TurboTax Deluxe Federal + eFile 2008 [OLD VERSION]
by Intuit, Inc.
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Software Reviews of TurboTax Deluxe Federal + eFile 2008 [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Great Software - TurboTax
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been using this product for over 20 years now. Never a problem. I highly recommend it for anyone doing their own taxes.Customer Review: Read this Review by a Tax Attorney!
Summary: 1 Stars
[3/12/09 UPDATE: FOR ANYONE WHO DEDUCTS MORTGAGE INTEREST AND IS WONDERING WHETHER AND HOW THEY OWE AMT, PLEASE READ THE COMMENTS ATTACHED TO THIS REVIEW FOR CURRENT STATUS AND INFORMATION REGARDING INTUIT'S HANDLING OF THIS MAJOR SOFTWARE ERROR THAT CAUSES FORM 6251 NOT TO BE GENERATED/FILED AND POSSIBLE UNDERREPORTING OF TAXES OWED.]
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I am an attorney and my wife is a tax attorney, and we have spent hours reverse engineering and confirming TurboTax software problems (with dummy numbers) last night to determine ONCE AGAIN that the brain trust at TurboTax is giving us defective product. I have used TurboTax since 2005 (only for the spread sheet aspects), and, now that the IRS has made free online filing spreadsheet software available regardless of income (check out the new "Fillable Forms" at the IRS Free File website), THIS WILL OFFICIALLY BE THE LAST YEAR I USE TURBOTAX. Hooraahhh! Every year I find numerous errors in their software (from mortgage interest deduction, to carry-overs, to properly completing non-cash charitable donations per IRS requirements, to calculating AMT credits, and now to yet another problem described here), and like many of you guys, every year that I write in about a problem, I get one of their generic, inane replies from some low-level non-attorney who knows nothing about the tax code. Like years past, I spend more time beta-testing their software bugs than actually doing my tax return. This year, I easily computed and input all my data for our 2008 return, but I can not get TurboTax to generate (unless I start overriding everything . . . which can lead to other problems) this year's requisite Form 6251 for the AMT so that I can actually e-file my return. Unlike most people, we do our returns manually per the paper IRS forms, instructions, publications, and tax regs (again my wife is a tax lawyer), and then we input it all in TurboTax to e-file it . . . and like this year, I ALWAYS find major problems in their software. For example, thousands of Americans are claiming a mortgage interest deduction on Schedule A that they are not entitled to due to the way TurboTax incorrectly distinguishes between home equity indebtedness and home acquisition indebtedness in the context of, e.g., refinanced primary mortgages that include a cash-out component, as well as due to the lack of direction in their menus about the need to compute average mortgage balances. TurboTax's interview just generically refers you to the IRS publication(s), which everyone tells me they do not have time to do (they tell me that's why they bought the software to begin with, so that they do NOT have to look at the Pubs, Regs, or Code) . . . even my attorney friends who use Turbo don't refer to the tax Pubs to figure out their average mortgage balances, and say instead that they simply claim everything on their 1098 Mortgage Interest Statements (which is wrong!). TurboTax could easily fix this longstanding gap in their software by hiring a tax attorney and programmer to add the same sort of interview questions and worksheets that are in Publication 936. But for some reason, after years of making this complaint, they still fail to do this. Seperate and aside from this problem, now I see this year, another huge software bug (described below) that makes me wonder how many filers with mortgage interest are not including Form 6251 for the AMT (even if they do not owe AMT, the form must still be attached/e-filed in many cases). As I say to all my friends, if you don't learn the basics of the tax code and check your taxes manually at least somewhat, then you will be in trouble if you solely rely on any version of TurboTax . . . as I have found that TurboTax has done my taxes wrong every year (2005, 2006, 2007, and now 2008). [This is absolutely true. Every year, my wife and I have had to override and/or spend days complaining to Intuit about necessary patches, etc.] Of course, I hope everyone here realizes that all these people that say "TurboTax is Easy and Great" in their 5-star reviews are often the worst type of resources to rely on for an assessment of whether this software is worth your money (and more importantly, time). . . as, how can these cheerleaders possibly be in a position to critique whether the software works correctly if they don't understand what is supposed to happen tax-wise in a given situation? If you read through ALL the reviews, you will often see the most critical reviews coming from people who evidence some tax knowledge on what TurboTax is supposed to do . . . these people seem far more reliable to me. Many of these 5-star reviews can be completely discounted by the fact that they were written by people who never had a CPA or lawyer verify that their alleged "so easy, so simple, so wonderful" tax returns were actually done correctly by the software's interview. As I said above, now that there is no income requirement for completing your return online at the IRS website with their free tax spreadsheet Fillable Forms (brand new option this year!), I will be saying GOODBYE to wasting $30-$60 a year on this software that my wife and I have to beta-test for days. And you can too. Trust me, as an attorney, your best options for your taxes are: (1) learn the tax code just enough so that you know what should happen tax-wise during each set of interview questions (and if you do that, then you can now use the IRS "fillable forms" and e-file for free at the IRS website); or (2) pay a little more and use a CPA or attorney. As your instinct probably tells you, no software program alone is going to magically do this stuff correctly for you; even worse is that it does it wrong after so much wasted time in so many cases. The wasting of so much of one's time to beta-test this product is just outrageous. [And waiting to buy the software is just no good, as, in year's past, I was still receiving patches right up to the filing deadline in April!] Completely unfair that this product continues to dominate the market when the IRS/Treasury should simply do-away with all the lobbying Intuit does here in Washington DC each year, and instead should expand its "fillable forms" with a set of free basic interview questions like Virginia and other states make available online.
