Side by Side Comparison of: TaxACT, Inc. vs H&R Block

Turbo Tax was the first software that I used to prepare my personal tax forms and I loved it because it shortened my tax return preparation time by days. I used it for several years and I switched to Tax Cut (H&R Block's tax software) only because it was less expensive. I think both products are excellent and they are similar in their approach. I have been using H&R Block Software (they changed the name a few years ago) every year since the switch and I plan on continuing to use it.In past years I've always purchased the CD version of the software, but this year I purchased the digital download version because I planned on using it on a laptop which doesn't have a CD/DVD player. The first thing the software does when you begin to use it is to check to see if there have been any changes or updates to the software since it was created. The great thing about the software is that it pulled up the tax return from last year that I had prepared last year. This means that I don't have to enter any of my identifying information and it provides the employer/payer information from before, that you can modify or delete. This saves so much time when you have the same employer, bank, or income payer as before.I buy the version of the software for people that itemize their deductions and I get one included state tax form. The package allows for 5 free e-filings and unlimited print and mail returns. I print and mail my state return because to e-file the state return costs approximately $20. Last year, even though I mailed in my state return, I received my refund in a couple of weeks.Tax preparation is no fun for me and I certainly don't look forward to doing it. I also prepare the returns of family members. H&R Block Tax Software makes the job so much easier and almost enjoyable. You don't have to be an accountant to prepare your own tax return and you can save a lot of money by letting the software ask you all the same questions that an accountant would. If you can fill out forms, you don't have to know any tax law or even have math skills as the software will walk you through it all. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to try to prepare their own tax return and save a lot of money that would otherwise go to your tax preparer.

I was afraid of using this software due to all the negative reviews here, but my return, which is relatively complex, went smoothly and without a single hiccup. Thanks goodness. I abandoned T**boTax last year because of their business practice and did not want to go back to them this year, again for their still shady customer treatment. When I saw all these negative reviews on this site, I was concerned that I would have to go to, may God forbid, TaxC*t for this year's return, but am glad that I have taken a chance to stay with H&R Block. As I said, I encountered no difficulty at all with my return with this version. It appears that the earlier kinks have been resolved.

After January 19th, I will know if this is really the review I want to give this program. At this point, it appears that I am due the best refund I've ever received, but it is so much larger than last year's that I wonder if all went as it should with their "interview?"The program does have some ambiguous and grey areas, so, hopefully, the return will be as it is now on the 19th, and I will receive the projected refunds, both Federal and state.One real bonus with this is that you can use a portion of your refund to be comped as an Amazon gift card for 10% of any amount up to $5000.00 that you desire! Since, like most people, most of my non-perishable shopping is done on Amazon, this was a no-brainer!Great refund...and perks from Amazon...The Best!!!

I used TT since the 90s, but with their fiasco last year I gave H&R Block 2014 software a shot. I found the user interface was different (no surprise there), so it took me a little longer to get use to the software, but all in all it worked OK for me.This year I start getting the Intuit emails asking me to come back and they said they put things back into their software that they removed last year (not 100% sure) so I decided to compare the two products (features and cost). In the email that I received they didn’t offer any kind of discount so per usual TT cost more than the H&R Block software. Today I get an email from Amazon indicating a big sale on tax prep software. I click the button and find this great price.To me tax preparation software is just an added cost to my taxes. If I didn’t have any income or my income and expenses were simple then I wouldn’t need tax prep software. Since that’s not the case, I need a tool to help me. The cost of the tool – which only works for one year – is an added cost of my taxes. I found last year that the H&R Block software worked for me and with a savings of over $20 compared to the TT version it was a no brainer to use the H&R Block software again this year. I don’t need to buy the TT name, I just need a tool that works, and based on my results last year I expect it to work again.Observations so far…I downloaded the software and loaded it on my Windows 7 64 bit machine with no issues at all. When I started it I was asked to create/use an account on their web site. I created one last year so I went over there to verity it was still there and had a minor hassle entering my password (you have to type it in – you can’t do a copy/paste). My account was still there. I then checked for updates – none yet. I imported my tax info from last year – no problem. A little quirk - when I saved my taxes for this year it picked a different directory than where it imported my taxes from last year – I just had to change to the old directory to save it. The software says the next expected update is Jan 7.That’s it for now. I’ll update my review once I start entering my tax information.

