It’s tax time! You have a little more than six weeks to get your highly personal details regarding topics we don’t discuss with anybody else in the world off to the fine folks who competently staff the IRS. (Hey, I don’t want them giving me any special attention…) Most people I know don’t trust their ability to follow the always-clear instructions from the Internal Revenue Service in filling out the forms — they prefer to have an intermediary handle that for them. Often, this intermediary takes the form of inexpensive software that goes by the name of Intuit and H&R Block.

Today, I’ll tell you a bit about Intuit. Later, I’ll cover H&R Block.

Intuit TurboTax Deluxe 2007 will cost you far less than using an accountant, as long as your tax situation is fairly basic. What’s basic? You have W2 income with standard deductions, such as mortgage interest, donations and education outlay. You’ll need to upgrade to the Premium edition if you have investment income, and you’ll want TurboTax Home and Business if you have a complicated business setup.

To use the software, you answer mostly simple questions. It’ll ask you how your life has changed in the last year. Added a new kid to the crop? Purchased a home? Changed your job? Your responses modify what questions you’ll be answering throughout the program.

The Deluxe version covers 350 potential deductions, including charitable donations and medical expenses. If you used TurboTax last year, it’ll transfer that data over so that you don’t have to repeat yourself. A handy yet frightening audit-risk meter shows you just how risky your tax decisions are and how to reduce your risk of audit. This version also includes a single state tax return as well, which you download after you’ve purchased the software.

If you’re on Windows, you need to be running 2000 SP4, XP or Vista with administrative rights. If you’re on a Mac, you’ll need Mac OS X (10.4) or higher.

Be forewarned. As many of the reviewers on PriceGrabber.com say, once you lock into TurboTax, Intuit considers you a captive member of its community. Each year you’ll probably find yourself paying just a bit more for the new version of the software than you paid the year before. Of course, I can’t really think of anything in life I’m paying less for now than I did a year ago, can you?

Also, you’ll be paying a fee of $17.95 for e-filing each return (federal and state separately) when you choose a CD-based product. The company doesn’t charge this fee when you go directly to them to buy the online service (where you fill out the form online rather than on your computer). In either case, the advantage is that you’ll presumably get your refund earlier.

Posted on February 26th, 2008 by dian