TurboTax learned something last year.

[braumeister]

I just got a "pre-order" offer from TurboTax, wherein they make clear that last year's fiasco where they eliminated the Schedule D features from Deluxe was a big mistake, and they won't repeat that blatant attempt to force us all to upgrade.

 

[MichaelB]

Interesting. I used TT and H&RB and preferred TT, so hopefully this is a new leaf.

 

[Walt34]

I think I got the same offer, $10 off. Still, I will probably switch to TaxCut this year, I think that would still be cheaper than TurboTax.

 

[W2R]

I'm sticking with Turbo Tax, so I am delighted and relieved to read about this.

 

[akck]

They lost me last year. Even though I didn't need schedule D, the fiasco caused me to check other software out and I switched to H&R Block, which was cheaper. I believe that was at least the second time TT did something where they had to retreat from their actions. I'm not going to be involved a third time when they forget their past and do something stupid again in a few years.

 

[tulak]

They almost lost me last year. But TT does the best job handling ESPP shares, so I'm sticking with them.

 

[mn54]

i am waiting to see what fido has to offer this year. nothing wrong with free.

 

[Car-Guy]

I'll stick with TT even though I think they really screwed up last year. I really didn't care if they wanted to charge more for the same features but it was the way they did it that got me. (surprise) I'll be waiting to buy this years copy to see if I hear about any other things they maybe doing or hiding again this year.

I've looked at a couple of other tax programs and "unfortunately" I still feel TT is the best for me.

 

[ETFs_Rule]

I've been using TT for years now. I always import the previous year's return so switching might screw all of that up.

 

[ejman]

I got so miffed at TT that I switched to Tax Cut last year after using TT (thru Vanguard) for years. Tax cut worked just fine but I'm curious to see what Vanguard will do this year.

 

[hnzw_rui]

That's good news. I tried H&R Block for my 2013 return and it couldn't even handle head of household with qualifying relative properly so after that fiasco, I don't exactly have a lot of options for offline tax return prep software.

 

[Katsmeow]

I jumped from TT last year to HR Block. It worked fine for me, although I slightly prefer how TT does things. But, I was really mad at how they treated their customers last year so I doubt I'll go back to them.

 

[Texas Proud]

I am another waiting to see what Vanguard will do.... but I suspect that they will go TT since they have for many years....

As long as I get a free version from Vanguard, I will be using that tax program...


BTW, when I went from TaxCut to H&R Block (I think it was this, not sure since it was many years ago), they brought all info from the other program over to H&R.... so it could compare year vs year....

When I went from H&R to TT, it only brought the main info over... it did not compare current year with previous year... now that I have used TT for a few years I get to see the comparison...

 

[PERSonalTime]

I would prefer to stay with TurboTax, but if they try to pull a fast one on us like they did last year I'm gone. We will see what they do with this year's version.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[bUU]

It is my year to upgrade Quicken so I'm looking to see if there are any package deals forthcoming.

 

[Dawg52]

H&R Block worked just as easy to me. Im done with TT.

 

[prudent_one]

3 years ago I used H&R Block. The next year I needed a new Quicken so got a Quicken/TT bundle for pretty cheap. Then last year H&R Block sent me their tax software free, and free e-file included. Trying to win me back for the long run I guess.

 

[pb4uski]

I am another waiting to see what Vanguard will do.... but I suspect that they will go TT since they have for many years....

As long as I get a free version from Vanguard, I will be using that tax program.........

+1 I'll go with whatever Vanguard offers for free, but I hope it is TT since I am used to using TT.

 

[athena53]

To me, they're interchangeable. I'm done with TT because they pulled a fast one and I had no recourse because they offered refunds only to people who had used it the year before. Yeah, they backed down after a public thrashing, but I'm still alienated by the fact that they substantially reduced the functionality of the software, then tried to explain it away before they backed down.


I'm just glad this will be our last year of filing in two states. For 3 years we lived in State A and I worked in State B. This is my first full year of retirement but we moved from State A to State B in the middle of the year. I hate having to download a second state return but I tried doing State A in Excel one year (it looked simpler than State B) and missed a ton of "gotchas". It took a consult with a CPA to straighten it out.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm sticking with TT. I've used TT for as long as I can remember. I had it when I had a computer that worked off of floppy disks (only - no hard drive). It's not that I don't think other programs will work, but I also don't believe there's another program out there that won't have some issue from time to time. I'm comfortable with the TT interface and even last year if they wouldn't have given the rebate, it's really a great deal for what it does. Could you imagine doing taxes by hand All of them are a good deal by that measure.

 

[Telly]

We were long-time TT users. With the TT fiasco last year, we switched to H&R Block. It imported the previous year's TT info with no problem. DW is the main user of the tax SW, but I was looking over her shoulder and helping with all the many scenarios we were running to maximize the 15% tax bracket with Roth conversion.

We will use H&R again. We were completely put-off by the TT marketing dance around the facts and their "apology".

 

[Walt34]

Could you imagine doing taxes by hand

Yes, I have done that. Not fun. You're right, any of the tax programs are much better even if you have to snail-mail the return.

 

[athena53]

I agree but I swear the tax codes have gotten more complicated BECAUSE the software exists to handle it. I still can't believe how badly I messed up a state return in Excel. I'm not even sure where the instructions told me to attach the return for another state where I paid taxes. They just denied the credit when I didn't attach it. Nice, huh?

 

[bUU]

I agree but I swear the tax codes have gotten more complicated BECAUSE the software exists to handle it.

I cannot agree. I recall my mother, a single parent, struggling to make ends meet, paying for tax preparation back in the mid-1970s. The personal computer and TurboTax software was a boon for folks like my mother. I suppose it might have been simple in the 1950s or 1960s, but by the 1970s it was as complex as complex could be.

 

[razztazz]

I cannot agree. I recall my mother, a single parent, struggling to make ends meet, paying for tax preparation back in the mid-1970s. The personal computer and TurboTax software was a boon for folks like my mother. I suppose it might have been simple in the 1950s or 1960s, but by the 1970s it was as complex as complex could be.

I suspect Einstein didn't actually say ether of these quotes but they go back to the pre- 1960's so maybe the 1040 wasn't so easy back then either?

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” — Albert Einstein, Mathematician

“This is too difficult for a mathematician. It takes a philosopher.” Albert Einstein