Guidance for all your personal tax situations. Federal forms. Step-by-step interviews guide you through a customized experience relevant to your tax situation. Everything you need to prepare your federal taxes in one complete program.Best Features:- Step-by-step guidance
- Double checks for errors
- Easy for first-time users
Download and installation were very easy. Looks similar to last year's By James F. Strasma
I'm normally very wary of buying software without a CD to allow reinstallation, a holdover from the copy-protection wars when vendors tried not to let us install anything more than one time on one PC, even if the hard drive later failed.
The H&R Block At Home 2011 software download was a delight, compared to former days and other programs. Like other digital products purchased through Amazon, Amazon remembers what I've purchased, and makes it easy to get it again if necessary. The entire installation process, including starting the program, checking for upgrades (none yet) and entering my key code took only a few minutes via cable broadband. It also quickly and easily read in my data from last year, and offered helpful YouTube videos on changes this year. I now have to wait until the next update expected on January 12 before entering dependents and income.
I've used H&R's tax programs for several years, and been very happy except for having to file a correction last year due to the program initially missing the fact that I'd paid property taxes on my home. (I reported that bug, so don't expect it to be a problem again, but will be sure to check again once I have all my tax forms to enter.) As I pretty much know what I'm doing tax-wise, and my state already offers a simple Web-based way to file my state income tax, this basic verson is all I need. If you want more handholding or a state program too, there are other more advanced versions available, and you'll be offered those if the program thinks you might need them.
I'll update this around the end of January, once I have all the needed 1099s etc. and have filed. But for now, this is a very pleasant, inexpensive and ecological way to quickly and accurately take care of a nasty unavoidable annual chore.
Recommended.
Update: OK, I filed electronically tonight. I had previously gotten right up to the point of filing, but held off for the update that came out in late February, just in case it fixed anything important. I also reconfirmed a few entries and corrected one I'd guessed wrong about before, now that I had the official document in hand. Perhaps as a result of the changes, the program no longer remembered my last year's AGI value or our PINS, so I had to override those as I submitted this evening. Fortunately, I always write those down as I print out the final form, so had them handy. Since I amended last year's return later, I was glad to see this year's program told me to still use the AGI value from my initial return, rather than the amended one.
Still recommended.Links to videos are obsolete By H. Pham
I just downloaded and installed H&R Block At Home Basic 2011. The software works fine as in previous years. However, the videos that are supposed to explain tax law changes (for example: "What's new for 2011") are 2010 versions (dated Dec 16, 2010). That might mislead unsuspecting viewers because some of those credits for 2010 are no longer available for 2011.Basic is good, but hard to find - on purpose perhaps? By It Works
The basic edition of Tax Cut (now that HRBlock has it - "2011 Home Edition Basic") has long been my favorite. Originally $5 or so on sale during the Tax Cut days it was a great value. Now, the price is going up every year to even $29.99 in brick and mortar stores - assuming you can find it - it's not such a bargain. In my opinion, the Price/Value ratio has definitely declined under HRBlock.
This year the Basic edition was very hard to find outside of on-line at AMAZON. HRBlock sent me a Home Edition dvd disc, but the Basic version was not one of the choices on the disc. Several local stores handle HRBlock tax products, but do not stock the Basic version. The few that do carry it want way too much money for it.
All that said, as a low-income taxpayer, the Basic Edition did what we needed it to do for our simple tax situation. We could have used the governments' Free Tax File services instead, but we prefer the added confidentiality and flexibility of preparing our taxes with user owned software. Prior to preparing our taxes with HRBlock Home Basic edition I prepared them by hand with a pencil and paper tax forms from the post office - the old fashioned way.
The tax refund I came up with by hand was then checked against what the Basic Edition calculated. The net refund was within a few dollars each way. Perhaps filing electronically with the HRBlock program will get us our refund a little bit faster and may lessen the chances of an audit.
My recommendation: If you are a low income taxpayer with a simple situation, this program is likely to be the best one for you in terms of Price/Value from among all those in the HRBlock tax product line.
Amazon is the place to buy it. It wasn't as easy to find it here as in past years, but definitely easier to find it here than traveling from store to store all over town looking for a local retailer that carries it.
The three star rating given knocked the product one star due to what is, in my mind, apparently an intentional marketing plan that may be designed to force customers into more expensive products that we really don't need. The product was docked a second star due to the continuing decline in the Price/Value of the product compared to past years. That and the failure of HRBlock to include the Basic edition as a choice in the mass mailed promotional CD/DVDs.
As far as Amazon goes, they get a Five Star rating for pricing the product more reasonably that the other editions and for the great personal service I received from the Amazon sales person contacted by telephone to help with questions encountered when buying the product in its downloadable format. That worked perfectly.
The Amazon salesman was extremely helpful, informative, patient, courteous, and willing to walk me through the process. He even stayed online to be sure the purchase downloaded correctly. I'll use that feature again for other purchases. The Best-Selling H&R Block At Home Basic 2011 Win [Download] then to sell out very fast, if this is a must have product, be sure to order now to avoid disappointment.
