Compare Tax Software for Tax Year 2011
TurboTax and H&R Block At Home (once known as TaxCut) are the two top-selling do-it-yourself income tax preparation software applications. In general H&R Block At Home is a lower cost option with an agent to help if you're audited (unlikely when using tax software). TurboTax still works a bit more elegantly in comparison and offers free tax help to all users this year. Read on to compare these two perennial tax software favorites.
The links below guide you through an analysis of the most important features in the tax software. Or you can skip right to my bottom line opinion of which is the best tax software.
Tax Interviews and Guarantees
TurboTax offers a slightly easier to use tax interview, accuracy guarantees and refund policy for returned software are equal in TurboTax and H&R Block At Home, which is discussed below. You can also go directly to my bottom line opinion of which is the best tax software.
Tax Interviews
The interview in both H&R Block At Home and TurboTax starts off by asking simple questions to determine which tax forms your return should include.
This save time by not requiring you to go through tax topics that don't pertain to your return, and it's a real time-saver that not all tax software offers. If you prefer to go through every tax topic regardless of whether it applies to your return, both have the option to do so. Links are present throughout the software to offer tax information and help at your finger tips, and TurboTax has an edge over H&R Block At Home with better formatted information presented through these links. The quality of the information is the same in each, but TurboTax offers a smoother interview, with links to additional information within help topics. H&R Block At Home makes you search more when you need additional information, so finishing up your taxes could take longer.
You can skip ahead in the TurboTax interview, and the software notes topics you need to complete later. There's no skipping around in At Home, and H&R Block considers this important for insuring that you don't miss any of your return.
But, not being able to work ahead can be inconvenient, and the tax software really should catch any forgotten entries based on the early part of the interview and the error check.
Both TurboTax and H&R Block At Home take the information you enter during the interview and enter it on the correct lines on your tax return other forms and schedules. Automated calculations are done throughout the interview to show the amount of tax owed or the refund to expect as you go through the tax preparation process.
Guarantees
TurboTax and H&R Block At Home both have an error-free guarantee, and have excellent error checking features to back it up. When your tax return is finished, each will guide your through an error check routine with opportunities for double checking flagged areas of the return and correcting errors. The Windows and Mac desktop programs automatically download tax form updates at each use and right before the final return is printed or electronically filed. TurboTax Online and H&R Block At Home Online automatically offer new tax forms as they become available, and you don't need to wait for updates to install.
H&R Block At Home and TurboTax both have accuracy guarantees stating that they will pay IRS penalties and interest if the software is not accurate (something that rarely, if ever, happens). Both H&R Block At Home and TurboTax have money back satisfaction guarantees for the desktop software. This guarantee does not apply for online versions, since you don't pay until you file a return.
How to Get a Refund:
Importing and Transferring Tax Data
Transferring the previous year's tax data and importing data from personal finance software to tax software saves time because you do less data entry for income and some other reporting. Downloading this information is also a safeguard against typing in the wrong numbers. Read on to learn more about these features in TurboTax and H&R Block At Home, or skip ahead to my bottom line analysis of which is the best tax software.
Tax software that imports W-2 and 1099 data is especially useful if you have many stock transactions to enter or you have multiple W-2 forms.
Importing data from Windows personal finance software or Mac software saves time, but only if spending categories have been accurately designated as tax related.
TurboTax imports or transfers data from:
H&R Block At Home imports and transfers data from:
Getting Technical and Tax Help
Take a look at the differences in how you can get help with H&R Block At Home compared to TurboTax, or go directly to my my bottom line opinion of which is the best tax software.
Both TurboTax and H&R Block At Home offer options for software support and to get answers to tax questions. Both have plenty of help for completing your taxes and using the software available directly from the tax interview, but as I noted in the tax interview analysis, it's easier to find help in TurboTax.
H&R Block At Home does not have a link directly to tax help, tech support or customer service on each page of the tax return, where TurboTax does. TurboTax Live Community can be accessed by anyone online for browsing for answers or asking questions. H&R Block At Home only has a very abbreviated form of online help available outside of the software, and offers Your Tax Questions Answered for getting free answers to tax questions.
TurboTax and H&R Block At Home both offer options for software support:
TurboTax Support
Support accessed from within the software is nicely organized with easy-to-find help options. The support web site is very easy to navigate, with six support topics and well-organized subtopics for using TurboTax and for income tax preparation. There is a search box at the top of the TurboTax Support page, and every search I tried brought up relevant answers. TurboTax customers can also get answers to questions from other users and forum moderators in TurboTax Live Community.
Clicking on Contact Us gives the options to get help via chat or phone, after offering help via online resources. Sometimes finding the Contact Us button requires several clicks. There's also a link for contacting a tax expert here.
