Amazon.com: Customer reviews: TurboTax Deluxe 2014 Fed + State + Fed Efile Tax Software

Top positive review

TurboTax works better - in spite of this year's hot mess.

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2015

Everyone now knows of the hot mess Intuit created when they crippled the Deluxe version's handling of Schedules C and D. And due to the strong backlash they got from the customer base they pivoted and made it right again by upgrading Deluxe to whatever higher version you need for no charge, plus promising to revert back to the old Deluxe functionality. Now that the dust has settled I hope whatever team that recommended the altered version of Deluxe were shown the door.
I've been a loyal TT customer for 10+ years like many of you. And, duly insulted by Intuit's money grab, I decided to go with H&R Block. So if you were wondering which worked best...read on.

In a nutshell I got a $600 higher Federal refund and a state tax penalty that was $155 less by using TurboTax.

There are several reasons why. TurboTax does a more thorough job importing prior year's data and matching it side-by-side, making it much easier to note changes. H&R only imported my demographics. The interview process is more polished in TT, and thoroughly fleshed out my tax situation, which made it more straightforward to discover valid deductions. Here's two important examples where H&R faltered: I have an adult child who I can claim as a qualified relative, but the interview process totally dropped the ball. I had to drill into the forms to manually capture them as a dependent, an important deduction. Later I entered student loan interest from two lenders, but when I reviewed the final return only one of them had an entry. I again drilled down into the forms to find that a check box had been omitted on a lender, leading H&R to believe the interest wasn't tax deductible. A potential $2000 difference. And there was nothing in the interview process to have led me to make that choice in error.

So even after correcting the flaws and running both programs all the way though, TurboTax still managed a more favorable result.

H&R Block is cheaper - no two ways about it. And it works quite well. But I believe you have to be more astute to avoid unexpected results. And for those who are truly paranoid about an audit here is the difference between the programs. H&R will provide someone to attend an audit with you for free. TurboTax has a $60 fee, but the (optional) service from TaxAudit means they will fully review your return and do battle before the IRS. You have no involvement. Pick your poison.

So there's my experience. What I got back by using TurboTax more than made up for the higher expense (and this year's profound aggravation).

5 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

spotlightlover

Do Not Buy TurboTax "Deluxe". It is not what it was...

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2015

Don’t buy this. It is not the product it was. The rumors that schedules C, D and E have been removed from TurboTax Deluxe are true. Their removal is not totally clear at first use to those of us importing last year's tax return. What do I mean??

I imported last year’s return and the schedules were present. I did this in November. Yesterday, Jan 24th I resumed working on my tax return, but having seen complaints regarding these tax schedules for TurboTax Deluxe, I looked closer. I found various warnings on the three schedules. One was on the second page, another schedule’s warning indicated that I may needed to upgrade to Premier, and another stated I needed to upgrade in order to use the schedule.

So I called TurboTax customer service at 800-445-1875. FYI, don’t hang on, use the automatic call back feature – it works.

Customer service did in fact call me back within 15 minutes. After much begging, telling them how stupid this change was. I was told the box is clearly marked. And perhaps it is, but having used TurboTax Deluxe for years and TurboTax before Intuit was around, I thought I knew what I needed and to expect. Not so anymore. And since I had no box as this was an online purchase in which I downloaded TurboTax, I really did not see any warnings. FYI, don’t be mad with the service agent. They are trying to help. But you have to make your case if you want a dollar free upgrade. Else, all you will obtain is a $25 cash credit at the time of your electronic filing. After you purchase the upgraded product.

I worked this issue from 10AM until 3:30PM. A customer should NOT have to do this! To me this is like buying a car. I expect it to come with 4 wheels and tires. Who would have thought I needed an upgraded product as management decided to market the “Deluxe” product this year without the needed tires...

Since my purchase was made more than 60 days ago, it exceeded Intuit’s warranty refund period. And Amazon, blessed their hearts, they understood the issues. My customer service agent (Ben) was even able to obtain approvals to help me from his boss. However, with Ben’s information and him on my cell, I called Intuit’s customer service for a 3rd time with our home phone. With Ben in one ear and Intuit customer service in the other I was able to relay information such that Intuit provided me a one-time, free upgrade to “home & Business” as I needed a schedule C, which does not come with any of the other TurboTax products.

