Customer Reviews

TaxCut 2005 Premium + State [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I switched from TurboTax 3 years ago. 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.

Using TaxCut 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. There were significant improvements over the previous year's version. Which is always a welcome thing.

I was able to quickly import my tax info from the previous year's TurboTax files without any problem. It is also easy to import last year's TaxCut data (just in case you were wondering). 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.

Keep in mind that the "free" state version (which you have to pay for and get reimbursed), and any rebates, require that you send in receipts within 30 days of the purchase. If you don't then you'll not be getting any rebates or reimbursements.

I have used both Turbotax and TaxCut in the last few years and find this years' version of TaxCut equal to any version of Turbotax I have used.

I'm an accountant and CPA and found that TaxCut covered all of the complex tax situations that I encountered. I had used Turbotax in the prior year and found the import of last years information very quick and easy. However, it did not carry over the depreciable basis or depreciation method for my depreciable assets.

I did my return in pieces, entering info as I recieved it, so I did not go through the interview in a step by step fashion. This created some bumps when trying to go back and make sure I had all data complete. Taxcut did have a nice graphic to show completed data versus unentered data, but there was no programmed check to make sure that all information was in.

The only real area that I encountered a possible tax error was in the state sale tax deduction. First of all, it did not make it clear that I could take sales tax as a deduction. It should make that very clear for states that have sales tax in place of a state income tax. When I finally found the input screen it asked for my local tax rate. When I put in the rate, my deduction was extremely high. I went back to the calculation page and realized it already had the statewide rate, but just wanted the additional locality rate on top of that. That was confusing and could have created an error if I had not investigated. And if I did not deal with tax rates in my day to day job, I may have not input the correct rate.

The only other issue I had was with printing a draft return. They should give you the option of printing a return to review before e-filing. Trying to get the pages I wanted to print was somewhat of a pain. And DON'T PRINT THE WORKSHEETS. They print out funky looking and it gives you pages of information you don't want.

A plus was they actually email you when the IRS has accepted your electronic filing, rather than having to go back to the return and check as I have had to do with Turbotax in the past.

Overall, however, I was pleased with the product. And given the free e-filing and the price savings over Turbotax, I'll definitely use Taxcut in the future.

DeductionPro, included in the Deluxe Edition, is easy to use and should PAY for all your tax software if you donate anything to charity. For non-cash contributions, DeductionPro has easy to use drop downs for categories, descriptions and quality. Example: Men's Underware, Undershirt, good => $2.07 deduction; Socks, $1.23; Underware, $1.77. Until I discovered DeductionPro, I thought the only person who donated used underware to charity was Bill Clinton. Now my wife donates mine... The dollars add up quickly. TaxcutPremium will import your DeductionPro data either through the interview or manually. I've used the TaxCut products for several years, switching over from TurboTax the year Intuit was putting MalWare at the root of your "C" drive. DeductionPro was a pleasant surprise.

Tried TaxCut this year after many years using Turbo Tax. Primarily due to the large price difference when including e-filing. I had no problems: TaxCut is a little easier than Turbo Tax to use, it imported all my TT information correctly, the interview was straightforward. My return is typical: two incomes, a few mutual funds and stock transactions, itemized deductions, etc. I am not normally a price buyer and can't comment on extremely complicated returns, but TaxCut exceeded my expectations at a little over half the cost of TT.

I purchased this software as a result of a favorable review in the New York Times. I wanted help figuring out how to deal with exercising stock options. I did learn some valuable things (that I didn't know before) about what I can deduct.

However, I have several issues, starting with the most serious. When I went to electronically sign the form prior to e-filing it, the instructions said that the IRS will not accept the e-filing unless you enter your previous year's adjusted gross income exactly. Last year I didn't round on my tax form, and the TaxCut software does, so there was no way I could enter last year's adjusted gross income exactly. I decided to try to e-file anyway, hoping the rounded version is close enough.

Prior to filing, I printed the form and reviewed it carefully --and it's a good thing I did, because after I filed, I could not view my form again. I can see a report of what I entered, but when I try to view the finished form using the software, I get a message box asking me if I want to save the existing form -- every time. The finished form is nowhere to be seen -- and cannot be accessed by either of the methods the Help says to use to view your finished return.

I clicked Customer Service (which took me to H&R Block's Web site). I tried to create an e-mail using the Customer Service form, but when I chose the TaxCut option button so my question could be directed to the right people, I couldn't enter my name, address, or telephone number -- only my e-mail address. When I tried clicking Next, it took me back to the starting page -- every time.

I won't know until tomorrow about the status of my e-filing. I can't see my return, so I have no idea whether an actual return was filed, even though I was charged $15.95.

I eventually found a support telephone number, which I intend to call in the morning.

Oh, and one more thing, it really irks me that only my husband, the taxpayer whose name appears first on the return, is listed on the schedules. Apparently I, the "spouse" and the person who actually does our taxes every year, am not significant enough to have my name included too.

Update: The next morning I called TaxCut Customer Support. Both times I spoke with a support representative, they talked as if they were going to help me, but I was mysteriously "cut off" and left with a dial tone. The second support representative took my callback number, but didn't call me back. It seems they were unable to give me a definitive answer to my two most important questions (whether their rounding conflicts with my previous year's return and would prevent the IRS from accepting it and how to retrieve the previously saved document).

Bottom line: This product shows promise, but its designers need to think more about customer scenarios and test the functionality more carefully. It's almost as if they shipped a beta. And their customer "sevice" is sadly deficient.

After I got disgusted with Intuit (mostly over their Quicken software) in 2004, I switched to Microsoft Money and H&R Block's TaxCut software for my 2005 taxes. Microsoft Money is fine; unlike Quicken, they've kept their promise to be able to store data online. But TaxCut is another story.