This is great software. I've used it in previous years. It's was very easy for me to complete my taxes. It walked me through step-by-step. All I had to do was keep moving to the next page, and fill in the boxes with the numbers it was requesting. I did need to contact a tax professional via live chat, and she was very helpful. She knew exactly what I needed, and told me what to enter. It was great to have that free live support.

I was a Turbo Tax fan for over 20 years. Then the price kept going up - for nothing I may add.. Finally I came to my senses and gave H&R Block a try in 2014. I couldn't have been happier. This year I downloaded the Deluxe version. It took maybe 30 seconds. I got an email from Amazon that same minute and now I'm up and running. With that email was my product code. Thank You Amazon and H&R Block.

In the last couple of years had a few small glitches, where it flags some mistakes/inconsistencies, that are not apparent why they were mistakes.it seems to me the TC introduced these mistakes all on his own. I had to scratch my head, like there were some fields not filled in in the worksheets, was not obvious why. But, overall a pretty good, easy to use tax prep package, have been using it since I switched from Turbotax many years ago.I usually do 4 returns, the family's, my 2 kids, and my mother -in-laws. It typically takes me a day and a half for the 4 returns, fed and state. Some of the time is spent tracking down missing docs. The data entry time per return is maybe an hour or two per return.There are 2 major tax prep packages: TT ( TurboTax and TC (TaxCut, aka H&R Block).(TT had some disagreeable practices years ago, which is why I switched to TC). TC is usually cheaper than TT, when you factor in the 5 free E-files.and it t is pretty good about picking up all of its prior year's data. Once you start using a particular tax package, it is usually just simpler to stick with it, unless they have a major screw-up, or the competition offers a significant incentive. The only way I would try TT again, if they offered a min. 30% meaningful "competitive upgrade" discount, and if they picked up the TC prior year data seamlessly. But, TT costs more, and it is a risk of wasting a day or two to try them out again, so I dont.

This is my experience with the 2015 tax program, but since they went from Tax Cut to the current incarnation, one year's pretty much the same as the other, as far as the user interface and layout goes.It's not perfect, but I've used H&R Block exclusively now for some time, since it was called Tax Cut. My needs are fairly simple and most of my tax returns have been fairly straight forward. I've had to use email based tax support once, to make sure I wasn't filing a disbursement incorrectly, and they were prompt about responding to my emails. That was tax questions, however,- not software support. The promise of tax question support, including audit assistance, and the favorable price point compared to other tax programs, when I first started using it under the H&R Block Tax Cut branding, were the deciding factors. The program, to my knowledge, hasn't made a mistake, and I've never had a problem e-filing Federal and State returns.A big note, and the reason I'm writing this- it does not support Linux. H&R Block really needs to get on the ball, and sell a version that will run on the popular Linux distros. I've switched away from Windows, and I can attest that it doesn't run properly in WINE- there's an error during installation and when you run the program, the screen doesn't layout correctly, and it has limited keyboard/mouse response. It don't work.However, I have, by all appearances, successfully installed, executed, and loaded my already completed 2015 return, while running Windows 10 inside VirtualBox.- that included downloading the tax form updates, the state program, and then, since I'd already completed my returns, connecting with the servers to verify that my returns from last year had been accepted. No problems so far running in a virtual machine- slow, but no problems so far. Before the 2016 tax cycle rolls around, I may plug in all my 2015 data from scratch to see that the return results are the same, and ofc I've not had chance to e-file a return, but I don't see why there would be problems, given the program does seem to display and respond correctly and has internet connectivity thru the VM. I'll update this review in 2017....

