So, Iam just done with my 2006 taxes using TaxAct (http://www.taxact.com).
Positive:
- Cheap ($16 with both Federal and State efile)
- Web based
- Tech support is timely and reasonably ok
- Adequate online help
Cons:
- Clumsy interface: Despite the tabs, the navigation is essentially linear.
- Buggy? : In State Property Tax, my NJ tax would switch from $209 credit to $5 I owe with no explanation. I had to repeat the whole state and enter the property tax in a column that TaxAct computed automatically to make this work.
- Why do I get warning that IRA contributions exceed limit? After entering IRA contribution, Traditional IRA is presented before Non deduct able. If you entered something in ND, went back and entered Traditional, there is no means to delete the ND part if the Traditional exceeds limit ($4000 per person)
- Why is my State taxable wages higher than my federal? Because this is pulled off Box 16 from W-2. But the s/w does n’t tell you that.
- Why did you not getDependant credit? Because your income is > 100K. But the s/w does not explicitly tells you that. You need to get this from Help
- Why did you not claim Dependant Care expenses? Because you used the money from Flex spending. Again, guess from Help. The explanation screen was utterly confusing and useless.
Verdict: Down. Try something else for 2007
In my earlier years, TurboTax had been quite OK I guess (not stellar). H&R’s s/w was also OK. H&R block accosting service was quite disappointing… basically its too costly. In one instance I remember paying $200+ for nothing. This year Ravi (neighbor) said he paid $500+. He says the fee is proportional to your income.
