Tax Software Reviews

It's awful software.  I am now going back to the store to get turbo tax.  I spent so much time putting in my information, trying to get the state version installed and now - it will not let me e-file - it just bounces me right to the "next year suggestions" screen.  Stay away. Save your money and your time.

I used this for my 2009 taxes and found TaxAct to be quite frustrating to use. I intended not to use it for 2010 but, with the passage of time, forgot about my experience a year earlier and began the exasperating trek again.

I only remembered why I had not wanted to use the software after I went to print my return (which is just a few tantalizing steps away from e-filing). As the year before, I got kicked out of the software when I tried to print, and I had to log in again. Of course TaxAct could not remember where I had left off, so I had to re-enter a bunch of info.

Getting kicked out while trying to print was precisely what happened last year. Why hasn't the company created a fix for this? (After it happens, you can search for the answer, which involves resetting Adobe Reader.)

It's not just the printing issue, however; TaxAct is just a frustrating program. If you have anything even a little out of the ordinary, it can take what seems like forever to find out how to circumvent what the program wants to do. Without going into detail, I did have one bit of slightly unusual income (something I would guess at least one-quarter of the U.S. population would also have), and what a process to try and find a way to enter it. After a dozen or so attempts, I found a way to bring up the schedule I needed (and only answer a half-dozen or so TaxAct questions) and enter the amount. An annoying thing about this amount was that the program seemed to ignore the answer I gave to its question. When I answered "Yes" to "Did I have such and such income," it just moved on like I didn't. It was up to me to find the right schedule and force the program to accept my input.

Another thing to keep in mind is that TaxAct doesn't allow you to print anything unless you've paid beforehand. So if you'd like to see a hardcopy version of what you're working on, you'll have to pay.

Also watch out for the payment process. Be careful not to select have the fee deducted from your return. The fine print indicates that the fee for doing so is nearly $17, which is more than I paid for the entire federal and state return. Pretty sneaky.

All in all, not a great experience.

I am pretty impressed with the experience I had with Taxact Deluxe today.  It was real straight forward and was easy to maneuver around in.  I forgot a pretty important step in my State filing and it was easy to get where I needed to in order to fix it.  I simply misread a question so it didn't take me to an area that I needed to go in.  I cannot give it a 5 star rating because I don't have my refund in the bank yet.  I have used H&R Block for the last two years and I just could not justify the higher cost.

Used 2008 and 2009 software, no problem.  Deluxe 1040 for 2010 has bugs. 

1.  If you try to run program update from the application, the update seems to download, then hangs, quits responding.  Only way to update is to go to website and download .EXE file, then run it to update.

2.  Under non-deductable IRA's, Form 8606:  Where it asks if you would like to complete Form 8606, Yes or No, both choices do the same thing, take you back to the next topic selection.  There is no Q&A mode for Form 8606, you have to go to the form and fill it out manually..  Which means reading through all the cryptic IRS instructions.

Unfortunately they did not quite finish the 2010 software before they published it.

If you're not in a rush and read the instructions there is no problem with TaxAct.  I've been using it since 2004 and have had no such problems mentioned by others.  I do believe most people that take the time to write a review are those in the minority who had some problem because they did not read instructions.  It's much cheaper than other software and just as good.

I used them last year and this year.  They sent an email to register early and get a better deal, so I did. They charged me more than stated on the email.  After emailing them they replied that the offer is only good for returning customers and you must use the link to get the deal. I am a returning customer and I did use the link.  it's a shady business the more I look around for reviews.  Be careful...

I have used TA since 2002, and have never had an issue with the service.

Horrible software

I had used TaxACT in 2008, 2009 and almost 2010 only to find that the software is flawed. I purchased both the 1120 S software for my business and the 1040 software. I found the software did not take my income from my K1 and apply it to my personal filing. I even answered the questionnaire properly. There was no way to overwrite the form figures to fix this. I ended up having to file an amended return to recoup money from last year AND I ended up filing my 1040 for 2010 on my own. Also my deductions were not calculated properly. The flags were not informative, only provided basic errors on missing info vs. anything else.  Health savings was not deducted either. I ran the same numbers thru turbotax and got more accurate results.

The support is really bad.  I paid twice by mistake and when I e-mailed them I got no reply.  Stay away.

This company seems to think it can succeed by ignoring its customers.  I wrote an e-mail to them because I had mistakenly paid them twice.  I never got a reply.  I had a technical problem, and their technical support was rude and also ignorant.

The process was easy enough. Getting my money wasn't. There's a fee for every little thing you do trying to get money off the stupid card they sent me. I was going to buy a car and can't because i can't get my money. It's stuck on the card. When I tried to call cs to talk to someone, they wanted to charge $3.25 just to talk to a real person. I'm definitely using someone else next year. This year however, I'm screwed.

First time i am doing by my own..I tried both Turbotax and TaxAct and both gave the same results. I find Tax Act is more easier and less expensive. Filed Federal and state is pending..let's see what happens..so far so good

If you can't deliver a tax product timely, why bother creating it at all.  I have had my return done for 2 weeks but TaxAct does not have all the forms approved for filing electronically.   They say it will be in the next update but refuse to comment on when that will be. Also I reported a bug on one of their forms and they are acting like the problem is mine.   This will likely be my last year using TaxAct.

I have filed taxes for my family members in the pass using the online site and it looks pretty simple and straight forward. However, I tried to do my taxes online for the first time and after I completed and used e-file, IRS rejected the taxes because my spouse date of birth was incorrect.

I called IRS to find out what the problem was. IRS made a wrong entry for  my wife's date of birth.

IRS suggested to go to a local Social security office to get the issue fix. In the meantime, I could not file my taxes with TaxACT. So I called TaxACT to get a refund since I could not efile through them and they are telling me now I can't because I already printed the return.

As far as I understood they charge when you efile through them. So I don't think it's fair how TaxACT handled this issue.

I have used this software to prepare my taxes for 5 years. This will be my last. The software was decent the first year, but each year became worse. The only reason I continued to use the software was that the convenience it offered by retaining all my information from the previous year.

I was willing and able to purchase the full version of the software. I purchased the federal and state preparation version. I was prompted to make purchases twice more to in the amount of ~15.00 each time. One time was to view the applicable IRS supporting documents; the other was to file an additional state return. Each time interrupted my tax preparation time to break out the credit card to make another purchase. I was prompted a third time to make a payment of $0.00 dollars, yes zero dollars. In the last case, I needed only to click OK, but that kind of discrepancy is evidence of poor software quality.

I have read several reviews that claim an English speaking computer user who can follow instructions will be able to use this software, while others complain about the many challenges they have encountered. These reviews are all consistent with my experience, which is that the software quality is not robust. It works fine until it breaks, and then the user is left helpless.

In other words, this software is appropriate for you if you can fill out all the forms without making mistakes, don’t need to view additional instructions from the IRS, don’t want additional customer service support, and are satisfied to possibly make multiple software purchases while preparing your taxes. Take my advice, and don’t use this software.