TaxOR

Thanks, Mike. I appreciate your generosity here with your time, effort, etc. It's really helpful.

Thanks, Mike. My questions would be: Is this true even if we got TaxWorks through a reseller (TRX)? Is it true even if we didn't use TaxWorks for 2012? (Most of us didn't, for obvious reasons.) What's included? Federal? State? Business? E-file? Is it their desktop version, or their cloud version?

I'll be buying Drake sometime in the next two weeks. If there's an answer from UltraTax before then, I'm happy to listen! But after everything that happened this past off-season, my tolerance for delays is essentially zero. Simply not worth the hassle. FWIW, I got different info from an UltraTax salesperson I spoke with about converting over from TaxWorks - she said "It’s 50% off the first year, 35% off the second year, and 20% off the 3rd year." Obviously, that's still ferociously expensive, so I'm curious to hear what kind of deal you might be able to work out.

For people doing a limited number of returns, TaxWise will probably do fine. For me, not so much. But I'm going to wait until after tax season to switch. They simply don't have a couple of very basic local/city Oregon forms, and they've said they won't be added this year. There's no import from Excel functionality. The print process is user-unfriendly - why can't I just check boxes for the forms I want to print, like you can in every other tax program I've used? Why is there no basic instructions sheet for filing each federal/state/local return? Why does basic info not proforma from year to year - estimated taxes, bank acct info, etc? Why don't names, addresses, and SSNs flow to various state and local forms? (I end up having to retype these several times on every business return!) Whatever. It'll do for this year. I only paid $650, so I can't be too unhappy. I'm not putting up with this kind of crap (especially missing forms!) next year. Consider this not necessarily a rant against TaxWise (or TaxExact, or whoever), but a rant against my own stubborness/reluctance to just up and pay for a decent, full-featured tax program. I've learned my lesson.

I suppose I need to go somewhere else to start griping about TaxWise, huh? It's of course much better than TaxExact, but seriously, I'm finding it pretty deficient, especially in the local/city forms department. I'm buying Drake at the end of tax season. I've had it. I've wasted WAY too much time on crappy software this year.

Glad everyone's having success! It's been an incredible hassle, so it's nice to see that things are finally settling down. Just wanted to post here that the info I got from my reseller (SureFire) is that they purchase the TaxWise license at ~$500, so MainStreet must be taking a loss this year by offering it at $350 in the interest of locking in customers long term (with a $700 renewal price). If anybody can't get in to MainStreet at this point (they haven't returned my calls), I've found the SureFire people to be very pleasant to deal with, and their renewal price is below MainStreet's. If you do go with SureFire, please send me a message beforehand, so I can give you the extension of the person I spoke with there.

Mike - I'm not trying to scare people away! It's a great deal, go for it. But both of the other TaxWise resellers I contacted told me the same thing about the EFIN.

It's not a question of "catching". If the EFIN is in the system, you'll be blocked, and they'll have to release it. My recommendation is simply: ask MainStreet to do a test transmission under your EFIN and see if it goes through. If it does, you're in the clear. If not, you may have a problem. I can't speculate on why my EFIN was still in CCH's system, if others haven't had the same problem. I'm just trying to help people avoid yet another hassle this tax season!

The issue is if CCH has your EFIN in their system as a prior customer. I had purchased ATX directly from CCH in 2009, so my EFIN was in their system. It was a pain the neck trying to get a release. It was successful in the end, though. I'm not that impressed with the TaxWise software, so I'm not sure it was worth the hassle, since I'm going to have to switch out to something more full-featured after this tax season. (Drake or ProSeries.) TaxWise is NOT as good as the TaxWorks software we had last year, and it's certainly not as good as Drake or ProSeries. But at $350, it's a good deal if you think you can use it in the long run. I can't. (Seriously, no schedule D import from Excel? Missing local forms, abysmal client instruction letters, etc. But yes, it's usable, and I e-filed my first return with it yesterday.) Another thing to note: I read on another forum that TaxWise was going to have a major revamp sometime later this year. It it doesn't go well, it might suffer the same problems as what we're seeing from ATX and TaxWorks this year.

Just to add a bit to that - the reseller has to request a "release" from CCH, which in my case was denied, since I used ATX in 2009 under the same EFIN. (It was a big pain in the neck to get them to release me! And in the long run, I don't think it was worth the hassle, since TaxWise really isn't that fantastic. If I could go back and do it again, I'd just go with TaxAct.) So don't purchase TaxWise from a reseller until you're SURE you can efile through them. Over the phone, the reseller should be able to do a test transmission under your EFIN and let you know if CCH is blocking it.

Call your credit card company, and see what they can do for you. That's how I did it.

Just beware that if you've been a CCH customer before (ATX, TaxWise), you may not be able to purchase TaxWise through a reseller. You may get blocked from efiling, if you're using the same EFIN as when you were a CCH customer.

Yes, and the charge was reversed. However, it's not necessarily straightforward to dispute a charge from 10 months ago!

You'll pay through the nose for Drake if you buy it this time of year. Depending on how many returns you do, take a look at TaxAct (Preparer version). ProSeries also has some inexpensive options if you don't do too many returns. Both strike me a very reliable.

Interesting survey, although you gotta take it with a grain (or two) of salt. Really, in my opinion there are 3 levels of software out there. The top notch - Lacerte, UltraxTax, ProSystem The middle ground - ATX, TaxWise, ProSeries, TaxWorks, Drake The unknowns... TaxAct? TaxSlayer? OLTPro? TaxExact? There's no sense comparing group 1 to any other group; they blow them out of the water in terms of both price and functionality. The tricky part is comparing within Group 2 and Group 3. And that's what most of us are trying to do. And if anyone is interested in TaxWise @ 1/3 the retail price, send me a message. No guarantees, but I can point you in the right direction...

