TaxCut

Product Reviewed: Online Basic

Pros

• Offered by HR Block.
• Professional Tax advice available for an additional fee.
• 24/7 customer support (wait times are very short).
• Available online or in CD format.
• Integrates with most accounting software programs.
• Guaranteed Results.
• Handles most tax issues.

Cons

• Doesn't work with Quickboooks.
• Doesn't import W-2's.
• Only $5 Cheaper than the Premium version, lose some features for the slightly lower cost.

Conclusion
TaxCut Online Basic is a great product for those who do not need much help filing their taxes. It is not for someone that will need extensive guidance filing their taxes. This is to be expected since TaxCut Online Basic only costs $14.95 and the state tax program add-on is $29.95. The overall price for both is $44.90, a competitive price relative to that of many other tax software products.

Unlike some products TaxCut Online Basic provides the user with Audit Support, which in the event of an audit promises that H&R Block will provide an IRS-certified Enrolled Agent to help the customer get through the auditing process. Online Basic is capable of helping most users get through their taxes without any problems. Furthermore, they have good customer service available 24/7. Every time we've called their customer service number we've been able to get someone on the phone immediately.

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TaxAct

Product Reviewed: Ultimate

Pros

• Very inexpensive at $16.95.
• Guaranteed results.
• Free E-File.

Cons

• Does not work with Quickbooks, Quicken, Microsoft Money or TurboTax.
• Does not handle small business accounting.
• Customer Service is only available during business hours.

Conclusion
TaxAct gives you the most "bang for your buck". The interface is user friendly and comparable to some of the more well known vendors and their feature set will accommodate most people. However, finding the best value is not necessarily the best standard for something as important as a tax preparation service. If some features that you need are not available with TaxAct, then we recommend going with a more comprehensive program from another vendor. On the other hand, if TaxAct has all the features you need than you should go with TaxAct rather than spending significantly more money for features you won't use.

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TurboTax

Product Reviewed: Deluxe

Pros

• User friendly interface.
• Database in the form of the "Live Community" to help you find answers to your own questions.
• Can Import W-2 to help speed up the process of filing.
• Guaranteed 100% accurate.

Cons

• High price relative to other online tax filing software services.
• Customer Service is very difficult to get a hold of.

Conclusion
Turbo Tax is the most well known and widely used tax preparation software in the market. Unfortunately, their customer service is very difficult to reach. They do their best to hide the customer support number and the wait time has been anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes every time we've tried to call. In the end, it is usually better to use their online customer service database, "Live Community," as it is good at answering quick and simple questions. In terms of price TurboTax's Online Basic is similar to it's competitors. It is also very similar to its competitors in the service it gives you. The Online Basic service will allow you to file your taxes over the internet without necessarily having to install any program, but for $5 you can download TurboTax Basic if you want the program on your computer. TurboTax Online Basic is still a good choice, if below average customer service is something that can be dealt with.

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TaxBrain

Product Reviewed: 1040 EZ

Pros

• Low overall cost.
• Guaranteed results.
• Free E-File.

Cons

• Does not work with Quickbooks, Quicken, Microsoft Money or TurboTax.
• Customer Service is only available during business hours.
• CD version not available.

Conclusion
TaxBrain offers several products that are more expensive than 1040 EZ, which do provide some extensive tax filing services. TaxBrain's 1040 Basic has a comparable feature set to the other low end products in our survey. Even so, there are products offered by other vendors that are more comprehensive and downloadable. In addition, their customer service is only available during business hours. Most of TaxBrain's competitors charge $5 more for the both federal and state tax return software. Tax Brain's 1040 EZ ends up being a decent product, best fit for those who would usually fill out form 1040A.

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Complete Tax

Plan Reveiwed: Standard

Pros

• Limited Information available regarding this product

Cons

• Limited Information available regarding this product

Conclusion
We are aware that Complete Tax offers an online tax preparation service and have included all the information we could gather in the grid attached hereto. Unfortunately, this information is fairly limited and our attempts to contact customer support have proven fruitless. As such, we recommend selecting another provider.

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EasyTaxReturns

Product Reviewed: Deluxe

Pros

• Limited Information available regarding this product

Cons

• Limited Information available regarding this product

Conclusion
We are aware that EasyTaxReturns offers a number of online tax preparation products. From the best we can tell, the Deluxe product is most comparable to the other products in our survey and we have included all the information we could gather for EasyTaxReturns Deluxe in the grid attached hereto. Unfortunately, this information is fairly limited and our attempts to contact customer support have proven fruitless. As such, we recommend selecting another provider.

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OLT (Online Tax)

Product Reviewed: Standard

Pros

• Least Expensive in our survey ($15.90 including state ad on)

Cons

• Limited Information available regarding this product

Conclusion
We are aware that OLT offers an online tax preparation product and we have included all the information we could gather for in the grid attached hereto. Unfortunately, this information is fairly limited and our attempts to contact customer support have proven fruitless. As such, we recommend selecting another provider.

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TaxSimple

Plan Reviewed: Deluxe

Pros

• Limited Information available regarding this product

Cons

• Limited Information available regarding this product
• Non responsive customer service
• Relatively inexpensive for a new product

Conclusion
We are aware that TaxSimple offers a number of online tax preparation products. From the best we can tell, the Deluxe product is most comparable to the other products in our survey and we have included all the information we could gather for TaxSimple Deluxe in the grid attached hereto. Unfortunately, this information is fairly limited and our attempts to contact customer support have proven fruitless. As such, we recommend selecting another provider.

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