MN dhawk Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Many are talking about Drake & Proseries but it looks like the smoothest data entry is TaxAct. I know nothing about printing & letters & program depth but the data entry for ATX users will have no learning curve. Also, the cost for the whole 1040 package, with states & efiling is under $600 and under $1000 for business forms too. My current plan B is to use it while ATX 2012 becomes usable. Some comments on TheTaxBook site are positive. Anyone have more insight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARY WALLS Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 How fast is it to acquire this software. Is it internet downloadable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 The best tax bundle that TAXACT has is the Enterprise Bundle which cost $1259 for preparers. 1. It has preparer's 1040;1065;1120s and 1120 Enterprise Editions 2. It has preparer's 1040;1065;1120s & 1120 All States 3. You can prepare, print & e-file unlimited 1040, 1065, 1120s & 1120 client returns Down from that is the Complete Bundle which does not do all that the enterprise at a cost of $999 There are also cheeper plans if you don't need all types of returns and all states. I don't think they have the payroll forms like we have in ATX. I have used ATX for around 15 years and this has been the worst year. I hope they improve the program. I have also used TAXACT in the last few years. I was able to use TAXACT in December to find out where I was in the matter of my taxes. TAXACT is a forms based program and when you click on for example a line in form 1040 instead of the rabbit in ATX you have two obtions, a detail page and an folder. By clicking on the folder on line 7 of form 1040 leads you to where you can add a form to enter your W-2 information. You will see these detail and folder options through out the pages of a return. I like the forms method in entering data. You also have the question and answer method if you so choose. You ask if you can download the programs from the internet. Yes You can call 1-800-573-4287 and they can send you an email to help you download the program but I would also ask that they would send all disk. You can also download from the web. The software sight is: Taxact.com Click on professional taxes at the top of the page. I could not even print from ATX until I bought a new printer today. The mirror image was the problem. ATX sure prints slow and you have to wait a long time. With TAXACT, I can print very fast. I have tried Drake this year also but there is a lot to learn in that program and it is not form based like ATX and TAXACT. Just some thoughts. Let me know what you think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in Upstate NY Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I got caught in the TRX fiasco, so I'm using TaxAct this year (1040 only). Pros - it works, it always has worked, no worry in that area. Cons - not much in the way of custom letters or user-defined print packages, and I find the e-file process cumbersom (must take a dozen clicks or so). But again, it's software you can trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Thanks for the info, everybody. I, too, have to decide what to do after this next update. TaxAct does not support Form 990, from what I could tell, right? And, the news about twelve clicks to get thru e-file process is not good. However, I noticed last year with ATX if I sneezed, went to the bathroom, printed the Sch A that was already chosen to print but didn't, etc., I had a message that the return had changed. Well, there must be a little demon in there, cause I didn't change it. I really hope Tuesday is a magical day, and I don't have to decide. But right now, I can't open my own tax return. It's big but not anything special. And, yes, I have the computer geek looking at my system. Cha-ching. Edit: I did a search regarding the 990, and found the answer in their first non-sentence: "While TaxACT does not support Federal Form 990, the annual informational return required for some 501©(3) organizations. Please click on the links below that are applicable to your filing situation to find the information you will need to complete the Form 990. The completed form can then be mailed to the IRS." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Taxed Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I got started with TaxAct when I first went on my own. If you just do 1040s then it is an ok package. However if you do business, fiduciary or entity returns you will soon find that it lacks horsepower! I switched once i got involved in those areas. But for the price and if you only do 1040 all day long it is a solution! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxxcpa Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 A number of years ago I had a return that ATX would not do correctly. I obtained free versions of several programs after Apr 15 and TaxAct was one of the ones that was able to do it correctly. It is a low-cost program, but if you e-file a lot of returns it gets less low-cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee B Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I've looked at Tax Act from time to time over the years. Be sure that you check and make sure that they do and efile your state, especially for business returns. The holdup for me has always been that they don't any business returns for my state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack from Ohio Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 The largest reason I will not jump ship is the conversion factor. No conversion from one tax software to the other is 100%. That means scrutinizing every part of every return (especially loss carryforwards, deprectiation etc.) to be sure all information was properly converted. Consider hundreds or thousands of clients, and you see my hesitation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmabee Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 The best tax bundle that TAXACT has is the Enterprise Bundle which cost $1259 for preparers. 