TaxCut 2005 Deluxe + State [Old Version]

very easy to use and by far the best software I have used to date. I feel very sorry for Accountants.

It worked Okay for me this time because my taxes were not complicated.

It does what it's supposed to do, and does it well. I didn't get audited, so I am happy!

i've used taxcut for about 4 years now. i read the bad about the 2005 edition in the reviews, but i'd rather buy taxcut again than enter last year's data (i think they're counting on this!).

the short of it: still a good UI and pretty easy to use, but you might spend an hour+ installing and updating, possibly with your computer in 'safe mode'.

the installation & update was pretty painful.
- avast reported a virus in the state installation (win32:Trojan-gen.{other} Virus/Worm). tech support said "that happens with some virus programs"...uh yep.
- the installation failed with an error box: "Invalid commandline syntax (see commandlineImpl::initOptions())"
- updating would not work, failing with the error "CATax.dll could not be opened"
- tech support suggested that i restart my computer in 'safe mode' to complete the installation...safe mode to install a TAX program?!?!
- it took tech support an hour to fix the install and update, making the installation about an hour and a quarter process (i'll bet that the IRS didn't figure that into their time estimations...)

there's definitely some problems with the form 8801 as others have reported; it did not check the boxes correctly on the 8801 based on 2004 data, even though i had imported it from taxcut 2004. i had to open the form manually and correct it.

if either taxpayer has any W2's at all, it will not even ask if there are any self-employed deductions for either.

all that aside, the UI seems a bit faster than it has been in previous years, and it still is pretty easy to use. i hope they work on it harder for next year given its slipping ratings against turbotax....

Filed my taxes in February with TaxCut Deluxe. Just got my state tax return sent back to me saying that I had failed to fill out large chunks of my tax return. When I examined what TaxCut had filled out, it left out complete columns. When I started to do the tax return by hand, it became clear that TaxCut failed not only fill things out, but also filled out parts of the form incorrectly. It got the standard deduction wrong (to the tune of 2 grand).

"Customer Support" was what I have grown to expect with companies. Completely non-responsive. When I had problems with the program earlier I was told that I could expect all fixes to come in the future. The program told me that I could e-file my state tax return, but when I tried to do it, I was told that I could not. I contacted customer support and they said I could return it for a refund IF I still had the original box and receipt (this for a program I bought in January).