H&R Block At Home Support
If you need help with this tax software, you won't find much on the support web page, but the Personal Answer Center, accessed from within the software, is neatly designed and easy to get around in. I did not see a link to the personal answer center as I went through my return and could only access it after I entered my question or a tax term in the search box, which is found on each page. A Contact Us link was located on the page that popped up with potential answers after I performed a search. Click on Contact Us for links to Support chat and a phone number, and to get tax advice from a professional (fees may apply). The links to be able to actually contact H&R Block help are not buried quite as far down as those for TurboTax are.
Income Tax Questions
This year, TurboTax is offering free tax advice by phone or chat through April 30. 2012. This service is available for all versions of the software, and is easy to access. It's safe to assume that communicating via chat or phone means that you will get an immediate answer to tax questions unless the question requires some research.
H&R Block At Home Premium offers one free tax question asked of a tax professional, and the link to get tax help in the online software says there may be fees for additional questions but does not specify what that fee is. Last year, this fee was $19.95 per question after the free question.
H&R Block also offers a service called Best of Both, which combines using At Home Premium Online software with a tax professional who will review, certify and file your return. Unlimited tax advice from a tax professional is included, and the cost is a real value at $79.95.
Chances are very slim that you'll be audited by using TurboTax or H&R Block At Home tax software and entering tax information honestly, and filing electronically. But, both offer tax audit support options, which is discussed here. You can also go directly to my bottom opinion of whether TurboTax or H&R Block At Home is the best tax software.
H&R Block Worry-Free Audit Support
H&R Block Worry-Free Audit Support is free with all versions of H&R Block At Home tax software.
This protection includes having an H&R Block tax professional assist with tax audit-related correspondence, audit preparation and representation during a tax audit.
TurboTax Audit Support Center and New Guarantee
TurboTax provides the Audit Support Center free download with all online and desktop TurboTax versions. The Audit Support Center provides step-by-step help for responding to different types of IRS letters, but does not provide help from a tax professional.
This year, TurboTax has added an Audit Support Guarantee. If your are audited, a tax professional will work with you one-one via phone or chat to answer all your questions all year-round. The tax pro will also help you to prepare for an audit, but for if you need in-person representation, TurboTax offers the Audit Defense service. Audit Defense handles tax audit correspondence on your behalf with live representation at audit appointments for $40. You'll be offered a chance to enroll in this service when you file your return.
The prices quoted here are the retail prices from TurboTax and H&R Block at Home websites. You will likely find better deals for the desktop software at warehouse club stores or online at retailers. This discussion covers additional charge you might incur that aren't included in the price of the software. You can also skip to my bottom line opinion regarding whether TurboTax or H&R Block At Home is the best tax software.
TurboTax
H&R Block At Home
TurboTax prices remained steady over the last two years. H&R Block At Home prices are unchanged except for the increase in the cost of the desktop Premium software with a state return.
For eFile costs, see specific version, features and price information for TurboTax and H&R Block At Home.
H&R Block provides a tax professional to assist you if you are audited at no extra cost, but if you have tax questions while you're working through your tax return with this software, you get one free question and the others are $20 a pop. Use TurboTax and your tax questions are answered by a professional at no cost, and if you're audited a tax pro will assiest you via chat or phone, but it's another $40 for in-person audit representation (paid when you file, not when you're audited).
TurboTax and H&R Block At Home (once known as TaxCut) are the two top-selling do-it-yourself income tax preparation software applications. In general H&R Block At Home is a lower cost option with an agent to help if you're audited (unlikely when using tax software). TurboTax still works a bit more elegantly in comparison and offers free tax help to all users this year. Read on to compare these two perennial tax software favorites.
The links below guide you through an analysis of the most important features in the tax software. Or you can skip right to my bottom line opinion of which is the best tax software.
- Compare Tax Software for Tax Year 2011
- Tax Interviews and Guarantees
- Importing and Transferring Tax Data
- Getting Technical and Tax Help
- Help if You're Audited
- Price Comparisons
- Bottom Line: H&R Block At Home or TurboTax
Tax Interviews and Guarantees
TurboTax offers a slightly easier to use tax interview, accuracy guarantees and refund policy for returned software are equal in TurboTax and H&R Block At Home, which is discussed below. You can also go directly to my bottom line opinion of which is the best tax software.
Tax Interviews
The interview in both H&R Block At Home and TurboTax starts off by asking simple questions to determine which tax forms your return should include.
