ebill3 said:
hill said:
Oh please - do NOT get me started on how pathetically worthless junk turbotax and junk H&Rblock are when it comes to any degree of tax complexity. OK, I gues It'll work for 90 % of people.
Well, I don't recall that anyone ask for an evaluation so you don't have to get started.
Sadly, many of us in the unwashed masses are happy with "junk" software. I guess the princely can go elsewheyre.
Bill
Um - princly has nothing to do with it. Over the years I've had customers (several) that wanted to sue H&R / T-tax because they can't accurately input proper relevant data. In at least 5% of instances, tax software forms are not designed to handle data that needs to be there. So what does Joe Taxpayer do? Leaves it out or puts data in wrong.
Joe Taxpayer cals the software helpline, and gets piss poor help, or no help at all with their non-standard inquiry, but only after spending tons of time on hold. Tax software warranties don't cover you when you try and do the best you can - it only covers the limited capability they build it for. You're on your own if/when you get that dreaded letter, 2 or 3 years later.
Way back over a decade ago, back before H&R ever thought of getting into the software business, T-tax was built by a company called ChipSoft. The T-tax tax program was quite wonderful, way back when. Once Intuit bought 'em out, the trouble began.
The tax code is thrown together "last minute" every year. Thus, the CPA/software writers cut corners ... and that time-saving strategy gets your software to YOU on time. But it screws over at least 5% of their customers. Think about what 10's of millions of potential software purchasers represents, and you can see how a lot of folks get the shaft.
The IRS doesn't catch a bunch of it when returns get filed, because their programmers have deadlines too.
Anyway, I'd tell my customers that their issue is not a tax court issue, and send 'em off to a firm that handles defective products. So be glad your tax matters are not princely - if that's what they're now calling atypical deductions.