TaxCut 2005 Deluxe + State [Old Version] :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Form 8801

2006-04-17
After four straight years of using TaxCut, I believe I'll use TurboTax next year. As others pointed out, after TaxCut indicated no further errors nor warnings, the return got rejected by the IRS because, in Form 8801, the program did not subtract line 38 from line 37 and put the results in line 40. I won't be able to e-file because of this basic mistake in TaxCut's compliance with how the form should be filled out according to the IRS.

Immature Software

2006-04-12
This software is years behind TurboTax, which I've used for the 4 years prior (with no audits and no problems). I gave it a shot this time around because it was cheaper, but found numerous bugs that have left me very nervous about submitting my taxes. Here's a HUGE one: If you live in California, you can deduct a portion of your vehicle registration fees under state and local tax. Turbotax explicitly asks you for this. Taxcut MAKES NO MENTION OF IT. If you didn't know to enter it manually (how ridiculous!), you wouldn't get this credit. And for most people, this credit will reduce their taxes (or increase their rebate) significantly-- for me it was far more than the cost of this stupid software.

If you want to be wary about your taxes, use Taxcut. If you want to miss obvious deductions and credits, use Taxcut.

No Mac version

2006-04-10
I've used TaxCut on a Mac for the past four years. This year, I was pleasantly surprised when an unordered TaxCut CD arrived in the mail. How nice! I didn't have to order it from Amazon and wait for it to arrive.

Now, I'm a procrastinator, so today, April 9th, I opened up the package. And found --- a Windows-only CD. Grrrrr. OK, so I'm annoyed, but I go to the website to purchase and download the Mac verson. Only --- no Mac version at all this year!!

But, judging from some of the reviews below, maybe I'm lucky to be forced to use TurboTax.

Highly NOT recommended...

2006-04-09
I have to agree with Diogenes "tlhm"'s summary: DO NOT USE THIS GARBAGE SOFTWARE IF YOU HAVE A FORM 8801. I was in shock when it asked me to fill out a form for which it already should have had all the information it needed (form 8801). I had to go to a tax consultant to make sure I had filled it out correctly, which obviously wiped out any savings from using TaxCut. Then, AFTER I checked the entire return for errors (0 errors, 0 warnings), and AFTER I entered my credit card for online filing, it rejects my return, saying there is an error in form 8801. The error is that it did not subtract line 38 from line 37 and put the results in line 40. It told me to do that manually (override). So I overrode the entry, resubmitted, and it was rejected AGAIN, saying "you are not authorized to override that entry". I haven't heard back from H&R B yet, but from Diogenes's post it looks like I'll have to print out my return and then fight to get my credit card charges reversed.

So I agree - this is a piece of garbage. I'm switching back to TurboTax next year.

Does the job, no better than TurboTax

2006-04-06
I used TurboTax for years and switched to TaxCut since the price was lower. I can't say that it was an improvement although it did the job. My taxes were less complex than other years so I can't comment on things like depreciation. However it did walk me through the steps and I was able to finish my taxes in a few hours.

TAXES

2007-05-07
very easy to use and by far the best software I have used to date. I feel very sorry for Accountants.

Tax Cut 2005 Deluxe + State (old version)

2007-03-09
It worked Okay for me this time because my taxes were not complicated.

I have no complaints.

2006-11-02
It does what it's supposed to do, and does it well. I didn't get audited, so I am happy!

poor installation & update, odd assumptions, but easy to use

2006-10-17
i've used taxcut for about 4 years now. i read the bad about the 2005 edition in the reviews, but i'd rather buy taxcut again than enter last year's data (i think they're counting on this!).

the short of it: still a good UI and pretty easy to use, but you might spend an hour+ installing and updating, possibly with your computer in 'safe mode'.

the installation & update was pretty painful.
- avast reported a virus in the state installation (win32:Trojan-gen.{other} Virus/Worm). tech support said "that happens with some virus programs"...uh yep.
- the installation failed with an error box: "Invalid commandline syntax (see commandlineImpl::initOptions())"
- updating would not work, failing with the error "CATax.dll could not be opened"
- tech support suggested that i restart my computer in 'safe mode' to complete the installation...safe mode to install a TAX program?!?!
- it took tech support an hour to fix the install and update, making the installation about an hour and a quarter process (i'll bet that the IRS didn't figure that into their time estimations...)

there's definitely some problems with the form 8801 as others have reported; it did not check the boxes correctly on the 8801 based on 2004 data, even though i had imported it from taxcut 2004. i had to open the form manually and correct it.

if either taxpayer has any W2's at all, it will not even ask if there are any self-employed deductions for either.

all that aside, the UI seems a bit faster than it has been in previous years, and it still is pretty easy to use. i hope they work on it harder for next year given its slipping ratings against turbotax....

Lawsuit waiting to happen

2006-04-18
Filed my taxes in February with TaxCut Deluxe. Just got my state tax return sent back to me saying that I had failed to fill out large chunks of my tax return. When I examined what TaxCut had filled out, it left out complete columns. When I started to do the tax return by hand, it became clear that TaxCut failed not only fill things out, but also filled out parts of the form incorrectly. It got the standard deduction wrong (to the tune of 2 grand).

"Customer Support" was what I have grown to expect with companies. Completely non-responsive. When I had problems with the program earlier I was told that I could expect all fixes to come in the future. The program told me that I could e-file my state tax return, but when I tried to do it, I was told that I could not. I contacted customer support and they said I could return it for a refund IF I still had the original box and receipt (this for a program I bought in January).