Turbo Tax pulled a swifty this year

[marc515]

Last year I used TT Deluxe for $29.99.

This year TT found a way to increase fees without increasing the cost of their products. If you sold stocks during 2013, you must now jump up to TT Premier at a cost of $34.99, as TT Deluxe no longer includes Sch D.

EDIT: I'm using the Web Version

 

[LOL!]

Uh, no. TT Deluxe does include Schedule D.

 

[MichaelB]

I believe the TT Deluxe online does not include Schedule D, the desktop version does.

Edit to add: it seems very confusing for TT to include different forms for the same product

 

[gauss]

Tax Act is a very nice alternative. ~$18 gets me
- Federal Tax sw
- State Tax sw
- Federal e-file
- setup.exe for the above (ie software is installed locally on my machine, no web)

I switched from TT to Tax Act quite a few years ago when TT, in their misguided anti-piracy efforts, destroyed many of the Linux partitions on their customers computers. I have never looked back.

-gauss

-gauss

 

[samclem]

Edit to add: it seems very confusing for TT to include different forms for the same product

+1. They probably already had the discs made and in the distro channel when they made the decision to "disinclude" Schedule D from TT Deluxe. But this is the kind of thing that confuses customers and leads to dissatisfaction.

I've bought TT this year, but next year I might go back to the HR Block product (formerly known as TaxCut). It has always worked well for me and tends to be about 20% less expensive. I tried Tax Act some years ago, but had some glitches (couldn't print easily due to some configuration issues, sometimes couldn't save my work--it just wasn't as "polished" as TT or H&R Block products). YMMV.

 

[CoolChange]

Tax Act is a very nice alternative. ~$18 gets me
- Federal Tax sw
- State Tax sw
- Federal e-file
- setup.exe for the above (ie software is installed locally on my machine, no web)

I switched from TT to Tax Act quite a few years ago when TT, in their misguided anti-piracy efforts, destroyed many of the Linux partitions on their customers computers. I have never looked back.

-gauss

-gauss

+1 for TaxAct here; I have been using the online version for at least eight years with no issues.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Tax Act is a very nice alternative. ~$18 gets me
- Federal Tax sw
- State Tax sw
- Federal e-file
- setup.exe for the above (ie software is installed locally on my machine, no web)

Very much the same deal for HR Block at Home (formerly Tax Cut). I use the basic version which inlcudes Sch D. Because I'm a repeat customer they snail-mailed me a CD this year which I used to install the federal version for $9.99. I usually don't buy my state version but since it was only $5 I d/l'ed it for the first time this year.

While my state's form is largely "enter your fed agi here" there is an annoying calculation for a "spouse credit" that requires all income to be prorated between spouses. Up until a couple of years ago the state had a web version that worked just fine, but they got rid of it in favor of making taxpayers shell out for private software.

 

[gerntz]

Up until a couple of years ago the state had a web version that worked just fine, but they got rid of it in favor of making taxpayers shell out for private software.

Good for your state not wasting taxpayer money.

 

[samclem]

Good for your state not wasting taxpayer money.

Probably not much of a savings. I'll bet a lot of people who formerly used the state's simple web site now mail in paper forms instead, which somebody has to read and enter.

It's crazy that US taxpayers (excluding certain low-income taxpayers) don't get "free" e-filing as a regular part of the IRS service. This was the result of a sweetheart deal between the US government and software companies, and it costs the government tons of money to handle the resulting paper returns.

 

[jazz4cash]

Very much the same deal for HR Block at Home (formerly Tax Cut). I use the basic version which inlcudes Sch D. Because I'm a repeat customer they snail-mailed me a CD this year which I used to install the federal version for $9.99. I usually don't buy my state version but since it was only $5 I d/l'ed it for the first time this year.

While my state's form is largely "enter your fed agi here" there is an annoying calculation for a "spouse credit" that requires all income to be prorated between spouses. Up until a couple of years ago the state had a web version that worked just fine, but they got rid of it in favor of making taxpayers shell out for private software.

GB
How do they bill the 9.99? I switched from TT to Block last year and I thought it was better ( and cheaper). I also got the CD by mail and I chucked it into my tax folder without even looking it over. I only use the Federal version because my state (MD) has its own online efile.

 

[Texas Proud]

I have used the HR Block for the past three years.... but going to TT this year because of getting it free.... free is better

BTW, I have not seen an offer of less than $29 for the HR Block this year... I think I paid $15 or $20 last year....

