AAUG Reviews

by Chris Tofteberg ,AAUG Member

I reviewed TurboTax last year and used it to do my 2006 taxes. In general I liked the 2006 edition except for a bad experience with the “It’s Deductible” feature. This year, Intuit fixed that and the program worked flawlessly.

There are basically only two tax software programs specifically for the Mac, TurboTax (five versions) and TaxCut (four versions). There are some online and/or free solutions that tend to be very basic and work fine if you’re using the 1040EZ form or have few investments or deductions. Most free versions require that the user have a limited gross income. Visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov for more details.

TurboTax Premier 2007 features a totally revamped interface and is much easier to navigate than the 2006 version. My 2006 return was automatically imported, saving much time entering information.

TurboTax works with Quicken and Quickbooks, which are both Intuit products as well. Manually entering forms and numbers as I did worked flawlessly and TurboTax clued me in to tax considerations that I might not thought of. Users having more or less complex tax situations can choose which version to use. The Premiere version reviewed here is smack in the middle of the bunch.

The Premier version also includes a free download of Audit Support Center, a program that helps you in the case that, heaven forbid, the IRS conducts an audit of your return. Let’s just say I’m hoping that I don’t need this product, but it’s nice to have this as reassurance.

If you’re like me, you’re always looking to maximize deductions to minimize your taxes owed or your refund. This year’s version of TurboTax uses a much simpler deduction finder and doesn’t have to go out to the internet like last year’s version did.

TurboTax includes error checks and IRS flag checks, which are fairly common in tax applications. After the checks, you’re ready to file. This year TurboTax includes free efiling in all of its versions, including the free version. This is a vast improvement over last year’s version I reviewed which required an additional $15 for this service.

Intuit hit the mark this year with a product that is easy to use and doesn’t feel like a mere port of the Windows version. The price is right and the program does the job. I would recommend this software to anyone.