Tax Software

For the last three years I've been using the H&R Block tax software called Taxcut.  I've been pretty happy with it.  It's better than going to their offices and way better than doing taxes by hand.  Last year was the first year that it couldn't do everything I wanted it to do.  It was incapable of electronically filing my state taxes if I wanted to get credit for the insulation I blew in.  I went through the complete nightmare of filling out the state tax forms by hand..... and discovered that the credit would only give me about another $50 and because I was filing on paper, it would take almost six weeks to get my check.

This year I see that Taxcut has become H&R Block at Home.  It won't work on my primary desktop machine because I haven't upgraded my OS since W2k.  Sue me, it's incredibly stable.  It's also gotten a touch more expensive.  More than a touch actually, last year I bought a copy with my state edition for $35.  This year it was $45.  It really wanted me to spend $55 so I could chat with a live person about my taxes.

Really?  If I wanted to talk to someone, why wouldn't I just go to the H&R Block store?  I don't like people, I don't want to talk to them.  I would let this go if it didn't ask me to upgrade four more times.

The jury is still out on this software because I'm still waiting for forms from the mortgage, the bank, the IRA accounts.  Sometimes I wonder if computers are really worth it.  All these records are 100% electronic.  How come I can't get last years info until a month after it's all over?