This save time by not requiring you to go through tax topics that don't pertain to your return, and it's a real time-saver that not all tax software offers. If you prefer to go through every tax topic regardless of whether it applies to your return, both have the option to do so. Links are present throughout the software to offer tax information and help at your finger tips, and TurboTax has an edge over H&R Block At Home with better formatted information presented through these links. The quality of the information is the same in each, but TurboTax offers a smoother interview, with links to additional information within help topics. H&R Block At Home makes you search more when you need additional information, so finishing up your taxes could take longer.
You can skip ahead in the TurboTax interview, and the software notes topics you need to complete later. There's no skipping around in At Home, and H&R Block considers this important for insuring that you don't miss any of your return.
But, not being able to work ahead can be inconvenient, and the tax software really should catch any forgotten entries based on the early part of the interview and the error check.
Both TurboTax and H&R Block At Home take the information you enter during the interview and enter it on the correct lines on your tax return other forms and schedules. Automated calculations are done throughout the interview to show the amount of tax owed or the refund to expect as you go through the tax preparation process.
Guarantees
TurboTax and H&R Block At Home both have an error-free guarantee, and have excellent error checking features to back it up. When your tax return is finished, each will guide your through an error check routine with opportunities for double checking flagged areas of the return and correcting errors. The Windows and Mac desktop programs automatically download tax form updates at each use and right before the final return is printed or electronically filed. TurboTax Online and H&R Block At Home Online automatically offer new tax forms as they become available, and you don't need to wait for updates to install.
H&R Block At Home and TurboTax both have accuracy guarantees stating that they will pay IRS penalties and interest if the software is not accurate (something that rarely, if ever, happens). Both H&R Block At Home and TurboTax have money back satisfaction guarantees for the desktop software. This guarantee does not apply for online versions, since you don't pay until you file a return.
How to Get a Refund:
- TurboTax Refund Procedures
- Contact H&R Block At Home Customer Support to arrange for a refund for desktop software.
- Compare Tax Software for Tax Year 2011
- Tax Interviews and Guarantees
- Importing and Transferring Tax Data
- Getting Technical and Tax Help
- Help if You're Audited
- Price Comparisons
- Bottom Line: H&R Block At Home or TurboTax
Importing and Transferring Tax Data
Transferring the previous year's tax data and importing data from personal finance software to tax software saves time because you do less data entry for income and some other reporting. Downloading this information is also a safeguard against typing in the wrong numbers. Read on to learn more about these features in TurboTax and H&R Block At Home, or skip ahead to my bottom line analysis of which is the best tax software.
Tax software that imports W-2 and 1099 data is especially useful if you have many stock transactions to enter or you have multiple W-2 forms.
Importing data from Windows personal finance software or Mac software saves time, but only if spending categories have been accurately designated as tax related.
TurboTax imports or transfers data from:
- Quicken personal finance software(desktop TurboTax versions only).
- ItsDeductible Online imports to Windows, Mac and online versions of TurboTax.
- TurboTax, H&R Block At Home and TaxACT prior tax year returns. TurboTax Freedom Edition and Free Online data will not transfer.
- W-2, 1098 and 1099 data from most financial institutions and employers/payroll services.
- TXF files, which can be exported from most personal finance software.
H&R Block At Home imports and transfers data from:
- The online versions import last year's returns prepared with H&R Block At Home Online, TurboTax Online or TaxACT Online. H& Block At Home Windows and Mac versions import last year's returns prepared with H&R Block At Home and TurboTax desktop software.
- H&R Block At Home Deduction Pro donation tracking software.
- H&R Block At Home imports 1099 and W-2 data from many financial institutions or employers/payroll services.
- Compare Tax Software for Tax Year 2011
- Tax Interviews and Guarantees
- Importing and Transferring Tax Data
- Getting Technical and Tax Help
- Help if You're Audited
- Price Comparisons
- Bottom Line: H&R Block At Home or TurboTax
Getting Technical and Tax Help
Take a look at the differences in how you can get help with H&R Block At Home compared to TurboTax, or go directly to my my bottom line opinion of which is the best tax software.
Both TurboTax and H&R Block At Home offer options for software support and to get answers to tax questions. Both have plenty of help for completing your taxes and using the software available directly from the tax interview, but as I noted in the tax interview analysis, it's easier to find help in TurboTax.
H&R Block At Home does not have a link directly to tax help, tech support or customer service on each page of the tax return, where TurboTax does. TurboTax Live Community can be accessed by anyone online for browsing for answers or asking questions. H&R Block At Home only has a very abbreviated form of online help available outside of the software, and offers Your Tax Questions Answered for getting free answers to tax questions.
TurboTax and H&R Block At Home both offer options for software support:
- Free software support via chat.
- Tax topic videos in the software.