As far as the specifics of the problem on the Form 6251 not being done correctly, if you are interested, here is my detailed post about this debacle on a thread on TurboTax's Live Community. [YOU SHOULD ALSO READ THE COMMENTS ATTACHED TO THIS REVIEW FOR MY TAKE AS OF 3/12/09 ON HOW EGREGIOUS THIS ERROR HAS BEEN, AS WELL AS COMMENTARY AND OPINION ON INTUIT'S HANDLING OF IT TO DATE.]
Live Community post follows:
FORM 6251 not being generated!
MAJOR ERROR IN TURBOTAX DELUXE 2008!!
My wife and I are attorneys (she is a tax attorney), and once again your software is saying I do not need to submit a Form 6251 when in fact I am REQUIRED by the Form 6251 Instructions to attach a Form 6251 to my return (even though I do not owe AMT this year, the form must still be generated and attached).
I am required to attach the Form 6251 because, per the Instructions: "The total of Form 6251, lines 9 through 28, is negative and line 32 would be greater than line 35 if you did not take into account lines 9 through 28." In my case, all of our home mortgage interest is deductible under the regular tax this year, because all of our home equity debt (which happens to be used for investment) is less than 100K; thus, we do not need to complete the TurboTax questions (under the regular tax) for Investment Interest Expense (i.e., because we already are claiming all of this interest as home mortgage interest, we can not and do not need to take it again as investment interest expense simply because the proceeds happen to be used for investment). Thus, TurboTax correctly does not generate a Form 4952 for the regular tax.
However, under the AMT regime, I need to enter values on lines 4 and 9 of Form 6251 to add the interest on the home equity debt back into my AMT income and then subtract it out of my AMT income as investment interest expense. I realize this is essentially a wash, but it does not exclude me from the requirement of filing the Form 6251. WHY IS TURBOTAX FAILING TO GENERATE AND E-FILE A FORM 6251 IN THIS CASE? Also, TurboTax should be generating a Form 4952-AMT (for my reference only of course), but IT IS NOT GENERATING ONE EITHER.
Clearly, TurboTax's inquiry can't handle a situation where you are not claiming investment interest expense in the regular tax world (because it all qualifies as home equity debt), but then you need to claim it in the AMT tax world. PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP.
TURBOTAX NEEDS TO GENERATE BOTH THE FORM 6251 AND FORM 4952-AMT IN SITUATIONS LIKE MINE.
Follow-up Message from me to TurboTax programmers:
You guys screwed up! Why do I have to beta-test your software every year!?!?!?
I just sent you a detailed problem about Form 6251 not being generated. It turns out that at the beginning of the AMT questionnaire, there is an error in your Form 6251 worksheet programming. In response to the AMT question "Tell Us About Your Mortgage Interest," if I input a lower value for "Interest Paid on an Eligible Mortgage" (as compared to the home mortgage interest value from my regular tax Schedule A), then your software does not enter any "home mortgage interest adjustment" in the worksheet (and on line 4 of a Form 6251). Thus, no Form 6251 is being generated when in fact it is REQUIRED per the instructions to the Form 6251.
Also, in prior years, there was always a question in TurboTax that would then ask you to adjust for any investment interest expense you might be able to claim under the AMT if any of this above ineligible interest happened to be used for investment (and therefore could be subtracted out on Line 9 of Form 6251).
Shame on you TurboTax. I can't even correctly file my return this year until you fix this. I wonder how many people have already filed their taxes without Form 6251, even though they were required to do so (regardless of whether they owe AMT, the Form 6251 must still be attached in these cases).
Customer Review: EXPENSIVE
Summary: 3 Stars
This year Intuit raised the Turbo Tax by nearly 34%. With our economy in shambles and millions of people out of work,facing home forclosures it is hard to believe that a Company would take advantage of our predicament. Shame on them. I hope they outsource the corporation CEO and his cronies.Customer Review: Will have to use it this yet but may change next year
Summary: 3 Stars
Turbo Tax Deluxe is the only tax software I have ever used. I started using it 10 yrs ago. I have been happy with it until this year. Having not used it yet(I am waiting for all my forms to come in),I was all set to take it back after reading the reviews on line that said you would have an additional charge for more than one return. I took another look at the package and it reads that it only one tax prep is allowed and any additional ones will cost $9.95. It was my fault for not reading the information before buying. Now I read that Intuit is allowing more than one tax prep and I am unsure what is going on. It is past the 30 day return that Office Max allows so I am stuck with it either way.Customer Review: attempted to cancel
Summary: 3 Stars
Received item as described and promptly. Unfortunately I had mistakenly ordered the wrong version and even though I immediately attemted to cancel the order and reorder the correct version ,i was unable to do so(order was filled(?) in less than 30 seconds) and had to go through the returns process that went fine.