H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file [OLD VERSION]

by H&R Block

Product Features

• TaxCut includes up to 5 free federal e-files and H&R Block expertise in every version
• Get extra assistance and money-saving advice to maximize deductions; plus, turn your donations into big tax savings with the included DeductionPro
• Receive live tax advice from an H&R Block tax professional via one-on-one phone or e-mail consultation
• Save time and reduce the chance for error by quickly and easily importing last year's tax and financial data from TaxCut, TurboTax, Quicken, Microsoft Money, and H&R Block DeductionPro software, as applicable
• In the event of an audit, receive personal assistance from an IRS-licensed Enrolled Agent with audit representation expertise--not a self-serve Web site or FAQ page

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001HOD50K
• Item model number: 1336600-08
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 7, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (322 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #40 in Software > Tax Preparation
  • #77 in Software > Personal Finance
  • #98 in Software > The Mac Software Store

Product Description

Amazon.com

Conveniently prepare both your federal and state returns. Federal program and 1 state tax preparation program, plus up to 5 federal e-files--all in 1 place, at 1 price. Worry-free Audit Support included when you e-file.

A simple interview quickly walks you through the return process to automate your return. Click to enlarge.

Get the tax savings you're entitled to, including deductions related to home ownership and education. Click to enlarge.

Additional help figuring cost basis for investment income. Click to enlarge.

Prepare next year's federal and state returns with 1 convenient program.

Our best value! Get our Premium Federal and state tax preparation program, plus up to 5 federal e-files--all in 1 place at 1 price. One Ask a Tax Advisor session is included and get Worry-free Audit Support when you e-file.

With TaxCut Premium Federal + State + E-file, you can:

1. Maximize Deductions: Get extra assistance and money-saving advice to maximize deductions. Plus, turn your donations into big tax savings with the included DeductionPro (a $19.95 value).
   
   
2. Get Comprehensive Assistance: Receive additional guidance for complex tax situations to give you the confidence and assurance that your return is accurate and complete.
   
   
3. Auto Import: Save time and reduce the chance for error by quickly and easily importing last year's tax and financial data from TaxCut, TurboTax, Quicken, MicrosoftMoney, and H&R Block DeductionPro software, as applicable.
   
   
4. Get Real Audit Support from a Real Person--Really: Worry-free Audit Support included when you e-file. In the event of an audit, receive personal assistance from an IRS-licensed Enrolled Agent with audit representation expertise--not a self-serve Web site or FAQ page.

Product Info

Easy Interview
Our simple interview walks you through the process to automate your return.

Seamless Imports
Quickly and easily import last year's tax and financial data from TaxCut, TurboTax, Quicken, Microsoft Money, and H&R Block DeductionPro software, as applicable.

Error Check
Our program automatically double-checks your return for errors.

Get Your Refund Fast
E-file your return, and get your refund in as little to 8 to 15 days.

Customized Tax Advice
Receive situational tax guidance, including marriage, having a baby and home ownership.

Charitable Donation Help
DeductionPro is included at no additional charge to help you get the most out of your charitable donations.

Maximize Itemized Deductions
Don't miss out on common deductions, including those related to home ownership and education.

Schedule C Support
Extra deduction help for the self-employed, including home office, rental property and depreciation assistance.

Business Expense Assistant
Help claiming all deductible business expenses, including advertising costs, meals and travel expenses, and office supplies.

Investor Guidance
Additional help figuring cost basis for investment income.

IRS Publications
Quick access to IRS Publications for further explanation of specific tax situations.

Tax Tip Videos
Real H&R Block pros explain how changing tax laws affect you.

Guarantees

Worry-free Audit Support
You can rest easy knowing H&R Block is there to help in the rare event of an audit. Included when you e-file your federal return with us.

Accurate Calculations Guaranteed
If TaxCut makes a calculation mistake, we'll pay resulting IRS penalties plus interest. See the license agreement for details.

100% Satisfaction Money-Back Guarantee.
If you are dissatisfied with the software for any reason, H&R Block will refund the full license fee you paid H&R Block or its authorized reseller for the software, exclusive of shipping and handling charges, taxes, and less any rebate you receive on the software.

Product Description

Guidance for all your personal tax situations, from 1040EZ to schedule C. Federal and State forms. Step-by-step interviews guide you through a customized experience relevant to your tax situation. Includes eFile.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

313 of 321 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New to TaxCut, Pleased with it So Far, December 1, 2008

By 

W. E. Damon "MacGuy" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I switched from TurboTax to TaxCut this year primarily due to Intuit's new pricing structure where they both raised the base price quite a bit and then they charge $9.95 for each additional return you want to prepare beyond the first one. Given those changes, it was time to try something else.

