TurboTax Deluxe 2005 with State Win/Mac [Old Version]

Customer Reviews

TurboTax got sneaky this year. Customer "service" sucks.

2007-12-18
I ordered TurboTax Federal and unlike last year this comes WITHOUT state. When I attempted to load state the product prompted for an ADDITIONAL $34.95. So I contacted them by e-mail (twice), on-line help (twice), and phone (twice). Guess what? Three of the six inquiries were something like "well the states are not available yet but they'll be free", two were "look at our website for descriptions of the product" which I'd BEEN using for years, and the last was it was all a mixup and it was "not free." So fortunately Amazon was VERY, VERY UNDERSTANDING and did what TurboTax refused to do and took it back. I switched to TaxCut. When I called them they provided REAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT! Go TaxCut!

Great tax preparation package

2007-06-02
I have used Turbo Tax Deluxe at for many years and find it to be very easy to use. It covers many items,such as K-1 for partnerships,etc.and automatically sets proper Standard deductions for married Seniors.

I wrote taxes for HR Block at one time, and found "Turbo Tax" to give tax returns equal to those reports.

great reliable product

2007-02-10
only hiccup this year was late forms and not the best accuracy in notifying me when they were ready. But, if you're not a spaz about doing your taxes immediately, no harm done.

10 + year user

2006-09-24
I have used Turbo Tax for as long as I can remember. I have always purchased their business and their personal tax products. Generally I had been satisfied. However this year after spending much time over many months working on a complicated return, Turbo tax dumped all the data including that which was saved many times over several months. It corrupted all but 2kb of data and can't even open that. Of course you can't get a person via telephone or email.

I would give them o stars if that was an option. So long Intuit.

turbo tax software

2006-07-05
Turbo Tax Deluxe is an excellent product but they should make it easier for you to back up without having to go thorugh the whole category to get to one item.
Also they should make it easier to make adjustments to your state return. It's very annoying to find and adjust the State Return once you have gone back into your Federal Return.
I think it is a very good product BUT they should make it much easier to navigate to other areas ESPECIALLY for the STATE RETURN.

Everything you will need

2006-06-21
TurboTax Deluxe 2005 guides you with extra help you need, for claiming the most deductions. Find out how you can take advantage of over 350 possible deductions. It's completely up-to-date with the latest tax laws, to help you get every deduction and new tax break you deserve. Includes all the features of TurboTax Basic, plus ItsDeductible and a TurboTax State Download ItsDeductible helps you find deductions you never knew about before Includes free download for state

A Disappointed Mac User

2006-04-17
This was my first year using Turbotax, and it's also my last!

Since 1992 I was a faithful user of HR Block's Taxcut for Mac. In spite of it costing more than the Windows version, I used it every year except for 1995 when various problems related to my AOL dial-up service prevented me from using it. Since TurboTax is the only option out there for people who use a Mac, you'd think I'd be continuing to use them for now on, - but you'd be wrong!

I purchased my copy of TurboTax Deluxe from Amazon.com to save $5. Since TaxCut made certain that no information from it's software could ever be imported by other software, I filled in my personal data as I began. I was a little disappointed that TurboTax doesn't allow you to skip the "step-by-step" method, and just fill in the actual forms the way TaxCut did as an option. While the downloads were an annoyance (6 or 7 separate files each time), for the most part the software was OK. Picking up from where you leave off wasn't always possible, but 5 or 6 clicks would get you back to the right spot.

My first major annoyance came with the state software. After filling in some data, and seeing the overall results, I wanted to look at the forms to see what they were doing with my data. I also needed to see where they had placed data that was imported from the federal information I'd entered. Well, there's no way to see your data on state forms until you're finished and print them out (or preview as .pdf files from the print dialogue). When you do that the software somehow magically creates the state forms for printing, but the state forms don't seem to exist anywhere else except in that print spool! I found this extremely annoying, and a real time waster.