- Searchable support web sites.
TurboTax Support
Support accessed from within the software is nicely organized with easy-to-find help options. The support web site is very easy to navigate, with six support topics and well-organized subtopics for using TurboTax and for income tax preparation. There is a search box at the top of the TurboTax Support page, and every search I tried brought up relevant answers. TurboTax customers can also get answers to questions from other users and forum moderators in TurboTax Live Community.
Clicking on Contact Us gives the options to get help via chat or phone, after offering help via online resources. Sometimes finding the Contact Us button requires several clicks. There's also a link for contacting a tax expert here.
H&R Block At Home Support
If you need help with this tax software, you won't find much on the support web page, but the Personal Answer Center, accessed from within the software, is neatly designed and easy to get around in. I did not see a link to the personal answer center as I went through my return and could only access it after I entered my question or a tax term in the search box, which is found on each page. A Contact Us link was located on the page that popped up with potential answers after I performed a search. Click on Contact Us for links to Support chat and a phone number, and to get tax advice from a professional (fees may apply). The links to be able to actually contact H&R Block help are not buried quite as far down as those for TurboTax are.
Income Tax Questions
This year, TurboTax is offering free tax advice by phone or chat through April 30. 2012. This service is available for all versions of the software, and is easy to access. It's safe to assume that communicating via chat or phone means that you will get an immediate answer to tax questions unless the question requires some research.
H&R Block At Home Premium offers one free tax question asked of a tax professional, and the link to get tax help in the online software says there may be fees for additional questions but does not specify what that fee is. Last year, this fee was $19.95 per question after the free question.
H&R Block also offers a service called Best of Both, which combines using At Home Premium Online software with a tax professional who will review, certify and file your return. Unlimited tax advice from a tax professional is included, and the cost is a real value at $79.95.
- Compare Tax Software for Tax Year 2011
- Tax Interviews and Guarantees
- Importing and Transferring Tax Data
- Getting Technical and Tax Help
- Help if You're Audited
- Price Comparisons
- Bottom Line: H&R Block At Home or TurboTax
Chances are very slim that you'll be audited by using TurboTax or H&R Block At Home tax software and entering tax information honestly, and filing electronically. But, both offer tax audit support options, which is discussed here. You can also go directly to my bottom opinion of whether TurboTax or H&R Block At Home is the best tax software.
H&R Block Worry-Free Audit Support
H&R Block Worry-Free Audit Support is free with all versions of H&R Block At Home tax software.
This protection includes having an H&R Block tax professional assist with tax audit-related correspondence, audit preparation and representation during a tax audit.
TurboTax Audit Support Center and New Guarantee
TurboTax provides the Audit Support Center free download with all online and desktop TurboTax versions. The Audit Support Center provides step-by-step help for responding to different types of IRS letters, but does not provide help from a tax professional.
This year, TurboTax has added an Audit Support Guarantee. If your are audited, a tax professional will work with you one-one via phone or chat to answer all your questions all year-round. The tax pro will also help you to prepare for an audit, but for if you need in-person representation, TurboTax offers the Audit Defense service. Audit Defense handles tax audit correspondence on your behalf with live representation at audit appointments for $40. You'll be offered a chance to enroll in this service when you file your return.
- Tax Interviews and Guarantees
- Importing and Transferring Tax Data
- Getting Technical and Tax Help
- Help if You're Audited
- Price Comparisons
- Bottom Line: H&R Block At Home or TurboTax
The prices quoted here are the retail prices from TurboTax and H&R Block at Home websites. You will likely find better deals for the desktop software at warehouse club stores or online at retailers. This discussion covers additional charge you might incur that aren't included in the price of the software. You can also skip to my bottom line opinion regarding whether TurboTax or H&R Block At Home is the best tax software.
TurboTax
H&R Block At Home
TurboTax prices remained steady over the last two years. H&R Block At Home prices are unchanged except for the increase in the cost of the desktop Premium software with a state return.
For eFile costs, see specific version, features and price information for TurboTax and H&R Block At Home.
H&R Block provides a tax professional to assist you if you are audited at no extra cost, but if you have tax questions while you're working through your tax return with this software, you get one free question and the others are $20 a pop. Use TurboTax and your tax questions are answered by a professional at no cost, and if you're audited a tax pro will assiest you via chat or phone, but it's another $40 for in-person audit representation (paid when you file, not when you're audited).
- Compare Tax Software for Tax Year 2011
- Tax Interviews and Guarantees
- Importing and Transferring Tax Data
- Getting Technical and Tax Help
- Help if You're Audited
- Price Comparisons
- Bottom Line: H&R Block At Home or TurboTax
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