If Your Return is Simple, TaxCut is Okay
Written: Mar 23 '03 (Updated Mar 23 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy income inputting. Refunds automatically calculated. It has all the forms.
Cons: Some serious display glitches. Difficult to figure out if you are entitled to certain deductions.
The Bottom Line: If your return is simple, it's worth a shot. Otherwise, be prepared for lots of work or consider a human preparer.
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| serrantino's Full Review: H&R Block TaxCut 2002 Platinum |
This was the first time doing my taxes without a professional preparer. Income was so low last year, the refund would be severely reduced with the $175 I would've paid for that preparer. With these budget limitations, I purchased TaxCut over TurboTax based on price alone. In Epinions, there seems to be equal amount of complaints and praises for both so it didn't seem to make a difference. I chose TaxCut Platinum because that's the only edition available for Macintosh users. If I was a Windows user, I would've purchased the Deluxe edition since I didn't need the extra features in the Platinum one.
LOADING/ORIENTATION
The loading and installation process was pretty straight forward. I've read enough reviews to know in advance that updates needed to be downloaded from the net. The program first guides you through registration and then checks if your version is up to date (it probably isn't) with an internet connection. Downloading and installing the update went quickly and without a hitch. I have DSL so I don't know if I'd say the same thing if I had dial-up.
The program seems rather text oriented without graphics. I don't know why I was missing more visual aids since this is a tax preparing program, but something visual would be nice. Still, the pages you are guided though are simple, short and easy to follow.
INPUTING/REFUND OR PAYMENT ANALYSIS
As alluded to above, the program takes you step by step in calculating your taxes. First it asks you to input, one at a time, your W-2's, 1099's (all types), and any other tax related documents you have from anyone who paid you over 2002. Much of this process was straight forward; Employer name, tax ID number, address, wages, federal monies withheld, etc. Knowing all of this would be placed neatly and automatically calculated on your eventual tax forms makes this process kind of... well... fun.
As you input the W-2 info, there is an always-present refund calculator showing what your refund projection is for both Federal and State (more on State below).
One thing that concerned me was that sometimes the input fields didn't allow enough space for the full name of some employers that had very long names. I called the IRS and they told me as long as the company's tax ID number and most of the name is there, it's not an issue for them.
After inputting your income, TaxCut takes you through a series of pages with questions relating to possible deductions and credits. For example, for the Earned Income Credit, a page will read the question "Did you make less than $xx,xxx in 2002?" If you click "yes" it will take you through a series of further questions to determine if you're in fact eligible for this credit. The same process occurs if you owned your own business (Schedule C). It will calculate your possible deductions and determine if it's worth it for you to use a standardized deduction or an itemized.
Since I didn't have my own business and since itemized deductions wasn't going to increase my refund, I can't honestly say how those more complicated processes faired with this program. But then again, if you have these kind of complicated schedules, I wouldn't use this program at all and hire a professional preparer. :-)
After I went through the entire Federal filing process, TaxCut checks for errors or warnings that might get the IRS curious. This is where there were problems for me. According to TaxCut, I had two errors and two warnings. When I clicked the link to check and fix an error, it brought me to a page indicating I did something wrong like forget to input an employer tax ID number. The problem was the text on the page was scrambled, overlapping and was indecipherable. I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to fix! After an hour on the phone with TaxCut technical support, the problem wasn't solved. I was told my case would be "elevated" and some technician will call me tomorrow. Whatever. I then went back through every page where I inputted W-2 and 1099 information and noticed a couple of times I didn't fill out an address. Going back through everything and looking closely at everything I did so far took an extra 45 minutes. When I went back to the check-for-errors page, the 2 errors were gone.
There were also two warnings. When checking those, the pages were just as scrambled but I was able to make out that it noticed I didn't put a figures down for two W-2's "Federal income tax witheld" boxes. Well, there was no tax witheld so I didn't put anything there! When I inputted "0.00" it still gave me those same warnings. I don't think the IRS will audit me over this. :-)
STATE
After the Federal process, it suggests you prepare the State Return before filing. You will probably have to download your state version (make sure it's available for your state before purchasing TaxCut). Although it's supposed to be free for Deluxe and Platinum editions, you have to pay $24.99 to download it from the net and then fill out a form and send it for a full mail in rebate.
Like the Federal updates, the State version downloaded and installed very well. It automatically places the income info you had already inputted into the Federal. Again, it takes you through a series of questions to find out if you qualify for certain deductions or credits. The State refund calculator will be displaying your estimated State refund throughout the process.
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I felt some lack of confidence throughout both the Federal and State process. I didn't know if I was presented with all credits or deductions possibilities I might be eligible for. After all, tax laws fill up volumes of books. This program can't possibly know them all. I'm in the entertainment business. I think there are many laws that apply to my business but this program didn't seem to allude to any of them. If I suspected I was eligible for something, I didn't know how to check for it. But then again, I knew throughout that the standardized deductions was all I was probably going to get so I suppose this shouldn't be an issue for me. But if your income is high, complicated and/or full of any special deductions that might apply to you, I wouldn't recommend using this program.
E-FILING
Another "free" feature. Again, you have to pay money ($14.99) and then fill out a form for a full mail in rebate. And this "free" e-file only applies to Federal filing. There is no rebate for State e-filing.
This was surprisingly straight forward. TaxCut checked my file for errors and then sent it along. The next day I checked for the filing status and it confirmed that the IRS received and accepted my Federal tax return. Nothing needed to be mailed. No W-2 stubs. Nothing. Cool.
You can and should print out a paper version of your Federal for your records.
With the State return, I simply printed out a paper version and will be mailing it in with W-2 stubs attached. Easy.
I didn't use the Tax Adviser ($19.95 before rebate) nor the Home & Business Attorney of Willpower ($29.99 before rebate) options because I didn't think they would be useful to me and I'd have to initially spend more money, fill out and send 2 more rebate forms and wait several weeks for reimbursement. Besides, I read the "Tax Advisor" will only help you with one subject. So if you have mortgage and business ownership questions, you will have to pay for one of them without rebate.
As you might have noticed by now, so many rebate forms to fill out and mail in! In addition to the State and E-filing rebates I'm awaiting, there's also the $5.00 one for purchasing the Macintosh edition.
OVERALL
If your return is simple, particularly if you will take a standardized deduction, TaxCut should work fine. Be prepared to spend something like 4-5 hours (or more) doing this. If your return is more complicated with itemized deductions, complicated calculations, or simply if you would benefit with someone with full knowledge of how current tax laws might benefit you, I wouldn't feel comfortable using this product. I hope things improve this year for me so I can go back to my reliable entertainment business savvy human tax preparer in 2004.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
serrantino
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Member: Shane
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 3 members
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