Comments on: Win A Copy of TaxCut Tax Prep Software

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:35:44 +0000

Holy shit, are you really complaining because you can’t save a few extra bucks on your taxes? You live for free, probably max out your 401k/IRA, and make over $140k a year…shut your mouth!

By: Former accountant

Former accountant — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:26:37 +0000

I was a tax accountant and have used all kinds of tax software, both professional and consumer. Turbo Tax, Tax Cut, and TaxACT are all virtually the same. When you go from using Turbo Tax to Tax Cut, it’s not like going from Windows to Mac. You won’t have to worry about any learning curve just because you’re switching softwares. If you have a fairly simple tax return, i.e., w-2’s, interest income, some stocks sold, mortgage expense, student loans, and charitable contributions, in my opinion, you should use these softwares instead of using the store front tax return places that charge you $300 to do a simple return. Here is why: generally, the people who work there are not CPA’s. The software they use are just a souped up version of the consumer tax preparation softwares. If you’re going to gather up your w-2’s and other documents, drive to the store, sit there while they ask you questions (pretty much the same questions, Turbo Tax or Tax Cut ask you), have them print the tax return out and drive home, why not do the darn thing yourself in the comfort of your own home and save some money. This is just a suggestion. If you insist on having someone else do it, find a CPA. You can find CPA’s who will do it for virtually the same amount as the store front tax preparation folks.

By: saladdin

saladdin — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 04:08:03 +0000

Anyone audited 7 years in a row like Lou should get all the freebies possible.

saladdin

By: Samir

Samir — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 03:35:53 +0000

Will love to get a copy to prepare my 2008 taxes.

By: stacey moore

stacey moore — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:53:27 +0000

we were audited this year and they said we owed over $8,000! after researching we were able to find an law that saved us! it all had to do with part of our student loans being repaid by our state. we normally use turbo tax so we would love to try this!
thanks!
moore.g@insideconnect.net

By: MW

MW — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 19:39:35 +0000

Well I have used turbo tax for many years and actually love it. I don’t like the fact that they think they can up their price so fast in these trying times we are in.
I have actually worked less this year than anytime sense I was 16, (not a joke…that was many years ago) I have never used H&R Block or anyone else to do my taxes. I have always done mine and a few others every year for a long time. When Turbo Tax was introduced it made my work load so much easier and I have used it every year sense with no real issues. I actually would like to see what the competion has to offer. I am planning on doing more taxes this year to make up some of my lost wages while I am laid off. I would be happy to review this product for your site after I do a few peoples taxes if I am chosen….Thanks

By: jim

jim — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:27:01 +0000

Thanks for the tip!

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:16:35 +0000

At age 66, i have a L-o-o-ong history with the IRS. In the 70’s my husband & I had a series of expensive illnesses. We were audited 7 years in a row – based, we thought, on our medical deductions. Every year, in preparing for the audit visit, we found paperwork we had overlooked and every year, they owed us a bigger refund than we had claimed on initially filing! Then I moved out of state for a great job that turned out to be a dud. After I changed jobs again (and my husband finally found a job in out new state), I got called in by my new company’s CFO. I had been on my new job about 2 months & the IRS had garnished my wages, claiming I had not even filed. Turned out we had filed jointly in our previous state of residence, it was in a different IRS region,and my husband’s SSN was first listed, so they “had no record of the wife’s filing.” What with tracking down the problem, re-sending a copy of the return to the regional center where we now resided, I spent hours — and the CFO never really trusted me.

By: David

David — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:01:09 +0000

I just wanted to let everyone know that TaxCut now includes 5 free e-files.

By: KT

KT — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:55:22 +0000

We file two returns in our household, so I followed your link to Amazon to read about the new charge. Turbo Tax took such a beating from the Amazon comments that they are now saying that Turbo Tax has decided to NOT charge the $10 extra filing fee afterall! There’s nothing quite like a public outcry! It bugs me that they even tried, so I’m now interested in trying TaxCut. I’m a long time user of Turbo Tax, I think in part because I thought it would be harder to switch to a new program, and it’s also easy to just get in a rut and go with the familiar, which is probably what they hope will happen.

By: Reva Skie

Reva Skie — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:28:07 +0000

I know my husband is glad that I am no longer self employed. He hated all the hassle of waiting and filing for the business end of the taxes.

By: skylog

skylog — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:00:59 +0000

thank you for the opportunity and the great blog.

although i have a few “tax stories” i will just thank you for offering this software, as it seems turbo tax has gotten even more ridiculous this year. i am sure everyone remembers the debacle of a few years ago when turbo tax placed all kinds of crippling copy protection and install limitations on their software hurting legitimate owners of the product. well…they are at it again, this time raising the price from 44.95 to 59.95 AND charging users an additional 9.95 for each printed return, whereas in previous versions they were allowed to prepare 5 returns. to make matters worse, the only notice of these changes is in “fine print” on the back of the box. thanks….but no thanks.

thankfully, i have been using this software for years and i hope to be doing so with a free copy this tax season.

thank you again.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:52:53 +0000

In 2006, I waited to do our 2005 taxes until the last minute and everything that could go wrong, did. I sat down on Sunday the 16th and the first thing that went wrong was I discovered my W2 – which I’d been carrying around in my purse for months – was missing. My boss still types our paychecks on an old Brother word processor and does not include year to date totals, so I couldn’t determine how much I’d made by looking at paystubs. I finally found the forms I’d penciled in several weeks earlier for the amounts. I didn’t use to work Mondays, so was home to continue the next morning. I qualified for free online federal filing, but not for state. I submitted the federal finally, and decided to send the state forms by snail mail. My printer chose this time to run out of ink. I finally got an old fax machine to work and printed out the forms. I know the post office stays open until midnight on tax day, but when I called I discovered the nearest one was 48 miles away! Then I remembered I couldn’t mail it anyway, without having the W2s to attach. I decided to suck it up and pay the $30 to submit my state taxes online, but was given a message that my federal taxes hadn’t been accepted yet, so I couldn’t do anything more for 24-36 hours. Next I tried another place online, only to discover I couldn’t find my previous year tax information (the other site had all my data from when I used it the previous year). But then I checked my email and found the first company had already charged me $30 for filing my state taxes. In desperation I called the customer service number and found that my federal tax application had been accepted even though 24-36 hours hadn’t passed, I could now go back online and file my state taxes. By that time I was never so happy to pay $30 to submit my taxes on time. I swore I’d never pay my taxes late again. The next year I filed an extension! I hope taxes in 2009 are much less eventful!

By: Dom

Dom — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:09:33 +0000

I was audited two years ago because I thought that I’d try to do my taxes myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t include a 1099-MISC as taxable income (it was from a federal grant for educational purposes and supposedly not taxable) and ended up underpaying by a few thousand dollars. I’d consider myself a personal finance junky and bold enough to try anything, but the complicated worksheets and archaic rules of our federal tax code put a considerable amount of risk on do-it-yourselfers. As such, I’d love to not to have to relive the whole process of finding a tax attorney and reconciling with a 1040X just to please the tax gods.

Thanks for considering me in the contest!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:52:07 +0000

Ben V: Wow – Could you not get the company to at least cover the penalties and back interest? They screwed up, not you…