To say Intuit’s management made a mistake is an understatement. I have used TurboTax since day one. Next year I will use H&R Block’s tax prep software unless Intuit reverses this stupid decision. What were they smoking? Clearly they were not thinking. And I know they are not based in Washington or Colorado...As their HQ is nearby.

TurboTax Deluxe is no longer my turn-to tax product and it should be rebranded “TurboTax Minus”. I thought of other names, but kids could be reading this review...

My thanks to Amazon and their staff. You continue to retain my business with your outstanding customer service. Great job Ben!

I am Mike Angles in San Jose, California.

15 people found this helpful

6,447 total ratings, 6,227 with reviews

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From the United States

Mr. Banksy

TurboTax works better - in spite of this year's hot mess.

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Penn Name

READ THE UPDATE! Long time TT user retreated from jumping ship to HRB and ended up having a trouble free time with TT2014

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
I've changed my rating from four to five stars. You'll just have to read all the comments to find out why. Make sure that you read some of the (currently) well over 2000 1 star reviews as well, as this review reflects my particular experience. Many others did not fare as well as I have and have quite legitimate complaints!
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

As a long time user (13 years... 17 years - I dunno), I was surprised to see the abysmal rating when I went to order TT2014 in late January. I read a bunch of the reviews about the utterly boneheaded, clueless and clumsy move by Intuit (which I won't reiterate for what would be the 2000th time). Decided to check back after the date when Intuit was going to provide the free upgrade for previous years Premiere customers and also spent some time reading reviews about HRB. So... few days ago came back read a bunch more reviews for both products and, after reading enough reviews for HRB where some former TT users were not particularly thrilled with the ease of use of HRB, as well as the various financial incentives that worked for me ($20 off of Norton Security software, which I needed and the somewhat strange offer for an additional 10% kicked in for any part of the refund designated for an Amazon gift card) and made the price difference disappear, I opted for TT.

Unlike some others, who had problems getting the free upgrade, filing electronically, and other miscellaneous complaints, I had no problem whatsoever. Filed a 1040 with itemized deductions, some capital gains to report, some IRA dollars to report, some tax break for student loan payments - that is to say, not the simplest return although not particularly complex. Complete the federal using the electronic filing option without a problem. Completed the state form too, and opted to mail it in. I'm in no rush to pay the state the bit of money that I owe them and certainly did not want to pay the $19.99 state filing fee (which is not a fee for using the Turbo Tax state tax preparation option), so will be printing out and mailing those forms.

Unlike some of the TT and HRB drones either writing reviews or commenting on reviews, I am an actual, honest to goodness consumer with a few reviews under my belt. While I think that Intuit really made a mess of things and in the process ended up infuriating and losing a lot of customers, they made enough corrections and provided enough financial incentives to lure me back from the precipice. In the end, I had no complaints or problems with the product and the net price after taking into account the assortment of financial discounts and incentives, was significantly less expensive than HRB. I knocked off one star because Intuit simply didn't deserve 5 stars in light of their profoundly stupid business decision.

I'll try to respond to what I deem to be any legitimate comments and will completely ignore any comments that I deem to be from TT or HRB drones.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

Martin

lack of clear help

Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

I've used Turbo Tax for years and have never had any issues until this year. For me completing the returns was simple enough but i ran into problems when I tried to file my state return. I e-file the federal but mail my state return. Since I owe the state money and have to mail it in anyway i see no reason to pay $19.95 to e-file. When I tried to print out my state return the program wouldn't let me. My biggest issue with this years version was the help page and the lack of communication with customers on the part of Turbo Tax. The help page takes you to comments made by other customers and it was tedious at best to try to find an answer to my problem. Calling their toll free number wasn't any help either. Finally after several trips to the help page i found out the reason for my problems with the state returns is that the forms haven't been given final approval by the state(Ohio). This person posted that a list of states that had yet to approve the forms. This information could have and should have been provided when I downloaded the state program. Couple this with their changes in the Deluxe version that blind sided long time users i think they need to examine their communications with customers and revise their help procedures.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

spotlightlover

Do Not Buy TurboTax "Deluxe". It is not what it was...

