H&R Block DeductionPro for Tax Year 2003 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought DeductionPro because I'd donated a lot of old clothing, furniture and books to charity last year, and I wanted some assistance organizing and valuing those contributions for my tax preparation. DeductionPro allowed me to enter all of this information, provided a table for estimating their value, and prepared the required IRS form for claiming those deductions since they were valued at over $500.
Beyond that, there's not much to this software. Its user interface is not very slick. There fields have limited space to enter information, the error messages are not helpful, there are no good instructions, and it's overall look and feel is pretty amateurish. I wasn't very impressed. However, since it comes free with TaxCut, it was clearly worth the money I (didn't) pay.
There's nothing here that you can't get by simply using tax preparation software. The only real value add is the valuation tables, and they are pretty limited. You can also use it to record cash donations, out of pocket expenses and other kinds of deductions. However, unlike TaxCut, there's limited advise available for doing so, and no obvious benefit to using this software for those things.
On the whole, using DeductionPro benefited me, but it's nothing to write home about. If you don't need the merchandise valuation tables for non-cash donations, I wouldn't spend the time or money to use this software. Your tax prep software will do it all just as well. If you do need help valuing your donations, then this might make your life a little easier, but not much.

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H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I switched from TurboTax to TaxCut this year primarily due to Intuit's new pricing structure where they both raised the base price quite a bit and then they charge $9.95 for each additional return you want to prepare beyond the first one. Given those changes, it was time to try something else.
So far I am very pleased with TaxCut. It imported my TurboTax data from last year without any problems at all. It also will import data from Quicken, though I don't use that option.
It is a different interface and takes a little getting used to, but then TurboTax's interface changes every year also so with either product one is going to have to adjust to some new interface quirks.
Of course, it is pretty early to be running software, since the IRS is still finalizing things for 2008, and such things as the Alternative Minimum Tax haven't been nailed down, but TaxCut still did a very good job helping me see where I was going to come out on my taxes for 2008. And that includes my schedule C for a consulting business. Obviously, there will be a bunch of updates in a few weeks, but that is to be expected from any Tax Software at this stage.
TaxCut also did a nice job helping me plan for 2009 taxes as well. I had already done some planning using a Numbers Spreadsheet on the Macintosh and so I could tell whether TaxCut was pretty accurate. It was.
Overall, for those who are thinking about switching to TaxCut this year from TurboTax, my take is that I found it easy to do.

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Guidance for all your personal tax situations, from 1040EZ to schedule C. Federal and State forms. Step-by-step interviews guide you through a customized experience relevant to your tax situation.Includes eFile.

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H&R Block At Home 2010 Deluxe Federal + eFile Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This program refused to install on my window 7 units; 32 or 64 verison. This is after I exchanged the program twice - same result; Called the tech support and it still doesn't work.
However, It does works on my old xp machine; I haven't test it on my mac yet - but I think it should work okay.
But seeing how their software had been plague by tech issues - (last year, I also exchanged the disk twice due to disks failure, one had no program on it.) I am guessing I will start using other tax program next year - too bad too because they were great programs.

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H&R Block At Home Deluxe (No State)
Ideal for Investors and Homeowners
The right choice for customers with more complex tax situations to easily complete their federal returns. Includes the H&R Block tax expertise your customers trust--plus our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything your customers need to easily complete their federal taxes--with the tax expertise they trust. With an easy-to-use interface, H&R Block At Home Deluxe searches for hundreds of deductions to get customers the biggest refund. Ideal for homeowners and investors, the program includes personalized tax guidance and features available only from H&R Block, such as built-in expertise and audit support, expert advice from our community of tax specialists, an H&R Block enrolled agent to represent customers in the event of an audit, and, best of all, our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

Features: Screenshot. View larger.

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QuickBooks Pro 2006 for Mac Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I really wanted to like this product. After one year, summarily, they've added Address Book syncing. Great, that's fine. It sounded like it had most of the modern features of its sister Windows product, except two fully functioning features that are critical:
Payroll and online banking.
As for payroll, you can either sign up for a monthly service, or if you have a recent PowerBook, use the included Aatrix's highly confusing and outdated TopPay software package (with expensive yearly tax-table updates).
Online banking is NOT well implemented here. Some folks can use Direct Connect, others cannot. Though this is no fault of Intuit, but rather the banks' lack of web services, Intuit could still open up their QuickBooks format to CSV, or QIF. Worse, there's a transaction "purgatory" register. Yes, that's a SECOND register for your banks' downloaded QBO file. You then manually go through each transaction to add it to your corresponding register. There's no command-key equivalent to add all, or even a single one: you have to select an item, then click a button. COMPLETELY INELEGANT.
There are some overpaid product managers out there. They would do well to hire interface designers/art directors/graphic designers (NOT decorators).
A major disappointment.

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QuickBooks: Pro 2006 for Mac helps you easily and accurately manage your accounting tasks, so you can save time and focus on your core business.New and improved features in 2006 will help you boost your efficiency and accuracy.

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QuickBooks Premier 2006 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been beta testing Quickbooks for many years and often will recommend an upgrade for my clients and friends....this version will be the first that I recommend that everyone upgrade to. The interface is more intuitive than ever, the program works quickly and best of all the new customer [and vendor] centers easily provide a snapshot view of any customer in an instant. Integration with Outlook is also seamless.
This is definitely worth the cost to upgrade, and if you are using other software you really want to check it out.