So far I am very pleased with TaxCut. It imported my TurboTax data from last year without any problems at all. It also will import data from Quicken, though I don't use that option.

It is a different interface and takes a little getting used to, but then TurboTax's interface changes every year also so with either product one is going to have to adjust to some new interface quirks.

Of course, it is pretty early to be running software, since the IRS is still finalizing things for 2008, and such things as the Alternative Minimum Tax haven't been nailed down, but TaxCut still did a very good job helping me see where I was going to come out on my taxes for 2008. And that includes my schedule C for a consulting business. Obviously, there will be a bunch of updates in a few weeks, but that is to be expected from any Tax Software at this stage.

TaxCut also did a nice job helping me plan for 2009 taxes as well. I had already done some planning using a Numbers Spreadsheet on the Macintosh and so I could tell whether TaxCut was pretty accurate. It was.

Overall, for those who are thinking about switching to TaxCut this year from TurboTax, my take is that I found it easy to do.

98 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good tax program, meets the needs so far, December 7, 2008

By 

CS (Acton, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

UPDATE 1/24/09:

I am still very satisfied with this product. So far I've entered all my data, and it's been pretty painless, both for Fed & State taxes.

I have to qualify this by saying that my taxes are pretty simple this year, with no AMT, no sch C, no sch K, etc. So I'm not really running into some areas that are often not handled well in tax software.

One thing I liked better than turbo tax was the simpler handling of tax-exempt income, splitting the in-state vs. out-of-state portions. Also, similarly, the handling of US Treasury interest (tax-exempt for state tax). Turbo Tax makes you enter separate 1099s for each part, instead of just capturing the information within one form dialog.

On the other side, I have some additional critiques:
(1) no ability to import/download W2 & 1099 data (not that I found, anyway)
(2) form 1116 has to be filled out manually, even if it's pretty straightforward -- they could have and should have provided an interview for this
(3) no way provided to simply delete a line in a form (minor point, turbo tax has this, and I find it very useful) -- you can of course delete the data in the line

INITIAL REPORT:

Obviously, it's a bit too early to provide a thorough review of the program, because it's essentially incomplete (as is TurboTax): many tax forms are still not available in their final form. There will be a Dec 11 update, and I expect several others over the next couple of months. (I've learned from past experience not to submit final returns until late March, since the bug fixes and form corrections are often not final until then. This is true for either TurboTax or TaxCut.)

However, here's my current take: this is a fine program, and certainly more than adequate for the necessary help preparing a tax return. I've used TaxCut in the past, but have used TurboTax for the past few years. I decided to use TaxCut this year because of the price difference, and because the new licensing policy for TT is annoying. So far I'm finding it easy to use, and trouble-free in importing data from the previous year TurboTax file and current year TXF files.

One minor weakness compared to TurboTax: I remember that in the 07 TT you could remove a specific set of imported data; I haven't found anything like that in this program. Not a biggie for me, since I always save "checkpoints" in separate files so I can revert to a previous version if I need to, but it's the kind of little thing that makes TT a bit better in my opinion. Just not sufficiently better that I will pay anything Intuit wants to charge (just a matter of principle for me).

Some general comments, based on experience over many years of doing my own (often very complicated) returns: Neither program is perfect by any means. For many complicated situations you have to do your own calculations externally (I use Excel), or enter data manually. Be aware that dealing with AMT, AMT credits, and stuff like that remains mind-bendingly difficult, just not as nightmarish as doing them without a program to help. And you should always sanity check your results, because odd calculation bugs can persist for a long time. (I found a very stupid, but hard to find, calculation bug in TurboTax a few years ago, having to do with AMT.)

I will post an update in a few weeks when I've had the chance to make more progress with my return. Will be able to review the state program as well at that point, perhaps.

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Taxcut works great for former TurboTax users, December 30, 2008

By 

Galen M. Gruman "gmgruman" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)

I switched to Taxcut this year after the deceitful pricing for Intuit's TurboTax. I had used TurboTax since 1997, so I was a bit nervous about making the switch, especially after having tried Taxcut in 2004 and finding its import of TurboTax files to be poor. But Intuit's scammy behavior was too offensive for me to remain a customer.

The good news is that Taxcut works just fine, importing my TurboTax files and providing a clean, easy interview interface (TurboTax's has gotten too complex, so I switched to using the forms mode instead a couple years back). The forms are fine, too, though I do wish you could have the forms and interview running in parallel in Taxcut as you can in TurboTax -- that's helpful during final review. (Taxcut can display both, but you have to switch to forms-only mode to add or change entries in the form.) I also wish I could increase the forms' type size, but TurboTax can't do that either.

Anyhow, the bottom line is that Taxcut does the job well, so if you're a long-time TurboTax user like me, don't bne afraid to switch.