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

AmazonFan

Turbo Tax Still Rules

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

Despite the negative reviews posted regarding the attempt by TT to get more $$ for the same services previously provided, I just purchased it again. And I have to say...So? What's your point? Every single company is in business to make $$...why disparage a company for doing what its goal is? Do you believe the company you work for doesn't want to increase its own revenues, and isn't trying every day to figure out a way to do that? I've used TT ever since I can remember, and OMG, it has made the chore of doing our taxes incredibly easy!! I am sure they have had some price increases in the past 10 years, but I can't remember any recently. The other point the critics use is that they tried to get people to buy their more expensive product. Again, no different than ANY OTHER business. When you're buying anything from replacement windows to landscaping to a trip to Disney World, all the good salesmen try to get you to upgrade (i.e., spend MORE money) from their lower-priced items. Hasn't anyone noticed the sneaky way food companies (I won't name any names, but if you shop for groceries you've noticed who they are) reduce the amount of product in their packages, but charge the same price they did for the previous-sized products? The fact that the VP of Turbo Tax has issued numerous apologies, AND is recompensing its customers if they purchased the more expensive version, is amazing to me. I could write a book the length of War and Peace on the number of companies who NEVER EVEN RESPONDED to an email or letter mailed I DIRECTLY to their Customer Service Departments, or, in some cases, their company President or VP. I commend Turbo Tax for admitting their mistakes, and rectifying them as best they can. TT is still the best tax-preparation software out there. (I can say that with firm conviction, because I work with several CPAs who prepare personal and corporate taxes for a living, and they all recommended TT to me years ago, and still use it themselves. I have never regretted their recommendation.)

Helpful

Kristen

Turbo Tax 2014

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

I have been using Turbo Tax since it came out, this year was no different. This year was a little difficult as opposed to previous years with the new ACA laws. I put in my families information in and right away leveled a penalty for not having insurance on myself and my college age child whom I was claiming. It gave the option to input a waiver # provided by the IRS. At this point I decided to go no further and investigated the internet and the Turbo Tax forums to see how to go about applying for a waiver. After much research I found on the forum that there is an option for asking for a waiver due to insurance costing too much through my husbands job. I filled out that part of the program and it took the penalty off my taxes. I have no idea how Turbo Tax will verify my information via the IRS because it didn't explain how that part of the process works.
After I finished my taxes but before submitting them to the IRS, I always go through them one last time looking for any mistakes I might have made or if I forgot anything. This year every single time I did that the above healthcare waiver was deleted and I had to do it all over again. Thank goodness I was paying attention or I would have submitted without the waiver that I researched so much.
Since I utilize Turbo Tax to the fullest by doing the whole families taxes I ran into another problem doing my dad's taxes. This was the first year that it did not find last years taxes from my computer. I deleted it and started over again. The second go around it found his last years taxes but only transferred his name and address. Everything else was working from a blank slate. When I finally finished his taxes it deleted everything I had just worked on.
After all of this, I will probably buy this product again next tax season because I am so used to using it and I love the Its Deductible program. I really hope that the developer reads all of its customers complaints and improves upon its product next year.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

KYWes

Turbo Tax is the best!

Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

I absolutely prefer Turbo Tax over H&R Block software. The software is much clearer to use and the prompts are very helpful. I was upset that Intuit decided to exclude schedules C and D this year and so had purchased H&R Block's software. H&R Block had more difficulty with my minister's housing allowance so I relented and purchased Turbo Tax 2014. It handled my housing allowance just fine as it has all the past years I've used it. I don't use schedules C or D so that feature removal didn't impact me. I definitely prefer and recommend Turbo Tax over H&R Block. I haven't used Taxcut so I can't speak to it.

