Tax Software Reviews

Popular Tax Software Reviews - What is The Best Tax Software Program?

Whether to pay income tax or not to pay income tax is a completely irrelevant question. It is never either or because there are no options here. You have to pay your income tax, at least if you are an honest and a law abiding citizen.

You do, however, have several options available to you when it comes to preparing and filing your federal and state income tax returns:

• You could do it yourself with the booklet that is so generously provided by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) in one hand and a stack of pay stubs, receipts, and blank income tax forms in the other. You could try to wade through all the confusing instructions while surviving the very long and painfully frustrating hours of hard work and uncertainty. But why would you want to do that to yourself?
• You could also go to an income tax preparation professional who will invite you to his office at his convenience not yours. He will expect you to know exactly which documentation to bring along and which is unnecessary. He will also bombard you with questions and toss glances of disbelief although you have answered them all truthfully. When your turn finally comes to ask a few questions he will respond as briefly as possible and anxiously glance at his watch because his next client is crowding his door. At the end of this pleasant session you are quoted a fee that will break you until your tax refund arrives. Would you want to go through any of that? I wouldn’t.
• The final option in income tax preparation and filing is the use of any one of the many online tax software programs. These allow you to prepare your income tax returns in the comfort of your own home, at your own pace and time schedule, and many of them are free. Most of these programs are user friendly while gently guiding you through the entire process. This is the option I would choose and I advise all that will listen to do the same.

For your convenience, I have compiled a list of the most popular tax software packages and their reviews by the tax industry’s top professionals:

> William Perez of About.com spent at least three hours testing the following programs.

1. Turbo Tax is at the top of Perez’s ranking and he recommends it especially for the self-employed and landlords.
2. His second choice is TaxAct Deluxe and he recommends it for those who have relatively straightforward tax returns.
3. Perez’s next and third choice is TaxCut which has been improved for 2007 and is also ideal for those with simple returns.

> Kathy Yakal reviews tax software for PC Magazine yearly. She looks for ease of use, guidance, help functions and convenience.

• Turbo Tax is at the top of Yakal’s ranking and was awarded an Editor’s Choice designation.
• TaxCut is second on Yakal’s list but fairly distant from the first ranking.
• Yakal recommends TaxAct only for those who have used it in the past years.

> Shelley Elmblad of About.com reviewed and compared TaxCut and Turbo Tax —

• Elmblad favors TaxCut for its easier mode of navigation and the lower price. She feels that users get more features for their dollar.
• According to Elmblad, Turbo Tax is equally comprehensive and reliable but comes only second to TaxCut.

There you have it; the three top choices for tax software are Turbo Tax, TaxCut and TaxAct. Good luck!

Posted in Tax Preparation & Software