A Less Taxing Alternative

you deal with capital gains, business expenses, rental property, depreciation, and stock options. You can also look nine years ahead to see the effect of tax law changes that were made in 2001.

Special features

• Configurable auto-save option and password protection
• Can import financial information from Microsoft Money, Quicken, and other programs that support Tax Exchange Format (TXF) files
• Can load last year’s return created in TaxCut or TurboTax
• Up to five e-filings
• Shoebox dialog box lets you choose a type of document then tells you where to place it in your return

 

Pricing

• TaxCut Platinum for Windows: $29.95 after $10 rebate
• Federal e-filing: One free federal e-filing with mail-in rebate, then $14.95
• TaxCut State: One free state income tax program with mail-in rebate, then $24.95 each
• State e-filing: $9.95
• Ask-A-Tax-Advisor by phone or e-mail: one free with rebate, then $19.95 per topic

 

If you don’t enjoy friendly video coaching, you can stick to the text help. You can also open the video library and choose topics independent of the Q&A process. If you use the EasyStep interview, Turbo Tax takes you to a Future Taxes section after you file this year’s return. TurboTax doesn’t automatically save your changes as TaxCut does, but it does give you the option. Intuit allows you to prepare tax returns from any computer using a trial version. But it will only allow TurboTax Premier to print or electronically file from the computer it was originally installed on.

Special features

• Can load last year’s information from TurboTax or TaxCut
• Can import financial information from Quicken, QuickBooks, and other programs that support Tax Exchange Format (TXF) files
• Can import data from dozens of financial partners such as A.G. Edwards and W-2 eXpress
• Up to five e-filings
• Video instructions aren’t necessary, but are a nice addition. Includes electronic copy of Money magazine’s Income Tax Handbook

 

Pricing

• Federal software: $49.95 after mail-in rebate
• Federal e-filing: one free after mail-in rebate, then $14.95
• State software: one free after mail-in rebate, and $29.95 for others
• State e-filing: $8.95
• Advice by phone: $19.95 for 10 minutes (can be in multiple calls within 10 days)