For reference, I ordered the digital version.I have been using H&R Block's software for years now. I have stuck with it because I haven't had any issues with the program itself, and it seamlessly loads in the previous years return.I probably fall somewhere in the middle ground when it comes to filing status. I am married, my wife and I both work full time,(some of it from a home office) we have one child, own a home, have retirement accounts etc. Loading our previous years information is a big help, it instantly adds things like our 2008 homebuyer credit. (which we owe Uncle Sam $500 every year for) It also does the heavy lifting determining whether to do a standard or itemized deduction.Adding deductions such as medical expenses, child care, home office, travel expenses is straightforward. Our new HVAC system was also eligible for a energy savings credit this year. Upon completion, it checks your entire return for errors and will not let you e-file before you address/correct them, a nice feature.I also used the state portion of the program (MD). This is a breeze as it already has the majority of the information needed from your federal return with only a few additional questions. Take note that at least in our state, E-filing is NOT free. You will need either a CC, bank account or a portion of your federal return (if you have one) to e-file.A few things to note:1. Loading your previous years taxes is ONLY compatible if you have used H&R's SOFTWARE in the previous year. You will not be able to import from another program such as Turbo Tax, or any of the free online filings, including as of this writing, H&R's own website.2. Remember that its up to you add in all of your potential deductions! You'd be surprised what you can deduct. The program doesn't spell that out for you in black & white. If your not sure, HIRE A PROFESSIONAL!Finally, I had no issues downloading the software digitally from Amazon.

The activation code, which is needed for the free e-filing, was not included on the invoice from Amazon or in any e-mail. I called H&R Block's customer support and spoke to their friendly robot, who much to my surprise, gave me an activation code on the spot. I entered it in the tax software, and bingo, it was accepted. I really thought I'd have to struggle to get through to a human to get this code. Kudos to H&R Block for having such a good robot.UPDATE: Just tried to file with the code that I got from the automated customer support system. I didn't work. I came back to Amazon and reviewed my software library and found that a "product code" is there on the order. Sure enough, that's the activation code. It worked.

Like many others, I purchased the H&R Block software last year for the first time when Turbo Tax did their infamous bait and switch.The user interface is not as nice as Turbo Tax's but it gets the job done. I recently got the 2015 edition to estimate next year's tax payments. A good value compared to the competition.It imported my previous year's TurboTax return with no problems.

I've been using tax software for about 15 years and I prefer this H&R Block (previously Tax Cut) software to its competitor Intuit's Turbo Tax. At the top of my list for desired improvements, however, is that they would let you print just one page of a form, so when the printer messes up, I wouldn't have to reprint the entire form.

Been using this product for a number of years and have found it to be up to most tax challenges such as capital gains, itemized deductions, etc. This year, however, I ran into a snag regarding a "back door" Roth IRA contribution. I figured it out eventually but my "slam" here is with the customer service. I contacted the customer support group and when I described my problem I was given a "phone number" to call. The number was for the IRS...REALLY !?!?!? I should contact the IRS to help me figure out how to correctly reflect the transaction in YOUR software. I'll buy the software again, but will definitely have no illusions that customer service will be of any value...as an oh by the way, I googled my issue and found mountains of "how to" assistance on the issue.

Ive used this software for years and probably will again so nothing against the functionality of the product. I just installed and downloaded all updates a couple days ago and being early April i assumed the updates should be done. Not so fast grass hopper. Right when im transmitting my taxes a message tells me i need to update again before sending. Now my guess is that all those people who completed their taxes before yesterday didnt have the same update so why do i need to update now. Nothing pisses me off more than having to re enter all the credit card info on a failed transmission attempt caused by an il timed update requirement. Come on block, if you are going to do updates this late in the game they shouldnt be mandatory for filing.

I have been a long time user of TurboTax. This year is the first year in a very long time that my financial institution didn't provide free access to TurboTax Deluxe so I decided to look at the market. The "Amazon Refund Bonus" swayed me to give H&R Block a try. For comparison I also ran TurboTax up to point where I needed to purchase to continue. Both products provided the same dollar result for most items. The only difference was the associated charitable deduction valuations. TurboTax Its Deductible provided slightly higher deductions. As for ease of use, there is no comparison. H&R Block screens required much more scrolling and rereading to complete. TurboTax is the clear winner for ease of use.If you have complicated taxes or if you need to keep track of prior year selections (e.g. credits for college students) it pays to stay with a single product and use the purchased version so your information retained. It just makes life so much easier.

Don't buy this if you did your taxes online with H&R Block last year. Your online data won't import. It's like starting over with H&R Block, so you lose the benefit of going with the same company year-over-year.If it's your first time... Go for it. But move over to the online portal next year. And it will cost substantially more to finally file your taxes than the price here indicates.

