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| H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + State + e-file | 
 enlarge | From: H&R Block
Category: Software
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $44.49
You Save: $5.50 (11%)
New (24) Used (1) from $37.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 3
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp, Mac Os X, Windows 2000
Media: CD-ROM
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.3 x 1.5
MPN: 133660008
Model: 1336600-08
UPC: 735290102690
EAN: 0735290102997
ASIN: B001HOD50K
Release Date: December 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 28 | | NEXT » |
 Update issues with Vista for a 2nd year straight January 6, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
For the second year in a row, TaxCut updates are failing on my Windows Vista machine. I am not the only one to have this problem. Some have blamed Antivirus software:
http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=60138
But I do not think this is the issue. Last year I had a totally different AV software and I had the same failures.
I have worked out a manual work around, although it is ridiculous. The updater that TaxCut uses seems unable to acquire "create" permissions for its own directories, regardless of the fact that the permissions are set OK. I have verified this by the log files which generate installer error 1321 (The installer has insufficient priveleges...) Apparently, the installer has no problem updating existing files, it just cannot create new ones.
To work around this, do as follows:
- In TaxCut, choose "Update after I close the program".
- Close TaxCut and when Vista UAC asks permission to run the installer, click "Cancel".
- Locate the installer (should be in C:\ProgramData\TaxCut\2008\Update)
- Right click the file and choose "Run as administrator"
- When you encounter the first error, note the filename and location
- Go to the Start Menu and find Notepad. Right-click on the program icon and choose "Run as administrator"
- Put some text in the Notepad file. I put " ".
- Choose "File -> Save As" and save the file with the exact name and path that the installer complained about
- Choose "Retry" or "Continue" in the installer (I can't remember the exact wording)
- Repeat the last two steps for each file that needs to be created. I think there were 10-20 of them.
Eventually, once you have created all the files, the installer will succeed.
It does not matter what text you put in the file as long as you get the filename and path right. TaxCut will overwrite the file anyway.
This is a ridiculous work around, but I already paid for TaxCut and got a good deal on my AV software because of it. If I can make it through this year, I am going back to TaxAct in 2009.
 TaxCut Premium Federal + State + E-file - No change in State e-file January 5, 2009
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have been using Taxcut for at least 5-6 years now.
My first comment is in response to all the 1-stars on this product - all of which seem to be complaints about the state e-file charge. As I remember, the state e-file has never been included in the price. Federal e-file is always included but I always have to suck it up and pay for state. I suspect the people with these negative reviews have short memories.
I find it useful that information transfers from year to year with minimal changes. The interface is pretty good - not perfect - I find that little changes from year to year, which makes me wonder why I can't pay an upgrade charge rather than buying a new product each year.
Otherwise, no big complaints here - software works for me and is cheaper than going to an accountant. Plus, I can take my time and complete the paperwork over a week-or-so rather than trying to pull everything together at once.
One of these days, I will try an accountant to see if they can find any differences; but, I haven't found the time to try it yet.
Perfect for ex turbotax users January 5, 2009
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
TaxCut is substantially less expensive compared to turbotax; and there are no deceptive practices to deal with such as spyware, "print" charges and new upgrade charges for forms previously included [e.g. TT deluxe does not support Shedule C filers such as 1099 recipients, upgrade to "premier" is required]. TaxCut is a very effective tax preparation software comparable to tt. I give this product a 4 star rating because I prefer the interview questions contained in tt, however, that is the only downside and well worth the satisfaction of firing Intuit for its deceptive practices [again] with turbotax.
 Free seems likely to make tax cut better than Turbo Tax this year January 4, 2009
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Tax Cut sent me a copy of premium federal for free this year since I went back to turbo tax last year. Perfect timing guys, with the Intuit price increase, reduced investment support, and turbo tax's new messed up fee strcuture, tax cut looks like a pretty good option. Planning to take my turbo tax back to Best Buy today and get my $96.29 back. Thats 1/3 the price of a 26 inch flat panel HD TV.
Excellent tax tool January 4, 2009
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
TaxCut offers individuals a powerful option for preparing an income tax return that is relatively easy to use. TaxCut assumes that you know little or nothing about income tax law. The software will ask a number of questions and will prompt you for information based on your answers. It will help tremendously if you gather as many of your tax documents as possible before starting. This software is significantly cheaper than paying a service to prepare it and much easier than doing in manually.
The e-file option has been around for some years and is a great way to get your refunds faster. But if you owe money, there's not as much of an advantage. Still, you get five free electronic filing so you might as well use one. In the unlikely event that you plan to prepare more than five returns, make sure you use the e-file for the ones due a refund and file the ones with money due manually. The program will print all the forms you need so it's easy to do and it will save you the cost of the fees for the additional e-files.
The one negative for this program is that the publisher used to offer free e-filing for the state return as well as federal but has dropped that for the 2008 edition. With a charge weighing in a whopping $19.95 for e-filing each state return, this is not a trivial fee. I would recommend filing state returns manually unless you will receive a refund large enough to make getting the check a week or so faster worth that extra money.
Please note that this version covers both Federal and State returns. Most people will need both, but if you live in a state with no income tax then you'll want to look at H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + e-file for considerably less money.
If you don't itemize your deductions and have a very simple return, you might be better off preparing the forms manually on your own. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you have a return with major league complications, you should probably go to a good CPA. For everyone else, this is really a no-brainer. It's inexpensive, easy to use, and accurate. I've been using TaxCut for quite a few years and would not even consider giving it up.
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