Every year I try to publish all the significant gripes I get about tax software before April 15th, in the hopes it will keep some last-minute tax filers from choosing the wrong program. But, except for one short piece we had about H&R Block's TaxCut earlier this year, that proved impossible as the complaints about the 2007 tax-year softwar
A TurboTax Deluxe Online Edition user ran into a problem he thinks shows a bigger issue regarding Intuit. "While preparing my 2007 taxes the other week, I came across a child care credit calculation page with a programming glitch. They were accidentally showing the same value twice, and after subtraction, always ending up with a deduction of zero. Of course, my first concern was that my taxes would be wrong. So I called them, waiting 40 minutes to speak with a rep. After the rep provided very helpful assistance by verifying that my taxes would be submitted correctly, things got really strange. I asked him if they needed any information to report the broken web page in the app, and he wouldn't even acknowledge the question. Instead, he robotically went into a repetitive 'we're sorry you're unsatisfied' cycle each time it was mentioned. What started as me simply trying to help them turned into a bizarre defensive back-and-forth via the phone and email. I've tried four different times to report that their application is broken in one spot, and they don't want to hear anything about it! It's very telling that their enormous support website has absolutely no way whatsoever to report a technical defect in their product. Oh, well. One would think that Intuit would have a vested interest in the quality of online offerings, but it turns out that the opposite is the case. It's a bit scary when you think about it."
Less well-known tax software vendors came in for questions about their accuracy as well. "I spent an hour reading the terms and agreements of the sites the IRS lists for free e-filing, and after eliminating those I wouldn't trust because of aggressive demands, I chose TaxSlayer," a reader wrote. "BAD mistake. It turns out they require accepting third-party cookies from advertisers, and then they tried to charge me $10 for the free service. So I went back to my old reliable, TaxAct, to calculate my 1040. And it's a good thing I did. The amount I owed the feds was almost half of what TaxSlayer was saying I owed."
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