Rooster_Ties Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 For several years (before my wife and I got married, but we lived together for several years), we did our taxes by hand, on paper. Back then I still qualified for the 1040EZ form, so it was all still pretty simple – and my wife didn't mind doing the longer 1040 form (for herself) - in order to claim her student loans as deductions. Then last year, after we bought our first house, we had an independent tax preparer do our taxes for us – for what we thought was a pretty reasonable rate - I think it was about $80 for our combined return. (Less than $100 seemed pretty reasonable to me.) This year, we see that TurboTax is on sale for $40 at of the big Office Supply chains, and with a $10 rebate, it’s only $30 then – and you appear to get both the Turbo Tax "Federal" software, and somehow send away for a their free "State" Turbo Tax software, or they give you a “key” to download it – or something like that. (Last year my wife and I only ever worked and lived within the same state - so we only have to file in one state, Missouri). Plus, supposedly we also get a free "basic" version of Quicken – all for only $30. All of which seems pretty darn cheap – maybe even too cheap (you know – “you get what you pay for” – so if it’s that cheap, is it crap??) ANYWAY, does anyone here have any experience with Turbo Tax, or any of the other PC-based tax-prep software packages -- and what has your experience been with them??? Pro?? Con?? Mixed?? Is Turbo Tax the best one to get?? Or are there other ones that I should also take a look at?? I also saw that H&R-Bock had a home-PC tax-prep program too. I presume that you have to upgrade every year. What is the cost usually?? $10 or $20?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kh1958 Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I've always used the Kiplinger (now H&R Block) tax return software. It works great, and I've never had a problem. Also, I think it's usually cheaper than TurboTax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Skid Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I used Turbo Tax Federal/State and also Turbo Tax Business (I'm self-employed), and never had any major problems with them. I stopped using it last year when things got too complicated – health insurance/SEP-IRA deductions, investment buys/sells, etc. The programs probably would have handled all of this, but I wanted a professional to make sure I didn't miss anything. I agree it's simply a matter of “you get what you pay for” -- the extra money spent on a professional gives you more, but as long as your taxes aren't too complicated, Turbo Tax (or its various competitors) should work just fine. Incidentally, are you aware of the fallout that happened with their software from 2003? I believe it had something to do with copy protection and the ability to print your returns on a different printer and/or computer. I didn't use it last year, but it sounded like there was quite a few *really* pissed off customers: Turbo Tax DRM Writes to Your Boot Sector? Tax Preparation Software for 2003? Intuit Apologizes to Turbo Tax Customers It sounds like they have remedied all the bad stuff this year, but I'd still be a little leery of a company that would do that kind of crap, even if they apologized for it. -- Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 i've gone to the same lady at h & r block for 10 years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincy Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I've used both H & R Block/Kiplinger and TurboTax over the years. For at least the past 4 (and maybe a couple more) I've used the H & R Block/Kiplinger program. H & R Block is usually $10 to $15 cheaper than TurboTax. I get the basic version for about $10 to $15 after rebate. I never noticed any significant difference in ease of use between the two, though I suppose I should mention I've had a year of tax law in some post-bac classes long ago. I do my taxes on a PC as the Mac versions are usually more expensive. I still do my state taxes by hand as I'd rather use the extra money to buy a (music) CD than give the state a fancier looking return. I guess if you don't have some flavor of Quicken or other type of personal finance software then you should probably check and see what features you'd like in such a program in case the Basic version doesn't do enough for you. Although MS Money & Quicken claim to be able to read each other's data once you start with one program you often are stuck with it for either your life or the life of your harddrive (if you don't back up your data.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibes Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I used TurboTax a couple years ago and found it to be pretty easy. Last year, I just did everything through H&R Block's website, and will probably do it that way this year as well. I don't like having to install software on my computer if I'm not going to frequently use it, so I find that the web option works well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjazz Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 (edited) Then last year, after we bought our first house, we had an independent tax preparer do our taxes for us – for what we thought was a pretty reasonable rate - I think it was about $80 for our combined return. (Less than $100 seemed pretty reasonable to me.) I presume that you have to upgrade every year. What is the cost usually?? $10 or $20?? I've used Turbo Tax for about 10 years. Each year you buy the new software for the year. No yearly upgrades. It was $34 less $10 rebate from Costco for 2003 tax year. Fed/State (DEluxe version) Usually goes on sale just after Thanksgiving. Satisfied. But last year was a real hassle. I use several computers and laptops and don't like to be restricted to which PC I use. My wife can do her thing on another computer too. Also, PCs are being replaced or modified, so you need to be able to move your software around easily. If you can get your taxes done for $80 - that's a bargain. I'm assuming they do a good job. Your taxes sound pretty straightforward, so maybe that's why they only charge you $80. For me, the software is nice because I don't have to worry about calulation mistakes. And the figures are transferred from form to form automatically. If you wait till around Jan 15th, basic (FED only) Turbotax can be found for about $20. Edited January 19, 2004 by Tjazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Groove Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 I've used Turbo Tax for the last five or six years, and I've never had a problem with it. It hasn't happened to me, but a co-worker of mine got randomly audited last year, and he'd always used Turbo Tax. Apparently the electronic copies of his previous tax returns (in addition to the paper copies he saved) proved very useful and expedited the process. And the audit ended up being clear, so he didn't owe a thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjazz Posted January 19, 2004 Report Share Posted January 19, 2004 It hasn't happened to me, but a co-worker of mine got randomly audited last year, and he'd always used Turbo Tax. Apparently the electronic copies of his previous tax returns (in addition to the paper copies he saved) proved very useful and expedited the process. And the audit ended up being clear, so he didn't owe a thing. You can cheat with or without Turbotax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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