Buyer beware. They trick you into creating a MyBlock Account. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO. You definitely do not need it to use this program. I have been using H&R Block and Taxcut for years and never had they prompted me to create an account. Sure, they do not take too much personal information, however, you can just "X" out of it and get right to the matter at hand -- doing your taxes on a great program. So, I unknowingly created the MyBlock Account, immediately got an e-mail from them, and immediately set up a rule sending all of the e-mails to the junk folder. A couple of extra steps that I didn't need to take.This program rocks.But they did play "dirty pool" with the prompt to open an account. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO.

An update: I found out the Obamacare question was hidden under "Federal -> Taxes". Still I think Turbotax does a better job to make this more visible to avoid the potential problem.---------I tried both software, this one and turbotax, and was puzzled with 2300$ Less refund From h & r block. After a bit digging, I found out it added 2300$ penalty for health insurance penalty. A customer has to wait for the next update on Feb 15th. A tax software is not like Windows operating system. They really should push this kind of fix to customers more frequently.

I have been using Tax Cut and then H&R Block (after HRB bought Tax Cut) for many years. This 2015 Deluxe software has turned out to be the worst in my two decades of experience with online tax preparation and filing. I will highlight two problems:1. The tax preparation software encourages the user to let the program guide you through the process of gathering your material and filling out the return. This year the program got me into trouble because it abbreviated and consequently omitted an important form from my return. More specifically, my original tax preparation was missing Form 8853. Instead of lengthy questions covering all possible situations, H&R Block just presents a list of 18 forms and asks whether one has to prepare any of them. One of those forms was what H&R Block called "Archer MSAs". I skipped over that because I never had an Archer MSA. I found out in August that the real name of Form 8853 is "Archer MSAs and Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts". Oops! I was supposed to report a Long-Term Care Insurance reimbursement of roughly $38,000, and the H&R Block software had led me right past that form because the full name of the form was not on the long list of forms that it asked me whether I should prepare. Fortunately, on triple-checking, including a careful inspection of everything sent to me about long-term care insurance, I found reference to Form 8853, which I was supposed to file to match the forms reported by the insurance company. Apparently, TurboTax asks whether one has a Long-Term Care Insurance Contract, and if yes, leads the taxpayer to Form 8853. Not good, H&R Block!2. H&R Block advertises that if one uses this software, one can get a rebate in the form of an amazon.com gift card that, as a percentage of the IRS refund, could be several hundred dollars in value. However, when I tried to get the card, I found a long series of forms to fill out, one of which certified that I had read a privacy agreement of at least ten pages of fine print. I can't say for certain, but it looked like I was agreeing to let Block give my personal information to any financial firm that paid H&R Block for it. So I decided to forego my hundreds of dollars of free stuff on amazon.

Last year I used H&R Block Deluxe for the first time. I then had switched from Turbo tax because of some prices-setting issues they have apparently resolved since then. For consistency this year I used the H&R Deluxe and ordered an extra state this time because I need to file in 2 states. I used the download version, here are the results: Good Part: Everything from last year imported quite easily, partly because I used the same computer. Download, install, and getting started, were all simple. I was even able to do an import from my Quicken 2013 software that I still use, and that was a pleasant surprise, though not very helpful because most items had to be checked and manually entered. Features I like include the promise audit support, the ability to get online help being offered, and reports on how to save money and prepare for next years taxes personalized to you. Bad Part: To me, the general flow seemed more choppy than last year. It took longer and I had to check on things more back and forth. And after reading other reviews, I feel the need to check my results again. There were times I put in a lot of info, and my total didn't update on the running bottom line.The state portion turned out to waste a lot of money for me. I have to NR file for 2 states total, and because I was in a hurry and wanted the integration, I used my free state plus AND purchased the other state as an option. I figured that everything previously answered would be easily converted making state simple and quick. But there was a lot of redundancy, I still had to answer a lot and enter more than expected. Also, the cost for the download to do the second state was nearly what I paid for this package on sale, more than if I went to the state site and did it manually. It turned out, in my circumstances, I didn't need to file in EITHER states this particular year. Something the software couldn't indicate before I paid even though they had a lot of facts. The Worst Part: Today I am on Amazon looking to see if anyone has the glitch I have. I am unable to get any updated Federal information on this year's return now. Even though I could access my federal results and status for days after filing, today I'm locked out if I don't reload my second state (which makes no sense to me- they are separate forms and filing). Because I can't do that free automatically, for some reason I don't understand, I have to go to the website and get help. And that requires your login information. So at this point, I have spent more than I meant to in time and money and I don't know the status of my submission to IRS. I will take the extra time to get to my info with Block online support, but I won't be happy about it. (I will update this review if my experience gets even worse or if I find out any of this is my fault somehow.) UPDATE: I have amended comments above to best reflect my final position, I had to get help on HR chat which stops being 24hours before April ends! After about 20 minutes on chat, I was able to reinstall the state I paid for with a new code they gave me.If you are on here looking for help like I did here are some final hints- save, back up and print more than you usually would. If you need help, online chat hours are posted on HR website- that is how I got help with missing state software. Finally if you have a choice now and later, use another product. I gave this 2 stars because it is better than nothing and they helped me in the end. Still, I am not satisfied. This is the most trouble I have had with tax software and after trying H&R for two years, I plan to go back to Turbo Tax.

