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01-07-2004, 06:07 AM
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#1 of 37 
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Join Date: Dec 2000
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Local Date: 10-10-2008
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Tax Software (TT vs. TC)
I've been using Turbo Tax for about 6 years. Last year Turbo Tax loaded alot of junk, spyware on my machine, so this year I may consider Tax Cut.
My ?'s,
Has Turbo Tax cleaned up their act this year??
Does Tax Cut import previous years data from Turbo Tax?
What do you recommend?
Thanks for the guidance.
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01-07-2004, 06:40 AM
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#2 of 37
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Dan,
I am in the same boat as you.. From what I have seen - TT got rid of the crap (including that damn activation), but they still try to get you yo buy all kinds of their products while going through your return. I went to TC website and they state that they can import TT data - A friend of mine that does taxes on the side says last years version of TC imported TT data with no problems - so I would imagine this years is ok as well. Also for what it is worth he recomends TC over TT. Hope that helps.
jim
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01-07-2004, 06:46 AM
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#3 of 37
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For those reasons - spyware, etc. - I ended up using TaxCut last year, despite being a long-time (10+ years) user of TurboTax.
If TurboTax/Intuit indeed cleaned up their act, then I may reconsider going back to them. But I have to say tha TaxCut was very straightforward to use, just about as easy as TurboTax.
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01-07-2004, 11:00 AM
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#4 of 37
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Dan,
Thanks for asking this question, it's one I've been meaning to post for some time. If you don't mind, I'd like to pigyback on this thread with a few ?'s of my own:
I used TurboTax online two years ago and liked it, but my life was much simpler then (single, renting an apartment, etc). Now I'm married and we bought a house in April of this year, which will complicate things a bit. We went to an accountant last year who did an average job I guess, but we got RAPED since we'd just gotten married in 10/02, and it didn't feel any better to shell out $$ to some guy only to have him tell you to bend over... but I digress.
A few other random questions: can any of these packages play around too see if filing jointly/separately would be best, and if you should file separately can they do that or do you need to pay for the software twice to file separate returns?
Thanks!
-Brett.
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01-07-2004, 12:31 PM
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#5 of 37
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Just to add to the original question: I also moved away from Turbo Tax due to the spyware/etc/crap, and used Taxcut last year, and had no problem importing my previous returns from Turbo Tax, so I may just stick with Taxcut unless they didn't learn from Turbo Tax's mistakes last year and also get into the spyware/burner-disabling game.
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01-08-2004, 08:14 AM
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#6 of 37
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Brett,
TT is very easy to figure your return different ways. As for you now being married and having a mortgage....that really doesn't make things any more difficult. If you've used TT before and are comfortable doing your own return, it doesn't make much sense to pay an accountant to do it for you.
I even figure my wife's small business on our return and it's really not that complex at all. My return has gone from about 4 pages to about 20 in the last couple of years, but all the data entry is very straightforward.
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01-08-2004, 12:40 PM
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#7 of 37
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Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I wonder if TC lets you play around with filings in the same manner? The only reason is that TC often comes with a rebate for MS money, which I use instead of Quicken.
Thanks,
-Brett.
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01-08-2004, 05:08 PM
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#8 of 37
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I too switched to TC last year. Imported my TT info and was very easy to use and quite a bit less expensive than TT.
I dont recall if it is able to show you the diff. by filing different ways. I would think it does.
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01-08-2004, 08:25 PM
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#9 of 37
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One thing I found... according to this page TurboTax is doing away with all the "activation" software they had last year:
Quote:
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You told us that you want the flexibility to install and use TurboTax on multiple computers, and we heard you, loud and clear. We responded back in May by committing to remove the technology from TurboTax for 2003 and now, we've expanded our license agreement so you can use TurboTax fully on multiple computers to do returns for yourself and members of your household.
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So, score one for TT this year.
-Brett. |
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01-09-2004, 06:18 AM
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#10 of 37
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Thank you all for your help! 
I may give TT another chance.
To answer other questions, yes you can easily make changes to in TT (and I assume TC) to try various scenerios (Married filing jointly, married filing separate, etc.) Also I have used TT through many life changes (Job changes, marriage, new dependents, buying and selling of homes, etc) and it just gets easier as my life gets more complicated! TT will look at what you did in previous years and ask you appropriate questions... (i.e. losses on stock sales that can be written off in following years).
I highly recommend a tax software even if you have a pro do your taxes... I know of people that checked their paid tax accountant using TT and have found some errors (different ways of accounting?)in the pros work.
Thanks again everyone.
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