An Addendum: I've been a minister for some 30 years and have always done my taxes and have never been audited, knock on wood. Because of this I have tried to stay on top of tax filing requirements for ministers. As any minister knows filing taxes as a minister is pretty complex and requires a multitude of forms and actions that many ministers cannot follow, that a non-minister cannot understand, and that many tax professionals have difficulty with, if one is to satisfy IRS requirements which is a moving target. I offered a synopsis of my experience with H&R Block's software versus Turbo Tax. I did not list every detail for brevity and because I'm not going to put all "my business on the street". My opinion, subjective by definition, is that Turbo Tax does a better job of handling all the ins and outs of a minister's return and does it more smoothly with better explanations.

Take it for what it's worth. It's but one man's opinion.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

S. McDowell

Intuit is storing your tax ID number on their servers even if you are using the desktop version of TurboTax! Boycot Intuit!

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

They've decontented the product and now they're storing our SSN's in their database. Hate to see them stoop so low. They've "fixed" the idiot price increase move for now. I'm stuck with this because I purchased it in early January. I'll see how it handles my return after all of the bugs are fixed and they solve the fraudulent state income filing issue that's barred them from filing in a few states.

Update 29Jan2015:
http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2015/01/27/turbotaxs-database-knows-your-secrets/

I bought this years version in early January before this unfortunate piece of news hit the wires. Yesterday I received an email from "Susan Goodarzi, General Manager, Intuit TurboTax" telling me this - - "We are giving $25 back if you purchased TurboTax Deluxe desktop software (CD or download) and filed your 2013 tax return and have to upgrade to TurboTax Premier or Home & Business to file your 2014 return. This will help you move to the right desktop product, while reducing the immediate and unexpected financial impact. After completing and filing your return this year, request your $25 here." Kind of late for that notice. I've already purchased TT Deluxe and they want to offer me a $25 refund to buy the version I need?? What about the money I've already spent? I guess I'll try to call them and see what they'll do since I see that someone else was already successful doing that. Since they already have my SSN in their database, the goose has been cooked and I might as well go ahead and eat. Really disappointed. I wonder if they have a copy of my Quicken data in case my hard drive crashes? I can just call them up and have them send me a copy of it??

Update 6Feb15: looks like tomorrow I can update to a version that I can do a schedule C on. On a bad note, Intuit had to shut down their state income tax filing servers because of a security breach. Until further notice you can't file your state income tax returns until they resolve the fraudulent activity. I'll give them a pat on the back for seeing the obvious and rectifying their idiot marketing move to line their pockets big time. I guess the CEO saw what Intuit was having to pay E&Y to do his tax return and figured a doubling of the price was great idea. This will be a case study at HBS in the same light as New Coke's disastrous flop. Marketing professors are salivating.
http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2015/02/02/turbotax-sets-date-for-free-upgrade/
Intuit is still being big brother with their information storage.

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

tom4416

Why Intuit has stubbed their toe big time on the removed functionality and what to do about it

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014

Verified Purchase

Mr. Meighan,

It should be apparent from all the negative reviews here that the "downgrades" to the Deluxe version have greatly alienated a lot of very loyal customers. The mere fact that you've had to write an open letter and respond to so many reviews should tell you something.

When I started using TT in the late 90's, there weren't a lot of other choices but I was happy with your product and remained a customer since that time. I'm also a dedicated Quicken users and like the fact the two programs can "talk" to one another. FWIW, I also taught college in Fredericksburg, Va. and had dozens of your employees come through my classes and hopefully provided them with some additional business management skills to benefit Intuit. All this is background to let you know they don't come any more committed then me, even though I'm usually angry when I'm forced to upgrade my Quicken periodically but I always bite the bullet and do so.

Now I'm ready to start the initial work on my 2014 taxes, come to Amazon to download TT and as always, research what others have experienced. Now I'm hearing things like "reduced functionality" or "hey, you can still mail it in with those schedules". Well, who mails their tax returns when they are using software to prepare them? Plus, I wish to file online to take advantage of the Amazon 10% gift card bonus, something I don't believe I can do if filing my mail.