I have used this program for at least 10 years and never had a problem until this year. The problem comes when you try to efile your Federal taxes with the 5 free efile claims you have. You are asked to enter the activiation code which is 8 characters plus a hypen. Unfortunately after it telling me the code was wrong 3 times and going through the routine of reentering information for payment each time, I went to Amazon to read the reviews. I found that their is a bug in the program which even as of today they have not fixed. The program won't take the hyphen even though it shows an example to the right side of the box with the hyphen. If you leave the hyphen off and enter the other 8 characters it works. But one little wrinkle is if you use a credit card for the state filing, it hits your credit card for each time you try to enter the code. For me that was 4 times at $19.95 each. After calling their customer service they offering no help in the resolving the matter other than saying that they would charge me only once for the State Filing. I hope this review helps someone this year that waits until April 15th and becomes frustrated.

This is my second year using HR Block. Previous 20 years used TurboTax, but switched last year due TT trying to "scalp" their users.NOTE: The required "Activation Code" for this software is the "Product Code" shown in your Amazon Software Library section. Amazon does not include it in your email.This program requires you to download Interested, dividends, and 1099-R separately. TurboTax downloads everything together. I didn't notice the "import" for the 1099-R first time thru so my completed tax form was all messed up. Finally realized HR had not included it in the download from Fidelity.The programs asks you questions that it already knows answers to, including in the State part. TT is better at minimizing your input through "artificial intelligence".The interface in this program is not user friendly. Many of the screen require you to scroll down the page. TT has a better user interface that eliminates scrolling.This program does not provide extra reports like TurboTax does. For example, a 5-year tax summary and other "nice-to-know" reports and graphs. It will compare this years data entry to last years, but there are no supplemental reports/graphs as in TT.ADDENDUM (4/11): Received a letter from Oregon Dept of Revenue today saying that I left the flied blank that shows how much Oregon "tax kicker" I should get back (5.6%). They calculated it and added it onto my refund. HR Block software did not put into the Form 40, hence did not get full refund due per what they efiled with Oregon.

This software is mediocre at best and the customer support is basically clueless. There is no explanation of how your federal tax is calculated. This is despite the fact that the IRS provides both tables and worksheets for calculating the tax. The program does not make these worksheets available to the user. So if your tax is calculated incorrectly you have no way of knowing it. Further, the worksheet for calculating estimated tax is woefully inadequate and in all likelihood will come up with a figure that is not even close to being correct. In the state program I had to override an error built into the software. When I contacted customer support about these issues it was clear that the person I spoke with had little understanding of the program and less tax knowledge. When I asked if he could give feedback to H&R Block for improvements to next year's program he told me no. I also looked on the H&R Block website and found no way to make suggestions to improve the program or correct errors. So thanks Amazon for allowing me to provide feedback here. Bottom line: if your taxes are simple this program will work. If they are the least bit complex you'd better know more than H&R Block customer support or you are likely to submit a tax form with errors.

As a long time Turbo Tax user, I took a chance on H&R Block software to do my 2014 return and was generally pleased. Not quite as slick as Turbo tax but cheaper and easy enough to navigate. I downloaded the newest version today and already buyers regret. My W2 will not download, which is really a problem for me as I work in multiple states. I tried to see if this was a common error or whether there was a "fix" in the works. No matter where I tried to get support on the website, I was redirected to more promotions for their products. Call times to customer service are estimated at over 2 hrs . Now I can see that during peak season in April but on Feb 2...something is seriously wrong. I will definitely be requesting a refund for this product but expect H&R to deny one, since I opted for electronic download and can't mail them the UPC code.

