Less than great
Written: Feb 17 '08
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Pros: Cheap
Free version available that includes federal e-file
Yielded same value as TaxCut
Cons: Bad interface
No audit support
Not be advanced enough
Need deluxe for decent documentation
The Bottom Line: Spend $5 more and get TaxCut.
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| sagaciousb's Full Review: TaxAct for the Web |
For 2006, I tried TurboTax without really thinking. Afterwards, I found that TaxCut seemed to offer more features for the money.
So, for my 2007 taxes, I decided to do a bit more research and stumbled upon TaxACT. Hmm, $5 cheaper than TaxCut Basic Online for the TaxACT Online "Deluxe" version. I don't see how you could get through their software without the "advice" given in the Deluxe version unless your taxes are ridiculously simple.
Everything went fairly smoothly, but the interface felt somewhat antiquated, especially compared to TurboTax 06, which had a really slick web interface which really impressed me. With TaxACT, I found myself clicking "next" much more than I'd have hoped to.
Also, the timeout was way too short. I'd go to a spreadsheet to do some calculations, be ready to enter it in TaxACT and find that it logged me out. Talk about frustrating!
When it came time to deal with ESPP, the information given is rather limited, and they outright say that they don't support adding income from ESPP stock purchases if it wasn't already included on your W2. Luckily, this was not the case for me, but could be frustrating for some. It showed a level of immaturity in the software.
After all was said and done, I got a final value that I wasn't quite sure to be confident in. I took a look at TaxCut, checked the price difference and noticed that TaxCut includes audit support. I re-did the same return in TaxCut in probably about 1/4 the total time (though granted, I knew what I was doing the 2nd time through) and found TaxCut to be a much better experience.
In the end, they yielded the same tax return amount. I filed with TaxCut and TaxACT isn't going to get my money. I can't say I recommend this product unless all you have to do is enter W-2 information and send.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 9.95
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Epinions.com ID:
sagaciousb
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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