H&R Block TaxCut Online Premium 2005

CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
Detailed editors' rating
Setup and interface: 6.0
Features: 7.0
Performance: 0.0
Service and support: 8.0
Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
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Product summary

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed by: Jeff Bertolucci and Elsa Wenzel
• Reviewed on: 03/02/2007
• Released on: 01/01/2007

H&R Block TaxCut Online Premium + State + E-file 2006, the Web-based version of H&R Block's venerable tax-prep program, is a convenient alternative to its desktop sibling, although the latter has a superior interface and tools to determine the cash value of charitable contributions. We reviewed the $39.95 edition of TaxCut Online that includes federal and state e-filing fees, but you can drop $20 from the price to exclude state filing, or choose the $9.95 TaxCut Online Basic+ E-file for simple returns. If there's a chance you'll want state filing, which costs $24.95 if purchased separately, you might as well pay up front for TaxCut Premium + State + E-file. Filing federal and state returns electronically with this edition of TaxCut Online costs $39.95. That's $24 more than TaxAct but $19 cheaper than Intuit TurboTax Basic Online. The $79.95 TaxCut Online Signature offers assistance from, and your return signed by, an H&R Block adviser, for about half the going rate of getting an accountant in our area to do all the work.

It's too bad that TaxCut Online leaves out H&R Block's DeductionPro, a utility that ships with the desktop version and determines the fair market value of noncash charitable contributions. If you added this tool, the cost of TaxCut Online increases to $59.90, the same as TurboTax Online Deluxe, which gave us fewer hassles.

TaxCut works in many browsers, including Internet Explorer 6, Firefox 1, Netscape 7.2, and AOL 6 or newer when on Windows XP or 2000. Windows Vista users should have at least IE 7, Firefox 1.5, Netscape 8, or AOL 9. Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3 users will need Netscape 7.2, AOL for Mac OS X, or Firefox 1.5, and Mac OS X 10.4 users can run it on Safari 2.

TaxCut Online Premium 2006 packs more questions on a single screen than it did last year, but it lacks some helpful features offered by its desktop counterpart.

TaxCut Online Premium largely mimics the new, green-and-gray tabbed interface of its desktop counterpart. The Take Me To button jumps to a menu of topics in the order you answer them. TaxCut offers a streamlined tax interview that fills in the tax forms behind the scenes. The online version reduces the number of clicks you make by combining two related interview segments onto one page. We also like that it transfers federal data into your state return. Big deal? It is when you're spending hours filing a complex return. As with competing Web-based solutions from Intuit TurboTax and 2nd Story Software TaxAct Online, TaxCut Online logs you off after several minutes of inactivity, which is a good security feature, particularly if you're doing your taxes at work.

Unlike 2nd Story Software's TaxAct Online, TaxCut Online's interface is free of ads. However, TaxCut does ask if you want other H&R Block properties to contact you about investments. We were glad that once we said no, TaxCut did not ask again, although it did pitch us for DeductionPro and TaxCut Online Signature.

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User reviews

• Average user rating: 0 stars Not yet available
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• 0.5 stars

  "Online does NOT support State of Virginia"

  by vickerbi on March 14, 2007

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• 2.0 stars

  "greedy developers"

  by claudia969 on April 12, 2006

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• 4.0 stars

  "Cheaper than Turbo Tax, easily import last year data"

  by Vy on February 10, 2006

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Where to buy H&R Block TaxCut Online Premium 2005

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