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:- Quickly import data
- Personalized tax advice
- Sale of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
Very pleased: some small peeves I had last year were addressed. Solution to an install problem included. By Ali Julia
I've used H&R Block's tax software (formerly called TaxCut) every year since 1995. Several times when I saw a promotional deal I purchased both TaxCut and TurboTax to compare. I found that TurboTax did not do anything better than TaxCut while costing consistently more. In addition, I like the option of being able to file 5 free Federal e-files as I do taxes for other relatives who are less computer savvy.
H&R Block software also wins if compared to the free on-line options. I don't like using the on-line tax programs for two reasons (1) I don't want my financial data to be on someone's web site (2) free offers include the Federal tax only.
This year I used a digital download for the first time rather than a boxed version. I liked the security of having a physical CD in case I need to re-install on another computer several years down the road. But you are supposed to be able to download the software again to a different computer and when the boxed version was not available I went digital.
Downloading the software was easy, however during the install I got an error registering the software. When I started the software it immediately gave me a prompt to enter a key-code which (the prompt said) I should have received in the email after purchasing the software. The email I received from Amazon contained no such key-code. I had to call Amazon support and they told me that this information can be found following these steps
1) Log into Amazon
2) Select Your Account at the top right of the page
3) Select Games and Software downloads which is towards the bottom of the long page you see when you log in
4) Then under H&R software entry you will see the key-code that you need to enter to unlock the software
Once this was done the rest of the software functions well. In fact it looked more polished than in prior years. I always had minor display problems because I use large fonts and they never scaled quite right. This year everything displayed perfectly.
I read one review which mentioned a problem with seeing selection boxes. The problem there most likely caused by low screen resolution. Both Windows and Mac minimum requirement for screen resolution is 1024 x 768 pixels or higher. At a lower resolution, there will be problem with display such as not seeing selection boxes. Screen resolution can be changed on your control panel by change PC's display settings.
I did a preliminary tax return and below are my observations.
1. H&R Block starts the interview process with an annoying up-sell pitch, recommending an upgrade from Deluxe to Premium even when it is not necessary.
2. Copy and Paste from Interview screens is not possible. Sometimes I wish to do it for some issue as a reminder to myself. My solution is to do PrintScreen (using PrintScreen key). This generates an image of the screen, which I paste into paint or photo editing software which I can print or save for later.
3. I don't use the default location for the tax returns, as I want to my backup program to back up only the data not the software itself. The software does not initially remember this new location on startup, it tells me I have no returns. I needed to pick the return manually from the File menu, as it does remember recently used files. The third time I started the software, it finally knew the location of the tax return file.
4. Some forms (such as foreign tax credit over the limit to be directly on 1040) require entering data manually. This year the foreign tax credit form is some what automated, when you hit next button it takes you to the next place on the form you need to fill out (last your you were just presented the form to fill out on your own). This form is not that hard to do manually as this form does not change year to year.
5. I use large font option on my monitor display and in the past had display issues (some things were displayed on top of each other). This year all forms displayed properly with this option. This is the first time in all the years I've used H&R Block software that I have no complaint about the display and did not need to change my monitor settings just to do the tax preparation. Nice!
6. This package include 5 free Federal e-files. However, if you also need to file a state return and use H&R Block state software (purchased separately) in addition to this package, H&R Block charges $19.95 to e-file each state return. Of course, this charge can be avoided by printing the forms and mailing them in.
7. In prior years the package include DeductionPro software. This year, like last year, this software is only available as an online tool. I will not use software that requires me to put my financial data on their site, and DeductionPro wants to import the data to H&R web site, so I will not be using it. Disappointing.
8. The price on this package changes day to day. I found a nice tools that shows history of Amazon prices and allows you to generate an email alert when the price reaches our desired price range. If you enter "price history alert" in Google it will come up at the top, it has the word camel in the name. I find this tool very helpful.
I have been a H&R Block/TaxCut user for many years. The interview process is helpful in reminding you things you might have forgotten. On-line help is useful. 2011 H&R Block package appears more polished and has a number of improvements to a couple of small pet peeves I had in the past. So I am quite pleased with it and recommend it!
Ali Julia reviewSolid product By Randall Smith
I've used Tax Cut (or Block At Home) for the past few years. (I switched away from Turbo Tax when Intuit had their ill-advised anti-piracy copy protection craziness.)
I've found Tax Cut to be consistently usable and easy to understand. The 2011 product is no exception. I bought the download version, and had no download or installation problems (running on an XP machine). Our return is mildly complicated, with investments (mutual fund distributions and sales) and pensions with a partial basis, which requires some allocation of the basis and non-basis portion. Block At Home Deluxe handled all this with ease.
One star off, however, because Block removed a useful form from the program. They've always had a Two Year Summary, a side-by-side comparison of this year's return and last year's return. It's the first thing I look at once my return is done, because it gives me some way to think about income, deductions, and taxes from one year to the next. Now that form is gone. I tried HRBlock support, and they confirmed that it was gone. They knew of no reason, and they did not even offer to provide feedback to their company on this issue.
So I'm a little grumpy about the company, but the software is actually pretty good and well worth the price.
As for Amazon's price fluctuations on tax software, which folks are complaining about, yes the price fluctuations are wild, and they seem to be this way every year. I've never bought tax software without seeing it on sale cheaper later. But this year I used the camelcamel folks to see the Amazon price history, and got this product at a pretty good price. Be sure to research all the different versions of the software quite carefully and buy exactly what you need.Potential problems if you have an HSA By David M.
For the most part, I've been very happy with this software. I purchased the digital download of H&R Block at Home - Deluxe. However, I'm ranking it 2 stars since I will not be able to efile. This may be an obscure problem, but since my HSA contributions are from a premium pass-through, I had to override the entry in Form 8889. For me, these contributions do not show up on the W2, and that's the only way the software allows you to input employer contributions. However, due to that required override, I'm disallowed from e-filing. Otherwise, the interview process was straightforward and quick to navigate, and if not for the lack of e-file, I'd give it four stars. The Best-Selling H&R Block At Home Deluxe 2011 Win [Download] then to sell out very fast, if this is a must have product, be sure to order now to avoid disappointment.