Just my own opinion, but when almost half the early adopters of the 2014 software are slamming it for these changes, it is perhaps time to look inward and consider that perhaps Intuit has made a huge error and take steps to correct it. Perhaps you need, as a corporation, to bit the bullet and pull Deluxe from the market and offer the Premier edition for the remainder of the tax season at the same price as Deluxe. Will it hurt profits? Sure. Will it build customer goodwill - you betcha! Will it insure returning customers keep returning and keep referring others - Absolutely!

If you continue down this road of answering negative reviews with what is basically a "you can make it work - sort of", you are going to maximize short term profits at the expense of long term customer retention. If I taught your employees anything, I hope it was that a customer is the most valuable commodity a company has and don't ever, ever loose them over foolish, and preventable, reasons. It costs WAY more to get them back then it does to keep them.

Thank you.

Update 03/18/15: Fairness works in both directions and so I must acknowledge that Intuit finally recognized the error of their ways and corrected the problem. Better late than never certainly applies here and it looks like they've already committed to next years product returning to the old one we all knew and loved.

No doubt from the reviews here that Intuit did a great deal of corporate PR damage. Much of it is, unfortunately, permanent and those customers will never return, especially since they have since purchased a competitive product, been happy with it and will now be able to easily export this years data into next years return.

34 people found this helpful

Helpful

TMH

Beware - Deluxe no longer includes Schedule D - Intuit trying to push people to Premier

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

I have been a long-time user of TurboTax and a fan of Intuit for many years. I purchased the Deluxe version from Amazon this year as I have done for the last several; however, I just got done writing Intuit and requesting a refund. Some genius at Intuit has decided to try and drive more revenue by removing essential forms (i.e. Schedule D) from the Deluxe version and thereby force users who need that functionality to upgrade to Premier. Rather than actually innovate (what their founder Scott Cook preaches and what made Intuit the dominant provider in areas like tax preparation software, personal financial management, and small business accounting), they have decided it is just easier to try and milk more from captive customers. Migrating to another solution is a pain, but I am willing to do this out of principle. Maybe whatever additional revenue they generate from this scheme will be greater than the lifetime value of a customer like me that they lose, but it also speaks to the state of their ability to continue to add value through innovative products. I realize that tax preparation software may not be "cutting edge", but surely they can find ways to offer new and innovative products that would drive revenue rather than try and nickle and dime us.

Update post "offer" from Intuit:

Not sure what Intuit is thinking, but this offer is not remotely close to what they need to do. Aside from the bs explanation that continues to fan the flames (hello to Intuit - this is not a communication issue. Your explanation about keeping the online and desktop version consistent is not fooling anyone. You could have left the forms in the online version to keep them consistent, but everyone knows this was a ploy to push people to spend more on the Premier version), the offer is silly. If I used Deluxe last year and if I was stupid enough to buy Premier, I can wait until I file my taxes and apply for a $25 rebate that will come 6-8 weeks after that. This is Intuit trying to pacify at as little a cost as possible with the hope that they will be able to push people to Premier next year with less push back. They should have offered a rebate to everyone who purchased Premier this year regardless of whether they did so because Deluxe lacked the schedules. How do the people who a long-term premier users feel about not being eligible for this huge $25 rebate?

Additionally, the trust is now broken so customers have no faith that Intuit will not try to scam them next year or the year after. These are customers who were like an annuity to Intuit. As long as the product continued to function, we would continue to purchase it year after year. This stunt has pissed off a large number of loyal customers. I am sure Mr. Cook is happy about having Intuit compared to New Coke and Netflix in the history of stupid decisions. I am sure someone thought there would be some unhappy customers, but enough people would blindly pay the additional amount that revenue would grow faster and the GM would be a hero. Not sure if one or more people take a hit for this, but I guess it will depend on the ultimate outcome. Everyone will be happy if revenue grows and the stock price increases; however, the Board should act if this causes a loss of market share or a miss on revenue by removing those responsible.

15 people found this helpful

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