The final blow, however, was when I got to filing. The advertising is an unnecessary annoyance. Since I don't owe any state taxes, I just usually print those forms out and mail them in --- it doesn't make any sense to me to pay for filing something when I don't owe anything and I'm not going to benefit from that "faster" refund. Then I came to the crusher. TurboTax wanted $30 for e-filing my Federal forms!! TaxCut charged $14.95 and $15.95, but then they always rebated the cost. I was told that Intuit used to do that, but obviously they decided to make some additional money this year. Earlier in the day that I filed the saw the head of the IRS on CNBC being interviewed. He said that e-filing makes their job so much simpler. Well, if it helps them that much, they should devise a way for computer users who buy software to file returns directly to the IRS without Intuit, H R Block and the others as middlemen. And they should let us file for free if it makes their work so much easier.

While I have had my doubts about the services that allow you to fill out online forms, and then do your filing for you, I haven't heard of any security problems with them, so that's the direction I'm planning to take next year. As far as I'm concerned, TurboTax blew it by being unfair with their e-filing fees.

Adequate, but not recommended

2006-04-17
I have used Intuit products since 1992, and was quite satisfied until 4 years ago when Intuit began installing hidden software on users' computers in an attempt to "stop piracy", which caused numerous problems for us honest users who paid for the program.
Secondly and even more significantly, I began noticing an apparent shift in Intuit's philosophy toward it's customers: cut back on customer support, and attempt to exploit them at every possible opportunity in order to make more money.
In short, Intuit disrespects their customers.
As a loyal paying customer, I will not be disrespected or taken for granted. Their level of service and support has declined. Their products constantly pimp you to spend more money on Intuit as you try to use their programs.
That is why I have sworn off Intuit products when there is an alternative. Why reward someone who treats you badly?!

don't bother. use online version

2006-04-15
if you have used the online version in the past, stick with it. buying it on disk does not allow you to import data from previous returns if done on line and you can not upload to myturbotax. almost as if two separate companies! plus the User interface on this software stinks bigtime. very hard to navigate back and forth. online version is actually better (though i didn't try it this year). does intuit actually employ programmers or watch real users? they spend far too much money on useless features like videos and not enough on simple ui issues.

Long Time User, But Dissapointed

2006-04-13
I have been using Turbo Tax since 1998, I use computers every day, and (as an engineer) I am used to using difficult applications (Pro-E, Mathcad, UG, etc). This years edition of Turbo Tax Deluxe was the worst Turbo tax I have ever seen (& I usually like it very much). I purchased in January and had to update 4 times. One update took 6 hours (some of us live in the boonies and broadband is not an option). In addition, the application brought up menus and selections that were not applicable (farm income at the PA State form). When I tried to delete the entries (at the Federal level as instructed) they would not. My 1 business expense entry kept getting duplicated ("copy 2" and every time I deleted it, it would reappear on the next pass through. Every time I entered the "State" tab, it acted like I was never there before with a "Start State" button that always lead me through all the same questions (It did retain my answers from prior visits). Where was the "Continue State" button? I also noticed that using the "back" button and then moving foreward again caused never before seen dialogs to occur, even though the same "foreward" choices were made. Once I backed up to check something & then moving foreward caused my state tax status to jump from +$46 to -$1548!! Upon backing up I saw that some of the check boxes regarding the sale of my home were unchecked. I did not check them, but rather backed up two more screens, then moved foreward again the two screens and the boxes were again checked! One more foreward click and my taxes again returned to +$46. One of the years I liked best was when there was a "checklist" so you could see where you had been and what was already addressed. This years State was definetly worse than the Federal, but even that was a dissapointment. I did complete this years filings & submitted both online, I hope I don't get burned! Turbo Tax!-- Please improve for next year or it may be my last year. You realize that at 59.95 + 39.95 filing + my time + aggravation like this year, and an accountant is looking attractive. If you are on the "inside" you probably know why this is happening...outsourcing code gen to India, not outsourcing code gen to India, programmer cut-backs, programming application changes, archiving application changes, project management issues, whatever. Just realize that there is a problem & fix it.