Customer Reviews

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I've used TurboTax (and before that, MacinTax) to do my taxes on my Mac since 1999. There has always been some reason why I wanted to use TT instead of TaxCut -- a Quicken rebate, non-availability of the retail boxed TaxCut, fear of the unknown, whatever. Well, this year, I decided to save myself some money and try TaxCut, and I have no real complaints about it. In fact, I think it offers a much better value than TT. (I'm running OS X 10.2 Jaguar.)

As you probably already know, it imported my tax data from last year's TT data file just fine. After that, everything went very smoothly. I have many Schedule A deductions, stock options and other Schedule D items, so although my return is not super-simple, it probably lands on the easy end of the spectrum.

I'm not real picky when it comes to the user interface -- I think TT and TC are probably on equal footing there. TC does make it a bit easier to switch back and forth between federal and state returns. I also prefer TC's method of getting directly to the tax forms themselves, although a strange limitation in TC is that you can only have one form open on the screen at one time. An easy workaround for this is to print preview any forms that you want to see simultaneously.

I couldn't see how to download/import my W-2 info from within TaxCut. I did this last year with TT, and it worked great. The documentation gives vague instructions implying that you should be able to do this. Not really a big deal, I just entered the info manually.

Another minor gripe is that the help documentation opens in IE instead of my preferred browser, Safari. I'm not sure what happens if you don't have IE installed on your system!

TT 2002 had problems with printing and perpetually wanting to update itself, so neither program is perfect. But considering the price, I'll definitely be using TC again next year!

A few footnotes:
1) In case anyone is going to buy TT because they can get a Quicken rebate with it, I would try examining alternatives to Quicken. There are much better (and cheaper) programs out there. I have been using an app called Budget (from Snowmint Creative Solutions) for over a year, and it works *much* better for me than Quicken ever did. Gnucash is also supposed to be very good, and it's free.
2) Ignore the review below titled "Pretty much dummy proof." As evidenced by the references to MS Money etc., he's referring to the Windoze version of TC.
3) As others have noted, the spyware in TT 2002 never was part of the Mac program. Just wanted to state the facts correctly.

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!!

This year I switched from the windoZe TurboTax. I thought I'd try the Mac version, but didn't want to pay the Turbo-(Macintosh)"tax" (+$10 for Mac users) so am trying TaxCut. So far so good. TaxCut imported the (windoZe) TurboTax data fine and all the previous year's data shows up nicely. It has a nice summary task/forms list that shows you which data/forms are (which are done, which are in progress etc). I tend to use that rather than the interview process since I get various data/statements at different times and just jump around as I get to them rather than have all my statements ready for an "interview". Unfortuately it doesn't look like you can buy the State version from Amazon (or other store), so I'll probably have to buy/download it from the TaxCut website.

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.

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.

This is a very easy program to use, but my filing has been held up because they have not updated one of the forms necessary for real estate income. They said it would be ready in mid-February, but now customer support says they do not know when it will be ready for the Mac. I don't know how many other forms they are missing, so Turbotax may be a better buy even though it is overpriced for the Mac.

The taxcut state version showed up. Too bad it has errors in it. In Virginia, the 529 plan is limited to a $2000 deductible per account. Would have been nice if the program has known that. I am scared to submit my taxes using this software without checking them by hand. If I have to check them by hand, I would have done them that way. Oh well, back to TurboTax and its macintosh tax. At least I never worried that my taxes were done incorrectly using that software.