For at least ten years I've been using either H&R Block or TaxAct to do our taxes, and they were both generally okay with occasional minor problems. (Our return has the usual Schedules B and D for investments, a pair of Schedule C's, and various supporting forms, nothing too far out of the ordinary.) This year, TaxAct revised their product offerings into four tiers and removed Schedule C from all but the most expensive tier, so I went with H&R Block Deluxe as a cheaper alternative. Wow, was I disappointed. These were the three biggest problems I encountered:1. The software repeatedly entered incorrect values on line 13 of form 8889, the Health Savings Account (HSA) deduction. Line 13 says to enter the smaller of line 2 or line 12. For some reason I can't attach a screen capture to this review. It shows line 2 is 3300, line 12 is 3325, yet this software entered 3350 for line 13. I had to override this value to continue, which would have made e-filing impossible.2. When the interview reached form 8962, the health insurance Premium Tax Credit (PTC), the program threw me directly into the form with no assistance. With millions of people now buying health insurance through a federal or state marketplace, this is a very commonly used form. There was one FAQ for this form: "How do I complete this form if the program isn't calculating this for me?" Answer: "Visit [...] and read the instructions for form 8962 to determine what to enter." Gee, thanks! If you're self-employed, be sure to check out pages 50 to 67 of Pub. 974 to see how much fun it is to do these calculations by hand.3. While comparing my completed return to last year's, I realized that in 2014 I had a foreign tax credit carried forward to 2015. At no point in the interview did the program ask me about that. This would be entered on line 10 of form 1116, "Carryback or carryover (attach detailed computation)." Last year, TaxAct filled in this line and created a two page supporting document to meet the "attach detailed computation" requirement. In H&R Block, this line was blank, and although I could manually enter a number here, there was no provision for creating a supporting document.This wasn't a preliminary version of the software, either -- I was using version 7401, which was up-to-date as of 3/28/2016. I reported the incorrect calculation to H&R Block tech support level 1, who got me in touch with level 2 support a few days later, who offered to escalate me to level 3... I declined and asked for a refund.Since I no longer trusted this program, I started over with TaxAct Premium, which handled the above three forms correctly. For the record, I have no affiliation with TaxAct and am still displeased by their price increase. However, a less expensive program is no bargain if it costs this much time and frustration.

I found that the software had a HUGE error in Retirement distribution, and the support sucked.Even though my form listed an exception that excepted me from the 10% penalty, the software charged it anyway, and said that I could not efile with a manual correction!It took FOREVER (40-45 minutes was the least) to get through to a person, and one time, someone connected and immediately hung up.When I finally got through to a person, she was insisting that she put me through to a tax professional who would explain to me the taxes. I was a little hot under the collar as I explained that it wasn't me or my taxes, but that I was looking at the IRS instruction sheet and form, and that H&R block FAILED to update their software.Then I went around and around with "tech support" calling me and leaving me a number that NO ON ANSWERED. Each time, it says leave a message. Now it is a week and 1/2 later and I determined to print out my forms and mailed them. The software took an update and stopped charging me the 10% penalty. I still had to go back in and "unfix" all the manual changes I made so it would remove all the flags.It was mid-February, and IRS change was way-last year & effective 31 Dec 15. This poor attention-to-detail on the changes is what earned this a 1-star.

Buyer Beware!! I'd give it zero stars if I could. First forget about any real product support, I've been trying all day to talk to a human and there isn't any all you'll get is pre-recorded messages based on basic subject matter. DO NOT give these idiots any credit card info for Efilings, I was billed 3 times for one transaction so instead of 21.20 for a state return I got charged 63.60! I won't even get into how much fun it was to figure out the activation code for "free Federal filing" . This software and the total lack of real support is real so beware. I now completely understand why Turbotax charges a premium, I used Turbotax for years and switched to this nightmare. Next year back to Turbotax even if it's double the price. Since they overcharged me I now have to go to my bank to stop payment since there apparently isn't a human being that actually works for H&R Block if you purchase software from them . Never Again , they should be paying me for this run around

If I could rate less than one star I would. I found an obvious bug in an obscure form (it calculates line b correctly, but moves a different number to line a). I spent 3 hours in a phone loop with a computer (intermixed with speaking to a few support techs who could provide NO help whatsoever). Then I tried the Chat features where I spent 55 minutes, had to provide VERY confidential information, and all I was told was to contact the Dept of Revenue or override the bug.I've been a user of Taxcut for about 20 years and never had a question - straightforward standard return. IF YOU HAVE ANY COMPLEXITY STAY FAR AWAY.

