JJVilla Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I have been doing my annual review of tax prep software and it seems that each year they vary so much that it's a fresh search every time. Based on my experience and current search I have narrowed it down to Tax Cut Deluxe and Turbo Tax Deluxe, which at Amazon are about $22 and $38 to download directly, respectively. So, any other suggestions and is Turbo Tax worth $16 more (for a homeowner with modest investments, married)? In other word I'll be itemizing. I meant for 2009 IRS filing. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 You might want to shop around for discounts--many of the big banks, insurance companies, and investment houses offer discounts for Turbo Tax. I've used Intuit's online product since it came out--have never bought the software box or messed with downloads. For years I got my discount through USAA's website; this year I used bank of America and TT Deluxe was $19 to file the fed form. I believe Vanguard, Fidelity and T. Rowe offer a similar discount if you have 401ks or mutual funds through them, ScottTrade always offers a discount; I believe State Farm is also offering 25% off this year. I'm a big Turbo Tax fan, mainly since I've become so famililar with the product and I have to input so little manually. My taxes took me 20 minutes this year, and half that time was processing the e-sigs at the end of the process when you actually file. In fact, it's so efficient, I've already gotten and spent my refund. But my new hot water heater is great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barracuda Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I started with TaxCut online because it's cheaper, but I found it difficult to find what I was looking for due to some unusual investment sales. I decided to try TurboTax Premier online (since both are free until you actually file), and the UI and organization of the questions was noticeably better and I found exactly what I needed. I've used TaxCut in the past, and it was fine for simple tax returns, but TurboTax was worth the extra $10 or $20 for this round.I do find it interesting that TurboTax is still charging different prices depending on your browser. I remember they did this last year. On my Mac, they list $49.95 for Premier/$29.95 for Deluxe in FireFox (same on IE for my PC) but $50.95-Premier/$30.95-Deluxe in Safari. I wonder why they think Safari users owe them an extra buck?BTW, in case you're not aware, the IRS makes batch deposits for electronic refunds every Friday. So, if your e-file is accepted by the IRS by 11am on a given Thursday, you should expect your refund to be electronically deposited the following week on Friday. I e-filed on the 31st and had my refund electronically deposited on the 12th. You can check your refund status here, but in my case they didn't update my status with the deposit date until the day before the deposit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 BTW, in case you're not aware, the IRS makes batch deposits for electronic refunds every Friday. So, if your e-file is accepted by the IRS by 11am on a given Thursday, you should expect your refund to be electronically deposited the following week on Friday. I e-filed on the 31st and had my refund electronically deposited on the 12th. You can check your refund status here, but in my case they didn't update my status with the deposit date until the day before the deposit.I used TurboTax online this year (used to use CompleteTax) as they let me do the entire process before having to pay for it - I got about $500 larger refund with TurboTax than I would with my old CompleteTax....Im not sure where the difference was - I looked and couldn't figure it out...I do have a question - I e-filed my return and it was accepted the next day.....when I got my refund, I actually got $250 more than what I filed....anyone know why -- I have searched online a bit and everyone seems to say once your return is accepted, it isn't looked at - does the IRS actually check returns for errors/omissions -- Im not complaining but it would be nice to know what I missed or did wrong... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I've used TaxACT (online) the past 4 years, and it's extremely easy. I barely have to do anything different from year to year, it keeps everything from past years and you just update with new numbers. It took me about 30 minutes. Even with a few different things this year than last year financially, the approach to stepping you through like a questionnaire made sure I caught those things and ended up with a bigger refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJVilla Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 Thanks for the feedback; just saw that Scottrade also offers a good discount (30%) for TurboTax. You can get the online Deluxe version for about $21! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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