Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Good product, but buggy
This is the first year I'm using tax preparation software to do my return (I am using it on a Mac OS 10.2.3 machine, with add-on for California). I would say that TurboTax's interface for data entry is quite friendly and easy to use. It is the best aspect of the program. And if your employer and/or financial institutions enable downloadable tax data, then you can download the data directly to the software. Definitely diminish the chance of miscalculation, and for the latter, errors for data entry. However, it has an annoying bug. I would like to save my returns in PDF format. What better way to do this than to use Mac OS X's "Save As PDF" feature? Turns out that it doesn't work as seamlessly as I expected. Looks like TurboTax's algorithm to print is to spool several print jobs to print your returns. In the case of the "Save As PDF", this will result in several PDF files. This creates a problem, because "Save As PDF" will write these jobs to only one file, and so the later print jobs will overwrite the earlier ones. Also, looks like the last print job is always the barebone federal return (no worksheet). If you try to print both federal and state, first it will send a job for the complete federal return, then the complete state return, and lastly the barebone federal return. Because of the overwriting, the PDF for the barebone federal return is the only one you'll get. One not-so-ideal workout is to time the spooling (race with the computer!), and quickly rename the file during the processing of one of the earlier print jobs. After several tries, I managed to get the PDF files of the returns that I want. Of course, you need lots of patience and fortitude to do this. To summarize, TurboTax is a good product, and in the Mac version there's no annoying protection scheme as in the Windows version. But I get the impression that it's not extensively tested, probably because of the pressure to update the product every year.
Rating:  - Excellent, as usual
I purchased this in mid-March. Let's face it, buying tax software early invites a frustrating experience. There are last minute tax changes and bugs that will need ironed out. If you HAVE to have your taxes submitted in January, go to H&R Block.Otherwise, TurboTax continues to be a rock-solid choice. I have a complex return, with capital gains, mulitple income sources including K-1s, lots of optional schedules to fill out and a lot of deductions. TurboTax handled it all without a single glitch, as usual. The "reminder" feature that lets you know when you have an income source or deduction from a previous year that you didn't take this year is a real life-saver. Not only can you catch a deduction that otherwise would have been forgotten (where DID you put that Salvation Army receipt?) but forgetting that stock dividend can trigger an audit. The E-File is a great feature and worked like a charm, as did the state download and submission. TurboTax has made tax time a minor burden where it used to be a multiple day consuming nightmare. ...it is worth every penny, and it is deductible if you itemize! Also, if you are the kind of person who waits until the last minute, TurboTax is the ONLY way to go. Within a couple of hours your tax return will be ready to submit!
Rating:  - DO NOT BUY THIS AWFUL PRODUCT
I should have listened to the other reviews here, but the fact that I'm running OS X 10.2 on a G4 gave me hope.As reported extensively elsewhere, this product is buggy and poorly designed. Some examples: * Key questions for tax form data entry are obscured by buggy graphics -- I oftentimes had to make reasonable guesses. * After keying everything in, I was prompted to download the latest updates. This process took over *3 hours* on a phone line. It would have been faster to drive to work over the weekend to get a T1 line. * The internet setup did not use my system defaults for internet connections. I have some knowledge of this and was able to set them correctly, but doubt if many people have the knowledge necessary for this step. * Because I have multiple options for filing status, I expected and was led to believe that the software would analyze which one is best for me. It did not. When I changed the filing status by hand, instead of walking me through the necessary changes to the forms, it simply complained about the errors to my forms. I now have no idea if the return I have completed using this software is correct -- simply because I want to analyze "what if" with my filing status. * The software is filled with ads for financial institutions. When encouraging you to save in an IRA, it insultingly places advertisements for a few investment houses nearby. ... Bottom line: It is easier to fill in U.S. tax forms by hand, including multiple filing options, than to use this buggy, poorly designed, frustrating, and annoying software. Back it goes -- don't waste your time.
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