OT - Why you don't want TurboTax2002

[fredwhite]

Tax Program Develops
An Insulting Approach
(From The Wall Street Journal)
The top two software packages for tax preparation have
been largely static in their core features and user
interfaces for years, but you'll notice a new attitude
toward customers from one of the publishers this time
around.

The programs are nearly identical, and in my annual
reviews of H&R Block's TaxCut and TurboTax by Intuit I
have mainly noted changes in ancillary features, and
in the proliferation of various editions and versions
that seem inspired more by marketing than by
functionality.

This year, both publishers have thrown in planning
features for retirees and investors, and TurboTax now
comes in special editions for these groups. Still, the
core tax functionality is the same in all these
products.

However, Intuit, in an effort to curb piracy, now is
forcing folks who buy TurboTax to jump through hoops
to use it. Users must contact Intuit to "activate" the
software, a process that limits full use of TurboTax
to a single PC. To enforce this system, Intuit
secretly installs third-party monitoring software on
users' PCs.

By contrast, H&R Block is adding a "family license" to
its top-of-the-line version of TaxCut, which
explicitly allows the software to be shared with
family members and to be used to prepare the returns
of multiple people, all legally.

You can install the full-function TaxCut product on
multiple PCs as long as they aren't used
simultaneously. There are no activation requirements.
TaxCut also costs less than TurboTax and offers free
phone support, while TurboTax users pay for most such
service.

So, this year I emphatically recommend H&R Block's
TaxCut over Intuit's TurboTax . They both do the job
of preparing any straightforward tax return. But
Intuit has decided to treat all its TurboTax customers
like potential criminals, and to limit the ways that
even honest people can use the product. Why subject
yourself to that?

For my tests, I chose the top Windows versions of both
products, TurboTax Premier and TaxCut Platinum.
TurboTax Premier costs $49.95 after a $10 mail-in
rebate. TaxCut Platinum is just $29.95 after a $10
rebate. (Stripped-down versions can be bought for as
little as $10 for TaxCut and $20 for TurboTax , after
rebates.)

These software products aren't a substitute for an
accountant or other tax preparer. If you have any
serious legal questions about your taxes, you
shouldn't rely on these programs.

I ran a simple sample tax situation through both
programs and both handled it fine. Both allow you to
automate some of the data entry by downloading W-2
information, which saves a few minutes of typing.
TurboTax was better at this, with information from
more payroll providers.

I also tested a feature where, for $19.95, you can ask
a tax expert a question. I e-mailed the same question
through each program. TaxCut did better. The TaxCut
expert e-mailed me back within an hour with a good
answer. The TurboTax adviser insisted I phone her and
when I reached her, her answer seemed too simplistic.
During our conversation, I was interrupted by an
operator demanding more money for a longer call.

Installation of TaxCut was easy and straightforward.
By contrast, installing TurboTax was a pain, due to
the new antipiracy requirements. I had to type in an
18-digit product key, then activate the product over
the Internet, a process that generates a hidden code
that mates each copy of TurboTax to one PC. I was
informed that while my copy of TurboTax would run on
multiple PCs, I could print or electronically file a
tax form only on the PC on which it had been
activated.

The TurboTax installation process never revealed that
Intuit was also installing on my PC an antipiracy
product called SafeCast, from a company called
Macrovision. This software includes a hidden folder
called C-Dilla, the former name for SafeCast, and a
hidden program that runs in the background all the
time, monitoring your PC for the use of TurboTax .
When TurboTax runs, the SafeCast product checks to see
if the program matches the activation code on the PC.
It also periodically checks to see that the code
hasn't been tampered with.

I have no evidence that SafeCast damages PCs or spies
on users, and Intuit and Macrovision emphatically deny
rumors that SafeCast sends reports on software use
back to the company over the Internet. Macrovision
even denies SafeCast can be called "monitoring"
software, but the term fits because the product
constantly watches for TurboTax activity.

Once SafeCast is on your PC, it remains there even
when you uninstall TurboTax . Intuit said it adopted
this policy because users might have other programs
that rely on SafeCast that would be disabled if it
were removed. But after a storm of criticism, Intuit
posted on the Web a program to uninstall SafeCast.

I agree with Intuit that piracy is a problem, and I
condemn it. But I don't think the answer is to treat
all consumers like criminals by adding restrictions
and hidden software to an inexpensive product used for
a week or two each year. I also believe that the
licensing of software to one PC or one person, while
cherished in the technology industry, makes little
sense in a world where honest families have multiple
PCs and users.

If you'd rather be treated with respect than
suspicion, shun TurboTax and buy TaxCut.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com
****************************************
I bought my copy before I found out about all of this. Its a nasty little program now and loads all sorts of ads on your PC. To use the "free" e-file, you pay to e-file and then have to ask for a refund. Next year I will look for a different program.
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[mbensema]

Thanks for the heads up, I wasn't going to use Turbo Tax this year anyways and have my accountant do my taxes. If this is the way they are going to treat their customers, when it comes to upgrade my Quickbooks for my business, I will most certainly be looking elsewhere. There seems to be a very arrogant attitude at Intuit these days, time to give my business to the companies that treat me like a customer.

Mike

[Ronnie]

Good information.
Thanks Fred

[Cliff]

Geez!! I wish I'd know this a few weeks ago. . . . .

[Skeeter5000]

Hi All,

Go to the site listed below. You can download and use for one tax return free. You can purchase the program for $9.95. You can add the state income tax version that you may need for about $10.00 more. I think this gives you a free e-file. It might me the rebate thing also. Don't know about that.

I like this program.

http://www.taxact.com/

[dkinzer]

I started using this and liked it quite a bit; my only complaint being that it couldn't import from last year's TurboTax return. I got most of my data input to it and then I discovered that it doesn't support a couple of forms that I need (3800 and another that I can't recall at the moment). For many people, though, it would fit the bill nicely.

I ended up springing for TaxCut which supports the extra forms that I need and also imports from TurboTax. It also has a rebate for electronic filing and, if you purchase the Deluxe version, a rebate that makes the state software free as well.