So... will they refund us out PTIN fees??

Let us know what you find out. My guess is the $300 discount is the same $300 discount that's currently advertised on their website for the $1649 "Complete" package. And just fwiw, my Pro Series sales rep offered me that $1649 package at 40% off ($989) for 5 years when I talked with him back in December.

Give TaxAct a try. It's inexpensive, looks solid. I can't use it because it doesn't have the local/city forms I need; otherwise, that's where I'd go. After that, check out Intuit Online ($899 for 100 1040s); lacking some features, but I think this is the direction things will be going in the next few years. But be aware that it may be difficult to switch away from Intuit Online, since you won't have easy access to the return data. The there's ProSeries (solid, but expensive) and TaxWise (which personally I'd avoid, since they're talking about major changes next year, and that may be a rough ride). And then if you can afford $1495, Drake is an option, and the renewal price is generally $300-$400 cheaper.

Yep, I've heard the same about TaxWorks! (That strikes me as the silver lining to all of this - we may have inadvertently avoided a mess...) ATX is also a bit of a wreck at this point in tax season. I find this all kind of astonishing. I understand that forms might be late coming this year, but why is the program functionality not solid, this close to tax season? I understand that the programming must be extremely complicated, but shouldn't beta testing have been happening back in, say, October? Pay potential customers to install the software, do a few practice returns, and see what problems come up? Why didn't ATX, Taxworks, and TaxExact make that happen? What am I missing?? Baffled. ProSeries, Drake, TaxWise, and TaxAct may all have banner years in 2013, due strictly to non-functionality of their competitors' programs!

I'd agree that Drake is affordable at $1095 per year, but they're charging $1495 if you switch now, and they won't budge on that. Who is the TaxWise reseller that you mentioned? $699 sounds like a good deal, if it's their "Power" package. (I've seen $795, but I can't find $699 - though maybe it's a matter of calling and asking.) Seriously, ATX is an unusable mess right now, though I do have some faith they'll get it cleaned up by the end of January...

Question is, who to jump ship to? ATX and TaxWorks both did major revamps of their software offseason, and both are incredibly buggy at this stage. Hard to know how that will play out in the next few weeks. Drake is too expensive at $1495; not a reasonable alternative to TRX price-wise. They refuse to offer their early-season price this time of year, even to new customers. That leave ProSeries (also expensive!), TaxWise, TaxAct, and... ? I find ProSeries extremely annoying in that they don't support some common forms (eg NOL computation) in their basic package, and you're forced to upgrade to the Professional Package, which is too expensive! (And business returns are extra!) So, for me, it's TaxWise or TaxAct. TaxWise has a 3-years@$995/yr offer for new customers that's looking very attractive at this point. But I need to give TaxAct a good look.

Doug, Is there any way you can send me an email with some detail on the TaxWorks package? Does it include efile? Asset Manager? Payroll? (This may solve everything for me, but... I'd need the details!) In another thread you mentioned that the TaxWorks software would cost $800 including asset manager; but then later you said $1099-$1199 plus $400 for the asset manager. Here you're saying $550. Just looking for clarification! Thanks, Also - I'm happy to cancel the inquiry if you'll agree to issue the refund. Just say the word. You can even just refund my money via a check in the mail, if you prefer. - Matt

Doug, If you issue a refund, then the inquiry will be closed. The person at my credit card company who is overseeing the inquiry will see the refund on my account, and that will be the end of it. I called my credit card company, and that's what they told me. And yes, I do still want a refund. (As soon as the refund posts to my account, I will make sure to call the credit card company and close the dispute, just to make sure.) As for TaxExact, or TaxWorks, or other software - I am still exploring my options. (I assume the $550 TaxWorks package you've mentioned is their "Basic" Package?? No asset manager, no business/entity module, so that won't work for me, but others may be very interested.) - Matt

Karen also refused me a refund. I'm in the process now of disputing the charge via my credit card company. I've also filed a complaint with the BBB. These are just first steps, obviously; there are more options down the road for trying to get a refund. In the long run, I know I'll get it back; it's a question of how much time and effort it's going to take to get there... Very frustrating. I'm hoping TRX changes it's mind, and saves us all a lot of trouble.

Doug, I've never said I wasn't willing to give TaxExact a try. The demo of TaxExact that's available online is seriously inferior to the 2011 TaxWorks product, but those issues may have been solved in the 2012 product. I don't know, I haven't had a chance to try it since there's no demo version freely available. (I admit, the training video above looks good, but without having a full demo version to play around with, I can't know the full functionality.) If you want to send me a link to download the 2012 software, I'm happy to try it. Or is the 2012 demo now available on the website? I'll take a look. What's been missing all along is communication. If you want me to buy TaxExact for the upcoming tax season, I need to know that TRX is going to treat me well as a customer. TRX worked out well for me for the 2010 and 2011 tax seasons; I'll be the first to admit that. But the communication I've received from TRX over the past 8 months has been sorely lacking. You probably don't want me as a customer at this point, which is fine! But on my end, I've always been open to the possibility. In fact, I applaud you for trying to provide professional software at a price that small-scale tax preparers like myself can afford. What I still reject is the idea that you can switch software packages on customers without offering us a refund. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't be willing to buy and use TaxExact; it just means that I think the refund of my renewal fees and the purchase of TaxExact need to be separate steps. I'm not going to be pushed into using TaxExact. That's it, Doug. I've never attacked you personally here. (In fact, I've never even referred to you by name, except as a response to a comment that you've signed your name onto.) What I've said all along is that TRX needs to treat its customers fairly. Really, go back and look at all my posts - click on "MattOR" and then click on "Posts". You won't see anything that could be considered a personal attack. - Matt