IF YOU'VE USED THIS SOFTWARE TO PREPARE YOUR 2005 TAXES AND OWE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT, FILE AN EXTENSION, GET TURBOTAX AND RE-DO YOUR RETURNS! YOU MAY SAVE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!! Then ask for your money back.

I got such wildly different and dismaying results from my TaxCut prepared return in 2005 than my TurboTax return for 2004 that I called a tax attorney friend to ask if there had been any changes in the tax laws, applicable to me, that would explain the difference. He allowed as how there were not, and suggested I use TurboTax, as he does. So I followed the advice given in the previous paragraph and saved myself $15,000 on my federal return, $6,000 on one state and $2,500 on another!!

Back to Tax Cut. Before I gave up on TaxCut, I ordered the software for a second state, paying $35 by telephone, downloaded it and began preparing the return. The interview asked whether I were a resident. I declared that I was not, and a dialog box popped up and informed me that, sorry, but the software did not do returns for nonresidents of that particular state. It apologized for any inconvenience (such as the $35!) So I went back and declared myself a part-year resident, hoping to get an idea of what I would owe. I was then asked a few questions and presented with a $6,000+ tax bill. TurboTax does a much more thorough job, believe me. Selling this kind of junk is criminal!

I downloaded TaxCut 2005 Premium + State on 3/4 directly from H&R Block. The experience has been awful. There is a huge problem that no one I spoke to in customer service knows how to get corrected: The interview process for the Schedule C NEVER ASKS FOR INVENTORY/PURCHASES/COST OF GOODS SOLD INFORMATION! This is part III on the Schedule C. If you follow only the interview process, you would leave this out, and if you are a retailer, this is likely your largest business expense! What's more, if you go directly into the form and enter the info, but later go back through the interview process, it will clear out everything you entered in the COGS section so you have to fill it out again!

I contacted their customer support by email, online chat, and phone. Over email and chat they could not understand what I was saying and kept saying "delete the form and go through the interview again" or "here is how you correct an error on the form," as if their "error check" feature had picked up the missing COGS, which it had NOT. I was able to get someone on the phone to understand what I was saying but it took a lot of handholding to get him to see where this section was on the form. I understand that it's hard to staff huge customer support for such a short term product deployment, but this has been a nightmare.

I have to admit that it makes me nervous to read of all the reviewers who may have found errors in the program. Even worse, though, is that lack of response from HR Block.

However, the federal program did work well for me. I complete my taxes and my sister and her husband's taxes using this program, and it does a good job interviewing you to find the various deductions, credits and so on. I have a side business, and the computer correctly explains how to deduct the various business expenses I encounter. She has two children, and their expenses are itemized. The computer correctly found the expenses she should itemize.

When you move on to the state returns for Minnesota and Pennsylvania, it's easy to see that the program quality takes a big step down. The interviews are NOT as thorough, and when the going gets tough, the program refers you to the form to do your own work. This is interesting because the state forms are simpler than the federal forms, so they should be more smooth, not less smooth.

Overall, this program is worth it for me, but next year I won't bother to buy the extra state program because it's just as easy to do it by hand.

I purchased Taxcut 2006 and it has errors and defects . After completeing 1040 form at the end when your using a SSA-1099 form the software asks for a Imployer I.D. when there is none and will not transmit to IRS unless the Employer I.D. number is entered. Called customer support and they could not deal with the problem and hung up on me . Could not download updtates for Deduction Pro 2006 message error came up DP 7007 and to redownload .After 6 times gave up and could not transfer figures from Deduction Pro 2006 to 1040 form got message deduction pro 2006 needs up date .Contacted HR block customer service at 1-888-482-9288 and Customer Service gave me a FTP download site when logged on to said no such site exsits . Requested a refund and sent a complaint to the FTC and Missouri Attorney Generals Office . Customer Service also sent over 20 surveys asking how they did as harrassment .Going to Turbo Tax next year

My experience is consistent with some of those above and with those posting on the Deluxe product as well: the product has a lot of simple bugs, poor instructions, and unhelpful customer service. Here are some of the problems I noticed:

1) many things are not covered by the interview - they ask you to open up the form and enter everything yourself
2) the online update gives misleading messages (customer service said there would be a California update, but the Update tool said there were "none planned"). Also, it's now April, and the Update tool is still saying that a Federal update will be available "in February" and that I should check back then!
3) There seems to be no way to take a foreign tax deduction instead of a credit. The interview mentions that both are allowed, but in practice if you have foreign taxes listed on a 1099, it requires you to file a foreign tax credit form (it fails in the error check if you don't).
4) Worst of all, when I went to e-file today the IRS rejected the form, due to missing entries on two forms: 8801 (credit for prior year AMT) and 8606 (for a Roth IRA conversion). These are not lines that I'm supposed to fill in - they are simple calculations that should be done automatically by the software, and in fact the boxes are grayed out to indicate that, but nothing was put there and the TaxCut error check passed. The message from TaxCut tells you that you have to manually override them to put the correct values in, and that you cannot e-file as a result!

As an engineer and a programmer, it seems like a poor job was done on the software and it hasn't been tested nearly enough. When you email the support center you get responses that suggest the person responding hasn't really read your message, and is simply cutting and pasting from something on their screen (which is OK, but the responses weren't relevant). The chats are a little better.

I just got back from buying a copy of TurboTax Premier, which is a lot more expensive but I'm sure it will work. I'll never make this mistake again.

(I gave this two stars instead of one because it might work if your taxes are simpler than mine. On the other hand, given that it's "Premium", maybe the expectations should be higher?)