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QuickBooks: Premier Edition 2006 gives you comprehensive financial management and planning tools to handle all your business needs. Tasks such as payroll, billing and check-writing can be done in minutes instead of hours. With the click of a button, you can see past-due invoices or overdue bills. Or instantly see your entire business relationship with any customer or vendor. If you ever want to get in touch with them, all the contact information you need is right at hand.But with QuickBooks Premier, you have more advanced tools as well. Automatically create business forecasts based on all your current trends. Create and customize a business plan. Use expert analysis tools to spot performance trends.For businesses with inventory, you can track, set reorder points, and build assemblies. QuickBooks Premier even lets you access the data you need remotely.With QuickBooks Premier, you'll have the tools and business insights to stay on top of it all.

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H&R Block At Home 2010 Deluxe Federal + State + eFile Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I've used H&R Block's tax software every year since 2004. Always some annoyances, but most of it is excellent.
Price Dips: Below 25 buckss. Sometimes below 20. It went to 22.49 on Jan 12, 2011, for example. Amazon has always had the best price. There's an "Online Price Alert" that will email you whenever this or any amazon product dips below your target price. Google it. It's nicely done.
The Download Version is often a few dollars less.
Unlimited number of tax returns: (family members, what-if copies of your return, etc.) I think TurboTax also lets you do this now, but in the past TurboTax pulled some real nasty tricks with licensing/copy protection, and they continue to charge 18-45% more than H&R Block.
It includes unlimited paper filings for one state ($ 19.95 extra per state e-file). So, I just file state returns on paper.
"Free" tax softwares like TaxAct might be the thing if your return is very simple, but their better versions are almost as expensive as H&R Block at low tide, and not as good.
So far, the 2010 version is just like 2009. (I did a side-by-side run-through.)
Typical minor annoyances: (all carry-overs from 2009)
- Upgrade pitches: They weave it into the interview and make it sound as if "an upgrade to Premium is advised for your situation" even when it makes little or no sense for your situation. Sleazy.
- Unclear wording in a few places, although most wording is very clear and accurate.
- Privacy Policy: During install, you can hit a "View Privacy Policy" button, which as of Dec 8, 2010 does not work. Or go to a 37-character url (must hand type it...no copy-paste). You can then view their "Privacy Notice" or their equally obscure "Online Privacy Practices and Principles." Both have a reassuring tone while offering rather little privacy protection from marketing partners but your information will be used "in accordance with law."
- Copy...Paste from Interview screens. That would be handy at times. No can do. Can't print them either. Only way I found is ALT + PrintScreen, then paste the graphic into Word or a paint program.


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H&R Block At Home Deluxe
Ideal for Investors and Homeowners
The right choice for customers with more complex tax situations to easily complete their federal and state returns. Includes the H&R Block tax expertise your customers trust--plus our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything your customers need to easily complete their federal and state taxes--with the tax expertise they trust. With an easy-to-use interface, H&R Block At Home Deluxe searches for hundreds of deductions to get customers the biggest refund. Ideal for homeowners and investors, the program includes personalized tax guidance and features available only from H&R Block, such as built-in expertise and audit support, expert advice from our community of tax specialists, an H&R Block enrolled agent to represent customers in the event of an audit, and, best of all, our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

Features: Screenshot. View larger.

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H&R Block At Home 2010 Deluxe Federal + State + eFile Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Downloading Notes:
Downloading via Amazon is pretty smooth and painless. You can easily download it again later, even to a different computer if need be. Your authorization is stored in your account at amazon. You need to first install Amazon's special Downloader software. That's also fairly painless.
Product Review:
I've used H&R Block's tax software every year since 2004. Always some annoyances, but most of it is excellent.
Price Dips: Below 25 buckss. Sometimes below 20. It went to 22.49 on Jan 12, 2011, for example. Amazon has always had the best price. There's an "Online Price Alert" that will email you whenever this or any amazon product dips below your target price. Google it. It's nicely done.
Unlimited number of tax returns: (family members, what-if copies of your return, etc.) I think TurboTax also lets you do this now, but in the past TurboTax pulled some real nasty tricks with licensing/copy protection, and they continue to charge 18-45% more than H&R Block.
It includes unlimited paper filings for one state ($ 19.95 extra per state e-file). So, I just file state returns on paper.
"Free" tax softwares like TaxAct might be the thing if your return is very simple, but their better versions are almost as expensive as H&R Block at low tide, and not as good.
The 2010 version is just like 2009. (I did a side-by-side run-through.)
Typical minor annoyances: (all carry-overs from 2009)
- Upgrade pitches: They weave it into the interview and make it sound as if "an upgrade to Premium is advised for your situation" even when it makes little or no sense for your situation. Sleazy.
- Unclear wording in a few places, although most wording is very clear and accurate.
- Privacy Policy: Hard to view. Hard to read. Has reassuring tone, but doesn't hold much water.
- Copy...Paste from Interview screens: That would be handy at times. No can do. Can't print them either. Only way I found is ALT + PrintScreen, then paste the graphic into Word or a paint program.


Click Here to see more reviews about: H&R Block At Home 2010 Deluxe Federal + State + eFile


H&R Block At Home Deluxe
Ideal for Investors and Homeowners
The right choice for customers with more complex tax situations to easily complete their federal and state returns. Includes the H&R Block tax expertise your customers trust--plus our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

H&R Block At Home Deluxe includes everything your customers need to easily complete their federal and state taxes--with the tax expertise they trust. With an easy-to-use interface, H&R Block At Home Deluxe searches for hundreds of deductions to get customers the biggest refund. Ideal for homeowners and investors, the program includes personalized tax guidance and features available only from H&R Block, such as built-in expertise and audit support, expert advice from our community of tax specialists, an H&R Block enrolled agent to represent customers in the event of an audit, and, best of all, our Maximum Refund Guarantee.

Features: Screenshot. View larger.

Click here for more information about H&R Block At Home 2010 Deluxe Federal + State + eFile

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