Review: TurboTax Deluxe - Federal + State 2007

Another tax preparation software review here at SmartTaxAdvice.com. This time we picked TurboTax Deluxe 2007 for Federal Returns made by Intuit. TurboTax Deluxe 2007  is the 2007 Edition of this well known tax software and can help you maximize your tax deductions with mortgage interest, donations, education expenses, and medical expenses - over 350 in all! In our review we did not go that far, but concentrated on an average tax return. We wanted to see if the tax software would live up to the high standards it has set in the past years. We were impressed with the 2007 Edition of TurboTax Deluxe and how it has evolved. TurboTax Deluxe 2007 guides you step-by-step through the process and asks you easy to understand questions in plain English. It then puts your answers on IRS- and state-approved forms on the screen (and of course in the final output). We found this a great option for those people who are not ready to trust the eFile option and still prefer to mail in a paper tax return. We printed the tax forms out and compared them to the ones you get directly from the IRS website – no difference and you will be very safe to use them to file your paper tax return and to eventually archive your return for future reference.

Here are some more highlights of our TurboTax Deluxe review.

TurboTax Tax Preparation SoftwareTurboTax Deluxe 2007 helps you handle changes in your life with the many events that can affect your taxes. I always found it confusing how some life changes affect your taxes abd TurboTax does a great job to address those concerns. The tax saver videos included in the tax preparation software are great in my opinion.

TurboTax Deluxe Federal + State 2007 guides you through your federal and state tax returns, with simple-to-understand questions to help you finish and file your federal and state taxes. You can Find over 350 tax deductions depending on your personal situation so that you can take advantage of getting credit for your donations as an example.

TurboTax includes a huge variety of tax forms. No need to search the confusing looking IRS website. Just open TurboTax and easily access any common tax form you might need to file your return. Here is an (incomplete) list of tax forms  included in TurboTax.

Form 1040 Individual Income Tax Return
Form 1040A Individual Income Short Form
Form 1040EZ Individual Income Tax Return EZ
Form 1040-V Payment Vouchers
Form 1040X Amended Individual Tax Return
Form 1099-DIV Dividend Income Worksheet
Form 1099-G Certain Government Payments
Form 1099-INT Interest Income Worksheet
Form 1099-MISC Miscellaneous Income Worksheet
Form 1099-MSA Medical Savings Account Distribution
Form 1099-OID Original Issue Discount
Form 1099-Q Qualified Education Program Payments
Form 1099-R Distributions from Retirement Plans Worksheet
Form 1116 Foreign Tax Credit
Form 1310 Stmt of Person Claiming Refund
Form 2106 Employee Business Expenses
Form 2120 Multiple Support Declaration
Form 2210 Underpayment of Estimated Tax
Form 2210AI Annualized Income
Form 2441 Child and Dependent Care Expenses
Plus tons more to get all of your taxes taken care of.

Reduce Your Risk of Audit. TurboTax Deluxe double-checks your return for accuracy and completeness and helps you fix any errors before the IRS spots them. I love seeing these guarantees, because it makes me trust the tax preparation software more. Being audited by the IRS sucks big time and I just can sleep better at night knowing that I can just hand off all my stuff to a TurboTax Professional and let them deal with the IRS.

Like TaxCut TurboTax comes with a large package of guarantees. As an example there are the 100% Accurate Calculations Guarantee, the Maximum Refund Guaranteed or Your Money Back, and the satisfaction guarantee. Purchases Made at a Retailer: Try TurboTax software. If you’re not satisfied with TurboTax software, return it within 60 days of purchase with your dated receipt for a full refund of the purchase price. These guarantees match the ones issues by other tax preparation software makes or even exceed them.

Conclusion: If you are familiar with TurboTax and used it the years before, you will just jump right and prepare your tax return easily. If you are new to TurboTax you will find a very easy to use tax software package that has almost eveyrthing you need. If you have a small business and want to use Turbo Tax to file your tax return you might want to look at the expanded features of TurboTax 2007 Home and Business. Anyway – TurboTax Deluxe is a great tax software to file your taxes yourself and to avoid the need to pay for a tax accountant. Two Thumbs up from SmartTaxAdvice.com

December 23, 2007 | Filed Under Tax Filing, Tax Preparation Software

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Review: H&R Block TaxCut 2007 Premium Federal + State (Win/Mac Edition)

We have reviewed the H & R Block TaxCut 2007 Premium edition for Windows and Apple computers. The software comes in several editions, but most tax payers should be fully covered by the H&R Block Premium Edition that includes the State package as well. We decided against the efile edition as there are several service providers that allow easy online efile services for equal or less money. If you are interested in the efile edition of this software – the only difference to this reviewed version is the included eFile allowance – pretty much a pre-payment of the efile fees (Find more details here). Anyway – on to the review of H&R Block TaxCut 2007 Premium Federal + State.

TaxCut Tax Preparation SoftwareTaxCut Premium Federal+State includes almost everything a tax payer needs to complete the federal and state tax return. The software package includes guidance for almost every personal tax situation from 1040EZ to filing a Schedule C. A step-by-step interview guides users through a customized and personalized process. This interview process includes advice on how to find more deductions and how to get the maximum possible tax refund – guaranteed by H&R Block. TaxCut Premium Federal+State also includes advanced tools for financial investors and small business owners such as guidance for income from rental property and related expenses, assistance on investment income and stock options. One section even covers a “how to maximize business deductions” for sole proprietorships.

Some notable highlights:

H&R Block has issues several Guarantees that are included in the tax preparation software package. Here are some examples that will be of interest for you:

Worry-free Audit Support
You can rest easy knowing H&R Block is there to help in the rare event of an audit. This guarantee is included when you e-file your federal return through H&R Block

Accurate Calculations Guaranteed
If TaxCut makes a calculation mistake, H&R Block pays the resulting IRS penalties plus interest. See the software license agreement for details.

100% Satisfaction Money-Back Guarantee
If you are dissatisfied with the software for any reason, H&R Block will refund the full license fee you paid H&R Block or its authorized reseller for the software, exclusive of shipping and handling charges, taxes, and less any rebate you receive on the software. We highly recommend to use AMAZON.com to buy the software as you can mail it back at no fees using Amazon’s return policy. Please make sure you read Amazon’s and H&R Block’s policies.

Conclusion: We found the software very easy to install on a Windows PC running Windows Vista. The tax preparation software worked fine when we created a sample tax return. Of course we were not able to look further into eFiling as a) we would have to wait for 2008 to arrive and b) you would need a real tax return to do so. When we compared the results with other tax preparation tools H&R Block was a top contender. Two Thumbs up from SmartTaxAdvice.com for H&R Block 2007 Premium Edition Federal and State

December 23, 2007 | Filed Under Tax Filing, Tax Preparation Software

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