I have been using this software for 10 years without incident! This year (2015 tax year) is different. Please do not purchase this software. If you do you might loose out on money owed to you! I always do my taxes, my x-wifes, my daughter's and my son's taxes. I did my daughters first as it is a simple 1040A scenario. The rest are more complicated long forms. So we have two W2's. I downloaded the first and the refund was $554, then I entered her second which was only a $704 per year job she just picked up one month into 2015 and the refund dropped to $82. This did not seem right so I went on-line to Turbotax (which I stopped using years ago because of cost and their failure to make good on rebates). Because it's a 1040A I can do one for free so I checked it out. The refund was the same after the first W2 but after the second it dropped to $453. This seemed more correct. I went back thinking I did something wrong. I downloaded the w2's so no typo and could not find the problem. I decided to deleat the second w2 and the number should go back to the original $554. It did NOT, it went to $188 and there it stayed for the remainder of the return. I started a new one with the same single W2 and it went back to the $554 value.This is NOT correct. When I add something and take it away the refund should go back! It does not. I decided to see what TurboTax did, so I logged back in and deleated the second W2. The refund went back to the original $554 like it should. I proceded to process her taxes through Turbotax and it was accepted and the money is on the way.I called H&R Block and asked for a refund. They said no because I purchased it at Walmart. So what, they guarantee accuracy and maximum refund right? Clearly not the case. After speaking with the manager they said I would have to work with tech support to develope the software or find the problem. Sorry, I dont have weeks to help them flush out problems. I just want to go through the program and submit and know I got the best refund!! Thats all.Yes it's cheeper than Turbotax, especially if your like me and have stock purchases and sales. So my daughters is done and my H&R Block is going in the garbage and I will pay $70 for the Turbotax before I do the rest!I am disapointed as this software has been good in the past for a fair price. But this year you might well loose if you use it! I am not taking the chance as thousands are at stake and they clearly DONT stand behind their product unless you have weeks to HELP them figure it out! BAD COMPANY! I hope I save at least one person from this headach or worse a lower refund than you deserve!

I have always used Turbo Tax in the past, but I thought that I would give this a try since it was $20 cheaper. First off the bat, this is nowhere near as intuitive as Turbo Tax (no pun intended). I understand there may be somewhat of a learning curve on my part, but this software just doesn't flow and you often have no idea what to do next or what to click to get it to accept your changes.But the biggest issue that I have with this software is that it doesn't work right and has bugs. Example, I entered my W-2 and it gave me my refund amount (I claim zero dependents throughout the year, so I expect to get a sizable refund, which it was). The very next thing I did was enter a $6 (six) dollar interest income amount from a savings account. When I did, my refund dropped by $1200. I thought, "Wow, six lousy bucks put me into a totally different tax bracket that would increase my taxes that much?!?!?!" So, I went on to my deductions. I own a home and pay interest on my mortgage and also pay property taxes. I also give substantially to our church and other non-profits. When I entered all of those in, my refund didn't budge. It was still $1200 less than what it was before I entered the $6 interest income, so I deleted that entry. It still didn't change. At this point, I don't trust this software AT ALL. So, I go to TurboTax.com and enter all of my information exactly as I did with H&R Block. When I entered my W-2, I got the original refund number that I did initially with H&R Block. When I entered my $6 interest, my refund didn't change or reduce at all. When I entered my deductions for my mortgage interest, property tax, and charitable giving my refund increased another $700. So, that totals $1900 difference from H&R Block and Turbo Tax.I understand that this is just February 1 and an update is on the way, but I don't trust this software and won't be purchasing it again in the future. If the next update fixes this issue, I will maybe change my rating to a 2 or 3, but either way. I am going back to Turbo Tax next year, and will probably purchase it for this year too.If you are trying to decide between this or Turbo Tax, trust me, Go with Turbo Tax!