1. It has preparer's 1040;1065;1120s and 1120 Enterprise Editions 2. It has preparer's 1040;1065;1120s & 1120 All States 3. You can prepare, print & e-file unlimited 1040, 1065, 1120s & 1120 client returns Down from that is the Complete Bundle which does not do all that the enterprise at a cost of $999 There are also cheeper plans if you don't need all types of returns and all states. I don't think they have the payroll forms like we have in ATX. I have used ATX for around 15 years and this has been the worst year. I hope they improve the program. I have also used TAXACT in the last few years. I was able to use TAXACT in December to find out where I was in the matter of my taxes. TAXACT is a forms based program and when you click on for example a line in form 1040 instead of the rabbit in ATX you have two obtions, a detail page and an folder. By clicking on the folder on line 7 of form 1040 leads you to where you can add a form to enter your W-2 information. You will see these detail and folder options through out the pages of a return. I like the forms method in entering data. You also have the question and answer method if you so choose. You ask if you can download the programs from the internet. Yes You can call 1-800-573-4287 and they can send you an email to help you download the program but I would also ask that they would send all disk. You can also download from the web. The software sight is: Taxact.com Click on professional taxes at the top of the page. I could not even print from ATX until I bought a new printer today. The mirror image was the problem. ATX sure prints slow and you have to wait a long time. With TAXACT, I can print very fast. I have tried Drake this year also but there is a lot to learn in that program and it is not form based like ATX and TAXACT. Just some thoughts. Let me know what you think! What printer did you buy? I am looking into getting a new one. Mine works fine but its old and I am afriad it might stop right in the busy time of tax season so I want to be ready. I now have a HP laserjet 2100 old I know but works good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee B Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I still have two 2100s, built like a tank, a little slow, I will keep running them until they die! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I bought an HP LaserJet Pro 400 color M451dn The reason I bought this new printer is because I could not print correctly with my old printer because in the ATX program I could not change the mirror image to off and therefore the pages in the ATX would print backwards. I called ATX a number of times about the problem and still have not been able to talk to tech support. There is still a problem printing even with my new printer. I tried to print a return today and a lot of blank pages printed with one line of gobly gook at the top. It printed a few good pages at the beginning and than shot out a lot of the bad pages. When I printed individual pages it printed ok. Unless they get this fixed, I will use TAXACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandmabee Posted February 3, 2013 Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 I love my HP 2100 but afraid it will break and I don't have a backup. I purchased it 1999. They all seem to come 4 in 1 with color and I just want a standard good machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 I bought an HP LaserJet Pro 400 color M451dn The reason I bought this new printer is because I could not print correctly with my old printer because in the ATX program I could not change the mirror image to off and therefore the pages in the ATX would print backwards. I called ATX a number of times about the problem and still have not been able to talk to tech support. There is still a problem printing even with my new printer. I tried to print a return today and a lot of blank pages printed with one line of gobly gook at the top. It printed a few good pages at the beginning and than shot out a lot of the bad pages. When I printed individual pages it printed ok. Unless they get this fixed, I will use TAXACT. I had this issue about 5 years ago with ATX. I think it was the print driver that I had to update. But it was a long time ago. Maybe some of the techies can chime in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwil Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hello Guys, I recently found out that Onedesktax.com offers 1040 and Business Tax Software Free to all 1st year clients. They gave me both Web and Desktop Version for Free. My Cousin told me about them, no credit card was required. They I just Download the Desktop software below, installed it call them and they activated my tax 2012 account. I got unilimited E-filing and Bank products..For FREE Here is website http://onedesktax.com/ I downloaded Desktop Version here: ---> OneDesk Tax Softwares(Tax year 2012 web and Desktop versions) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ed_accountant Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hello Guys, I recently found out that Onedesktax.com offers 1040 and Business Tax Software Free to all 1st year clients. They gave me both Web and Desktop Version for Free. My Cousin told me about them, no credit card was required. They I just Download the Desktop software below, installed it call them and they activated my tax 2012 account. I got unilimited E-filing and Bank products..For FREE Here is website http://onedesktax.com/ I downloaded Desktop Version here: ---> OneDesk Tax Softwares(Tax year 2012 web and Desktop versions) Dan, Please stop spamming your advertisements here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10SorTAX Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Yes, please, enough already!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDCPA Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 I don't believe that TaxAct has any conversion capabilities so not very practical chouce at this late date Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry D EA Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 I too got caught up in the TRX fiasco and went to TaxSlayer Pro. The classic package has everything you need. They will convert your files. Mine were converted without any trouble and all data is good. Yes, I did check a few returns and some business returns to see if the depreciation carried forward and it did. The learning curve is minimal. I used ATX in the past for quite some time and as I said the learning curve isn't much at all. The pricing varies a little dependent on volume of bank products and other things. My cost was 995.00 and I am not one bit sad that I made the move. Filing returs and getting ACKs in less than 30 minutes and also NC state returns are being acknowledged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.