 

[karluk]

I've used TT the last two years because I got it for free. Prior to that I had done my taxes in a spreadsheet and mailed in paper forms.

It looks as if I won't be eligible for free TT this year. I may use one of the alternatives recommended in this thread, but I also may go back to my spreadsheets or try FreeFile. I looked into FreeFile when it first became available and thought the online fillable forms were awful to the point of being unusable. But there may have been improvements over the years. If so, it would be a step up from copying my spreadsheets onto paper forms, which worked fine for me for many years.

Free File: Do Your Federal Taxes for Free

 

[bUU]

I don't see much difference between regular, deluxe and premier versions this year, and regular, deluxe and premier versions last year. TurboTax has long made different grades of product for different price points.

I've tried other products, but they're not as good as TurboTax in my opinion, and the price difference isn't worth the compromise.

 

[d]

what am I missing? just checked TT website ... both Basic and Deluxe, both Online and CD/Download, list Schedule D among their included forms.

 

[jazz4cash]

I have used the HR Block for the past three years.... but going to TT this year because of getting it free.... free is better

BTW, I have not seen an offer of less than $29 for the HR Block this year... I think I paid $15 or $20 last year....

I dug out the CD that Bloch sent in the mail and it says "as low as $25.95 after instant $5 coupon". I think I paid ~$20 last year for the Basic version.....Hopefully GalaxyBoy will check back in and tell us how to get a better deal. So, far I am refusing to use any online versions of the tax software even if I have to pay a bit more for a CD.

 

[Walt34]

I've tried other products, but they're not as good as TurboTax in my opinion, and the price difference isn't worth the compromise.

+1

The deluxe version is on sale $10 off in Staples and Office Max's stores so I'll probably get the CD there. For a once-a-year product I'm not going to spend hours shaving a few bucks. While the credit union that I'm a member of in MD has a good deal on the federal version, adding the WV state makes it more than the store version. Go figure.

 

[pb4uski]

Last year I used TT Deluxe for $29.99.

This year TT found a way to increase fees without increasing the cost of their products. If you sold stocks during 2013, you must now jump up to TT Premier at a cost of $34.99, as TT Deluxe no longer includes Sch D.

EDIT: I'm using the Web Version

You're griping about a $5 increase? Must be a slow day.

 

[meierlde]

Last year I used TT Deluxe for $29.99.

This year TT found a way to increase fees without increasing the cost of their products. If you sold stocks during 2013, you must now jump up to TT Premier at a cost of $34.99, as TT Deluxe no longer includes Sch D.

EDIT: I'm using the Web Version

Did you check the all forms link in forms mode. I just checked my turbotax deluxe and it included schedule D and 8949 in the all forms list. However it did not show on the list of forms for my return. I guess they figured that until you have a cap gain, you don't need the form, so why include it in the list of forms for the file.

 

[tulak]

I think the difference is that you don't get the walk through/TT help with online deluxe for schedule d.

 

[meierlde]

I think the difference is that you don't get the walk through/TT help with online deluxe for schedule d.

I was dealing with the CD version which is a bit more. (59.99)

 

[2B]

This year Quicken hit me with their every three year extortion to either upgrade Quicken or lose the ability to get on line information after March. Amazon had a deal where you got extra off their Quicken price if you also bought Turbo Tax. I think I paid about $10 to get TT Deluxe over the Amazon Quicken 2014 price.

TT Deluxe (disk version) has the full Schedule D which I need. It updated last years H&R Block tax info into this years return perfectly and it doesn't look any different than if I had used TT last year.

 

[marc515]

You're griping about a $5 increase? Must be a slow day.

It's the principle

 

[marc515]

what am I missing? just checked TT website ... both Basic and Deluxe, both Online and CD/Download, list Schedule D among their included forms.

This is the answer TT is showing when I typed in schedule D: "Schedule D is for Capital Gains & Losses, if you need a Schedule D you would have to upgrade to the Premier version for Online."

Check this out for forms included/not included (click on forms tab): https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/deluxe.jsp

 

[meierlde]

This is the answer TT is showing when I typed in schedule D: "Schedule D is for Capital Gains & Losses, if you need a Schedule D you would have to upgrade to the Premier version for Online."

Check this out for forms included/not included (click on forms tab): https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/deluxe.jsp

Note that this is the online version, which IMHO leaves you at least a little bit more open to hacking. The disk version which costs about $30 more provides this. The premier online costs $10 less than the deluxe cd version.

 

[Bikerdude]

I need schedule E.

TaxAct = free

TT = Way too expensive IMO.