Customer Reviews

H&R Block Taxcut 2006 Premium Federal + State + Efile

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I used TurboTax Premium for a couple of years and have been using TaxCut Premium the past two years due to its lower price. I would rate them both about the same as they were both fairly easy to use and both go through the interview process and transfer data from the previous year. I'll be using TaxCut Premium + State + E-file this year because of the price break on Efiling vs. purchasing Efiling separately.

I've used both Turbo Tax & Tax Cut in the past. Both are very similar. But I've gone with Tax Cut the past couple years because of the cheaper price. I have been very pleased with Tax Cut. Super easy...and more importantly, it is a lot cheaper than Turbo Tax.

I have been using Tax cut for the past 3 years. I plan on using it again this year as well. I find this prgram easy to use and has great research tools to understand certain situations. the only draw baw I found was one year I upgraded to Tax Cut Deluxe since I had stock options exercised. That was a waste of $$ for my situation, but otherwise I have been very happy with Tax Cut.

I have used this software for the past three years to file several family members returns and it is extremely easy to use. Most of the process is Q&A and very easy to follow.

Because of an investment, I had a small foreign tax credit. When prompted, I entered this information in the federal return interview. When I went to e-file, the program told me that I had a problem with e-filing my state return because the credit appeared in both the amount of the federal tax and also as a separate credit on another line. I was told that I could not take the deduction twice. That was fine, except I had not entered this information on the state tax return. TaxCut had automatically carried over the information to the state form and put it in two places.

When I tried to remove the tax from the tax credit line, I was told that overriding the value on the line would mean that I could not e-file. Of course, e-filing was part of purchase price. So, if I could not e-file, I was losing a $15.95 credit.

I called TaxCut and spoke to one tech support person who basically said he couldn't do anything and passed my case on. In a couple of days, I got a call from another technician who eventually said the same thing; but passed my problem up the line. In another few days, I got a call from another technician who was as befuddled by the problem as the other technicians. She said she'd research the problem and call me back. She did and told me that there was nothing TaxCut would do about the problem. I could not e-file.

Apparently, TaxCut is not interested in fixing reported bugs. This is the attitude of a large company whose interest in resolving its customers' problems is negligible.

One thing you will find reading through many reviews is a dissatisfaction with the state filings. This is my own experience and this may be the last year I use TaxCut because of it. First of all, it would not allow me to e-file my state return but didn't explain why. I later discovered that for most states you apparently can't e-file a partial year return. Then when printing out the state return it told me I had to also include a form that was mentioned nowhere else in the program. I later found out that Taxcut does not support all state tax forms! I then had to get that form and fill it in manually, and then discovered I owed less than before because Taxcut had incorrectly calculated my capital gains. AND there was nothing on the missing state form that could not have been completed with data the program already had.

TaxCut also advised me I could save $1000 off my fed bill by contributing to an IRA. So I opened and IRA and contributed $4000. When I went back to TaxCut and entered the details it told me I wasn't eligible for any tax deduction. I was ready to be tied up! This software is seriously dysfunctional.

I'm guessing by this stage you get the idea. Bottom line: I will be looking elsewhere to complete my tax returns next year.

Oh, by the way, if like me you were unable to efile and you paid for the efile option, you can get a credit from H&R by calling 1-888-4TAXCUT option 2,2,0.

They still haven't fixed the error where electronic filing in California is disallowed due to incorrect address length calculation.

Customer service of the company that makes this product is very bad. Customer service representatives are not knowledgeable and unwilling to help. This is why I am rating this product so low.

[3/19/2007] I feel obligated to post this update: I was contacted by an H&R Block representative, and was assured that the problem I reported will be fixed for next year.

Apparently, this problem affects California state return e-filers whose address is between 25 and 30 characters.

I have used Taxcut and TurboTax on and off for years. TurboTax tends to have less problems. This year Taxcut was incredibly difficult. First it would not properly import the data from DeductionPro. Then the tier one tech support gave me outright incorrect information. Finally tier two support gave me the link to the custom patch that allowed me to import the data. Also, when I received the Taxcut email that the IRS had accepted my return I logged on to Taxcut to check status and get my declaration control number. Taxcut would not recognize that I had efiled and would not check for the dcn. I had to call support for about the 5th time and after some time on the phone they discovered they could access the dcn and gave it to me over the phone. Because of these delays I have still not finished with the state return. I don't know if I will buy this product again.

I've used Taxcut for the past couple of years, but this year it's a giant headache. After I submitted my return, I went back to check the status. The software told me I had not submitted my return and wanted me to submit again. Worse is that I got an email saying my return was rejected by the IRS and I need to check the status in TaxCut. Well, how am I supposed to do that if TaxCut doesn't even think I've submitted yet. So, I went ahead and submitted again and I still have the same problem. TaxCut still thinks I haven't submitted. 3 calls to Tech Support and waiting on hold for an hour hasn't resolved squat. My next call is to ask for a refund with which I'll switch back to TurboTax.

I am self-employed, so my taxes are a little more involved and I have to fill out extra forms.
Last year I tried to save some money and do it myself with Turbo Tax.
It was fast, easy, straight forward.
This year I thought I'd save a little more and try Tax Cut. I mean how different can software be? And, H & R block did my taxes for years. They are a tax company, after all.
Wrong!!!
It took me days, compared to Turbo that took lest than an hour.
It was confusing and annoying.
To top it off, I paid the state tax it said I owed. Only to be told by the state my taxes were wrong, ...... And, they owed ME twice as much!!!
Yeesh!!
Next year I won't skimp, and I'll go back to Turbo.