Return-Path: Received: from cive.ri.cmu.edu by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa17988; 11 Feb 91 18:07:10 EST Date: Mon, 11 Feb 1991 17:54-EST From: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU To: bovik@CS.CMU.EDU Subject: Tax preparation progs Message-Id: <666312849/ssingh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU> Here is some info that I collated from the general bb. First a brief summary: - MacInTax was highly reccomended - One person reccomended TaxCut as being much better & cheaper than MacInTax - The CMU computer store sells MacInTax for around $65 - These programs all do only the Federal tax return, you need additional modules foraration programs are useful only if your taxes are both at least moderately complicated AND you know what you are doing. If you have a simple return, better do it by hand. If you have a really complicated return, better to get an accountant who can help To: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: Experience with TurboTax &/or MacInTax? Date: Fri, 8 Feb 91 9:16:10 EST From: neek@NEEK.FAC.CS.CMU.EDU Sender: neek@NEEK.FAC.CS.CMU.EDU I've used turbo tax, and I found it easy to use, and calculated all my federal forms in about 4-5 hrs. The problem I had w/ them, is w/ the state forms. They didn't release the state programs till the end of March, and by that time I just did them by hand. My version came bundled w/ 'Quicken', which is a home-bookeeping program that I use frequently ( $75 for both ). There was a hook into turbo-tax to import data from quicken and other book-keeping programs. Craig Marcus SCS Facilities Staff. To: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: Experience with TurboTax &/or MacInTax? Date: Fri, 08 Feb 91 11:41:36 EST From: David McKeehan Hi, I used MacInTax for 2 years and finally found something better, Taxcut. MacInTax had nice forms, but had the following problems. (1) it was slow. (2) the help (on a line by line basis) just basically gave you a reprint from IRS publications, and you had to know the terminology and legal basis of everything. If you knew what you were doing, then it was a help in organizing your data. If you had questions, you had to get an accountant or tax attorney to help you. Taxcut, from MECA is what I use now and love. It is very fast, and oriented for both professionals and amatures. It has an excellent expert advisor, which askes you yes/no, fill in the blank questions and then drafts your forms and tells you which ones to consider filling out. For all jargon words, they have plain english definitions. it generates normal printer forms (you don't have to have a laser printer like with MacInTax, or you can use a laser for "pretty forms" (although all outputs are acceptable to the IRS). It supports electronic filing, which gets your return back faster. Lastly, not only is it less than half the price of MacInTax, but where I used to spend 2 weeks every night doing my taxes with MacInTax, now it takes me a few hours to do a more complex return. I highly recommend Taxcut to anyone. - Dave McKeehan Date: Fri, 8 Feb 1991 12:18-EST From: Gene.Rollins@VISTA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU To: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: Experience with TurboTax &/or MacInTax? I've been using MacInTax for 4 years. The forms appear on the screen in the same format as the IRS forms. The IRS accepts MacInTax printed forms. It comes with most of the forms, but not all of them. You can do as much of your tax return as you can and add information as it comes in later. It has a hypertext capability. Click on a line's text and you get help. Click on a line's answer box and you get the corresponding schedule, form, or worksheet. Worksheets allow you to itemize anything you want; they are not submitted to the IRS. So for example, you can list every company you paid interest to on a worksheet. MacInTax adds them together and puts the sum on the IRS form. This allows you to recheck the worksheet to be sure you've included everything. If you just have the sum, checking later is more difficult. With my four years experience with MacInTax, I was able to do my tax return, including dealing with various odd-ball investment instruments and usual deductions, in two evenings. You have to buy a new copy of MacInTax each year. There is a conversion program that takes a return from one year and converts it to the new year. So you could use last year's program to get a head start on this years. Each November I get mail telling me I can order MacInTax for the new year at a discount. I call an 800 number and receive it late Dec or early Jan. .........gene Date: Thu, 7 Feb 91 16:26:19 EST From: Hank Walker To: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU Cc: Subject: Re: Experience with TurboTax &/or MacInTax? I looked into getting one, but decided not to. MacInTax is probably the best around, and receives only glowing reviews. But it costs $40 or so to update it each year, and this isn't much less than what my tax preparer charges now. I decided for a few dollars more, I can have someone else do the work, and he is better at ferreting out deductions. If you keep all your financial records on the Mac like in Quicken or something, then a tax preparation program makes more sense. P.S. These packages allow you to directly download your return to some groups for a fee, but the reduced time for a refund isn't worth the cost unless you are expected a huge refund, in which case it would make sense for you to increase your exemptions. To: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU Subject: Re: Experience with TurboTax &/or MacInTax? Date: Thu, 07 Feb 91 15:14:47 EST From: Scott Crowder I used MacInTax last year and likede it enough to use is again this year. If you have a reasonably complicated return I would recommend it. The program is easy to use and gives you a good set of backup documentation. It probably isn't worth it if you are only filing the 1040A or 1040EZ. The user interface is pretty intuitive. Just double click on a box to get the standard instructions for that box. Just pull down the worksheet menu if you want to attach a worksheet to a box (Like the cash/check donations box, this feature lets you create a spread sheet showing each donation and the amount. The sum is then placed in the correct box on the form.) The program allows you to look at the benifits of filing joint or seperate returns and some other standard tradeoffs. The program is designed to fill out your taxes, it offers very limited suggestions on schemes to reduce your tax. Most of the help messages are strait out of the irs publications. -Scott