Taxcut 2003 Turbo Tax Software Cut From H&r Block

Now, angry and looking for a second opinon I went to www.turbotax.com, their website allows you to enter all your tax information for FREE (does the exact same thing as this software only much better), anyway TurboTax's website confirmed the $744 return for me, but they also gained a customer for next year. You only pay turbotax.com when you e-mail and that's $19.99 (same price you'll pay for TaxCut to e-mail, but with TaxCut you have to pay $14.99 for their software.

So while this is a good deal, it's not the best and I think their wizard could be a bit more intuitive.


Great Job TaxCut!   February 10, 2004
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I have used TurboTax forever but switched to TaxCut this year because I lost faith in TurboTax after last year (when they installed spyware on my PC). TaxCut looks and works a lot like TurboTax and correctly picked up all my TurboTax info from least year's return. The nicest thing about TaxCut was that they didn't have an advertisement on every screen (TurboTax likes to put ads on their pages). When you get a product for free, you expect ads. When you pay for a program, you don't expect to have to put up with all that annoying advertising. Great work TaxCut -- you've learned from TurboTax's errors. Keep up the good work and you have me as a lifetime customer!


"Simple Folks" Beware   February 2, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This is the third year I have used Taxcut, and up until this year I have been quite satisfied. It is indeed "simple", but if you happen to have an unusual situation, it may be too simple.
If you aren't pretty knowledgeable about tax preparation, you could still miss some deductions/exclusions. I had to search forever to find a Form 5329 to exclude a retirement refund from a 10% early withdrawal penalty. If I hadn't known by other sources that I needed it, Taxcut would never have told me to use it, or where to find it for that matter. I guess it is good for the price, but if you have anything you know is unusual, do your homework and make sure you find what you need. Cheers!


Works Just Fine for Us Simple Folk   January 22, 2004
 20 out of 21 found this review helpful

OK, I'm a head of a household, with kids, wife doesn't have a paying job, and we own a home. I do the 401K thing, but not anything fancy for stocks, etc. Up until last year, I used Turbotax exclusively, but was lucky enough to check the reviews before buying, and noticed the cdilla problem. So I tried tax cut instead. Totally simple, amazingly easy, brought in everything that I needed from turbotax quick as a wink. Same basic moves as turbotax. Asks you all the same questions without all the long movies. (I did find the movies helpful the first few years, though). I remember liking the printouts better for turbotax, but that's about it.

If you have basic needs, and you have an idea how to do your taxes anyway, this will work just fine. I'm going to buy turbotax this year since my quicken needs updating and they have a freebie, but other than that, for a simple clod like moiself, they're pretty much the same. Same for the state version.

I'd give it 5 stars if it came with a cold beer....


Meets my needs inexpensively   December 13, 2003
 35 out of 36 found this review helpful

What's not to like?
It's cheaper that TurboTax, and does the same thing. Imports from financial software, does an "interview-style" return, imports last year's info, the usual stuff. Also allows e-file (you pay extra) and will support EFT to/from the IRS-- if you owe them money, you can have it sent on 4/15/04 and not pay any sooner than you need to.
My return is complex, but it handled it well. Just as good as the competitor, and about five bucks less. Also a great rebate offer w/ MSFT Money; basically get Money '04 for free. I'm sold, I'm satisifed, and I'll be back next year.
Four starts since it's just bare bones, but at this price, what do you want? I say don't bother paying for the extra movies and advisor stuff.