, I will probaly switch to other software. I give three stars, since I fear for Intuit's future decisions about how to secure its software.
Rating:
Summary: Same problem as the PC version?
Review: According to the reviews for the TurboTax 2002 PC version, the product can only be printed from one computer. If you change computer in the future, you won't be able to file an amended return. You won't be able to print your tax return if IRS audit you. Intuit also installs ... C-dilla on the PC. If the same [also] applies to the Mac version, I don't recommend using this product.
Rating:
Summary: OK, but takes too long to set up.
Review: After installing Turbotax the download of the update took about 1 hour and 45 min. on a 56k
modem. Makes one wonder if there was anything on the original disk.
Rating:
Summary: Turbotax for Mac 2002
Review: An absolutely horrible product, avoid. On a G4 running OS 9 there were frequent unexplained crashes. Unable to efile my fedseral return beacause of some unexplained error that turbotax failed to correct and that Intuit's bogus chat help could not address. Of course, I could have paid 14.95 for telephone tech help but based on the pathetic chat help, its like throwing money in the ocean. When I attempted to efile my federal return a second time (which failed of course), even though I checked the box to efile the federal return only, my state return was efiled a second time!!!
Rating:
Summary: Good federal form help, lousy everything else
Review: First, the praise. This is the first time I've used Turbo Tax. Filling out my federal forms hasn't been this easy since I filed the 1040EZ in high school. The program provided simple answers to all of my uncertainties. My federal forms were ready in less than half of the usual time. Now, the criticism. All of the help that was so available for the federal forms was completely absent in the state (New Mexico). If I didn't understand a question, the program referred me to the state's own publications, which I then had to download directly from the state. Basically, I did the state form all on my own. Concidering download time, it took longer to complete my state than if I had picked up the forms at the post office. If it weren't for the rebate, I'd be furious. Who pays ... for this garbage? Next, the e-file completely failed. According to the program, my file was corrupt on arrival at the Intuit filing center. It allowed 3 tries before telling me to file by mail. Nevertheless, I was charged ...for e-filing. The website will tell you that they claim no responsibility for this and that the money is non-refundable. Fortunately, most of it is covered by the rebate.
In brief, if you want help completing your federal forms, this program is great. Forget about state filing or e-filing. They were a total waste of time and money.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Windows version
Review: I agree. This has been a good Mac product for years. And from what I hear, the Windows version requires you to activate it via the internet and has lots of ads but the Mac version does not.
Rating:
Summary: A 10 year TurboTax for Mac user swithes to TaxCut
Review: I am a highly experienced computer user and had been a Mac-In-Tax/Turbo Tax for Mac user for more than ten years. My negative experience with the 2002 version (OS/9) of this non-functional product was extremely frustrating, time consuming and disappointing. My recommendation to Mac users is to switch to TaxCut. When I started working with an early release version of the software which I had ordered last year, I was unable to successfully download the TurboTax federal updates and the Pennsylvania state software. Downloads would begin, but then terminate before the download could be completed. I retried numerous times and, on one or two occasions, the download completed itself. However, the system always crashed during the installation process, and the updates could not be installed. After unsuccessful results from the TurboTax free FAQ and on-line chat (with Technical Services) I signed up for a PIN at $...for the privilege of speaking with a live person regarding the problem. This phone number put me in contact with a Windows Technical Support representative who was unable to solve a Macintosh issue - I paid for a service which I did not receive. It was finally determined that the early release software which was shipped to me in December was defective, and Customer Service sent me a new CD at no cost. I installed the software from the new CD and encountered the same problems with the downloads and updates. Ultimately, I gave up and ordered H&R Block's TaxCut for Mac. It transferred last year's data from my TurboTax file and worked flawlessly. During installation, I had to contact Tax Cut's technical support department. I am pleased to report that they are competent and responsive, and there is no charge for the service.
Rating:
Summary: Makes Taxes Less Taxing
Review: I am only reviewing the OS X version. TurboTax Deluxe is a nice tax package. Tax laws can be confusing and some folks (myself included) can use all the help they can get. With TurboTax, you can either choose to fill in the forms you want, singly, or allow the program to guide you every step of the way. Easy-Step is a good choice, because it can sometimes find deductions you did not realize you could take.
You also get a lot of reading material in the way of electronic "books", including many IRS publications.
The Deluxe package includes a download of the state tax package for any one state, free. If you prefer you can order a disk for a fee. Additional states are charged at full price. ...
Hopefully, the later you purchase this package, the more updated the CD will be. I purchased this early. When I did a check for updates, practically the whole package had been updated - a very time-consuming download, although, all downloads and updates went smoothly.
For tax filing, you can choose to either print the forms to mail or you can file electronically. (Even if you use e-file, you can still print a copy of the forms for your records.) The IRS e-filing is simple. State e-filing varies from state to state. New York has finally eliminated the necessity to mail in a signature form, but you must apply for a pin at their website before you can be totally paper-free.
There is a good deal of in-program help available and several movies, recorded by tax "experts". These can provide useful tips, but overall, are pretty boring.
TurboTax was not designed for multi-user use in OS X. If you want to use more than one userid, each will have to be an administrator.
If you used TurboTax in previous years, you can import data from your prior years' forms. If you use Quicken, you can import data from there, as well.
I found the program works as designed. I did find some of the multiple-choice "buttons" to be quirky. One is highlighted (default choice.) You are supposed to click your choice. If you want something other than the default, TurboTax will not always accept your choice, but will take the default instead. To get around this problem, the tab key can be used to highlight the different choices before you click. If you do find the program took the wrong choice, the "back" button becomes VERY useful.
Overall, TurboTax Deluxe is a much better choice than trying to figure out your taxes yourself. It can find deductions you may have missed, alert you to questionable items that may trigger an audit and help you choose the best option when you need to make filing choices (standard vs. itemized deductions, short vs. long form, for example.)
| 
