Personal Tax Software: Paying Uncle Sam Gets Easier - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, March, 2000 by Victoria Hall Smith

Quicken TurboTax Home & Business

8.2

9   7   8   9
V   P   E   S

Requirements   Win 95/98/NT 4.0, 30MB (minimum) hard disk
               space, Internet access for online features,
               updates, and electronic filing

List Price     $50 (after $20 mail-in rebate)

Publisher      Intuit Inc., 800-4-INTUIT, www.turbotax.com

Kiplinger TaxCut for Your Home & Business

8.0

9   7   7   9
V   P   E   S

Requirements   Win 95/98/2000/NT 4.0, 35MB (minimum) hard disk
               space, Internet access for online features,
               updates, and electronic filing

List Price     $50 (after $20 mail-in rebate)

Publisher      Block Financial Corp., 800-235-4060,
               www.taxcut.com

TaxAct Deluxe

8.0

9   7   7   9
V   P   E   S

Requirements   Win 95/98/NT 4.0, 20MB (minimum) hard disk space,
               Internet access for online features, updates,
               and electronic filing

List Price     $10 (download)

Publisher      2nd Story Software, 800-573-4287, www.taxact.com

TaxSaver Federal Deluxe

7.7

9   6   8   8
V   P   E   S

Requirements   Win 95/98/NT 4.0, Internet Explorer 5.0; 150MB
               Hard disk space, Internet access for online
               Features, updates, and electronic filing

List price     $25 (after $20 mail-in rebate); $20 (to download
               Standard version)

Publisher      Microsoft Corp., 800-426-9400,
               www.moneycentral.msn.com

POLITICIANS' PROMISES aside, the tax code seems to grow ever more complex-but at least tax preparation software gets more refined each year. Vendors mix fill-in-the-blank interviews, linked IRS forms, and tax tips in largely similar ways, courting taxpayers with angles ranging from low price (2nd Story's Tax-Act) to name recognition--Intuit's TurboTax is now dubbed Quicken TurboTax, and this year software grizzly bear Microsoft has joined the game with TaxSaver.

The word from Forrester Research is that tax filing Web sites such as Block Financial and Intuit may surpass their PC-based siblings as soon as next year. But since you can't wait till then to file for 1999, here's our quick glance at this year's tax packages and online options.

Quicken TurboTax Home & Business

Intuit's TurboTax still offers solid tax preparation and filing features (after 16 years, it had better), but the program continues to evolve. Last year TurboTax, like Quicken, outgrew its consumer roots with the addition of a Home & Business version for sole proprietors, and that package has a new look for the new year.

The simple interface includes a progress bar across the top, sporting tabs for each section of the tax return. Clicking on any tab gave us a full listing of our work so far and where we were headed next. At the bottom, a preview of our tax form was available with one click.

Best of all, TurboTax's interview process and wizards have been polished. It's still lengthy and dull, but with last year's info in hand, we were able to complete the whole interview in less than 2 hours, saving about 30 minutes over last year.

TurboTax can only import one tax data file via its Tax Link Wizard, though, and that file must be from QuickBooks 6.0 revision 3 or later. Electronic filing is free for the first federal return and $4.95 for each return after that. One state return software package is free; additional state packages cost $20 apiece.

TurboTax for the Web now supports preparation and filing for small-business users, but lacks Home & Business's vital depreciation and home office wizards. Pricing was not available at press time.

Kiplinger TaxCut for Your Home & Business

The new look of Kiplinger TaxCut for Your Home & Business heralds a change for the better since last year. Although the program follows the same interview format with context-sensitive help, the screen layout is now more efficient. Clutter has been replaced with handy buttons for opening navigation outlines and forms lists.

While the interview is easy, Schedule C--crucial for sole proprietors--doesn't appear until well into the process. A few interview questions left us wondering which expenses belonged on Schedule A and which on Schedule C, though the help function cleared this up for us.

Probably the best improvement is support for importing financial info from previous returns and from popular accounting packages. This feature cuts data entry so significantly that we would have given TaxCut a zero rating if it hadn't been added this year as promised.

TaxCut has also added a feature that lets users get a refund advance loan of up to $5,000 within two days of the IRS's acceptance of the return. This carries a fee of $19.95, and users can choose to receive the advance by direct deposit or as prepaid MasterCard spending cards.

E-filing is free for one federal return and costs $12.95 for each additional return; electronic state returns cost $6.95. All state software is free, a significant savings if you file in more than one state.

The Web-based version, TaxCut 1040EZ Online, is free; add a Schedule C and it's $9.95 for federal and $4.95 for state filings.