HR Block 2011 Review

Since last year HR Block has completely re-invented their product line, including retiring the old name ‘TaxCut‘  and re-positioned itself as  HR Block At Home.  For 2011 the site has been updated throughly and ready for Tax day - which is April 17th 2012 for your 2011 tax return.

In these tough economic times with a looming recession, a lot of people are looking for some help. This is not one of the years where anyone wants to be stuck with a huge tax bill.

Preparing your own tax return can save you hundreds of dollars. But getting to know which tools are available out there is important. As someone said “If I have to chop down a tree in 6 hours, I will spend 4 hours sharpening my tool”. HR Block for 2011  is one such tool that will help you prepare your taxes - error free.

Getting to know what you get for what you pay is important. If this is the first year you are preparing your taxes or if you are a veteran, HR Blocks At Home is a great tool in your tax preparation arsenal. When you combine a tax preparation tool with a personal finance management tool, you get the ultimate combination. You can read more about these tools on this site.

H&R Block the manufacturers of AtHome has been around for several decades. In fact they are the nations oldest tax preparation firm. Drive down almost any city and you will find HRBlock offices at a major intersection - where you can do almost anything from doing employee payrolls to preparing your tax return.

AtHome is the the tax preparation software from HR Block. For 2011 HR Block has revamped their site. You can find the boxed software at most major retail stores. This requires you to buy the software, install the CD and then run the application. But there is an easier way. The same software is also available online.

With the online version, you do not need to install the software from a CD, but you can prepare and file your complete tax return over the internet right from your browser.

If you have a internet connection and a little bit of time, you can prepare your taxes online without paying an accountant huge fees.

At Home Online comes in the following flavors :

Which Version to Choose
Each of the HRBlock AtHome software is tailored to a different audience.  The AtHomeBasic (Free)  is most suited if your tax situation is fairly simple. If you are single or married, no kids or dependents, have a job and do not own a home, this will probably work for you.

The AtHome Deluxe version is valuable when you are a home-owner or have significant investment activity (stocks, bonds and such). The deluxe version will guide you through the investment situation with ease.

The AtHome Premium version goes one step further than the Deluxe and works well if you  own rental properties and need the appropriate forms and guidance for it.  It is also intended for  a small or home based business. It has all the features of the Deluxe  versions, and in addition it also takes care of your business related filing needs. The program walks you through your business deductions and  the schedule-C form is  generated. All you have to do is walk through the questionnaire.

Whats New for 2011 HRB
This year HRB has a new program that allows you to do your own taxes and then connect to a tax pro to have them verified. This new feature distinguishes HRB  from other online tax preparation sites.   This is an excellent feature for people who like to have their tax return physically reviewed by a tax pro  and at the same time save some money by preparing their tax return online. A combo deal that is surely a good value!

What exactly is Efile ?
Efile is the electronic transmission of your tax return to the IRS. What this means is with e-file you do not have to print and mail your tax return, instead, the tax preparer transmits the tax return on your behalf. Efile is available for your federal tax return and your state return too.

Most tax preparers including CPA firms usually charge extra for e-file, but online tax preparation sites like HR Blocks At Home online include e-file for free. In the case of  AtHome (Taxcut), you can e-file upto 5 tax returns (for your 2011 tax return) for the same price.

Turbo Tax 2011 Online - Review

TaxAct Online 2011 Review

If you ever worried about the fact  you do not have a choice when it come to online tax preparation sites worry no more. Very few companies have been providing consistent, quality service at a great prices to the tax paying population as TaxAct.  If  have heard only about the 2 big online tax companies, then you haven’t seen TaxAct!

The totally revamped TaxAct site for 2011 is really outstanding. If you crave simplicity of using a site, this is where you need to start.

TaxAct Usability

Navigation: One of the easiest navigation themes that we have seen - even surpassing Turbotax online and TaxCut online. On the right hand corner is the “Refund Meter” which shows the refund (or money you owe) in real time. Real time means that if you make a change on any part of your tax return the refund is immediately calculated.

Direct access to forms: If you are a bit savvy with tax forms, you will absolutely love the direct access to tax forms. You can directly go to any tax form from the “Forms List” menu in TaxAct. The forms are neatly categorized and displayed in a hierarchy making it easy to find a specific form.

Refund Meter: This one feature beats the trip to any CPA. This is the one key feature we use to distinguish between ordinary tax software and high end software. TaxAct has the refund meter which instantly recalculates your tax refund when you make any change to any data within your tax return.

Tax Calculation Process:

Taxact guides you through a very detailed interview process. The sections are divided into the following :

Basic Info, Life Events, Federal QA, State QA, Review, Filing

Starting with basic questions like your personal information and W2 information. Then it gets into the life changes section - and asks very specific questions about the changes in your life which impacts your tax situation - events like marriage, new born, divorce etc.  The Federal QA and State QA gets into the details of your tax deductions, credits, investment income and capital gains etc.

TaxAct Features:

TaxAct comes in 3 different flavors -  Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate. The standard version has free Federal e-file. The TaxAct Deluxe and TaxAct Ultimate versions come loaded with help, including J.K.Lassers Tax Manual and several proactive deduction maximizing features.

Help And Support

Software Help: JK Lasser has been providing tax help books for a while. In the dark ages when there was no internet and no online filin, JK Lassers books were the ultimate guide. For 2011 TaxAct contains the entire JK Lasser tax help guide available at your fingertips.

Live Help:

TaxAct offers live support 8 am to 9 pm M-F, 8am-5pm Sat, and 12pm-5pm Sun. Knowing that you have an actual person to talk to when you do your taxes online should give you some peace of mind.

TaxAct Pricing:.

TaxAct beats almost everyone else when it comes to online State Tax Filing. So here is great tip.. If you are eligible to Free File at the IRS site, you can complete your Federal filing and then head over to TaxAct to do your State Tax Filing. See prices for Online State Tax Filing at TaxAct.

Federal and State combinations are packaged at very reasonable fees. The TaxAct Standard package is FREE, the TaxAct Deluxe and TaxAct Ultimate package is priced at $10 and $17.  Both these packages are the lowest prices for online tax filing.

Taxbrain’s Online Past Year Tax Review

Not too many tax sites seem to care about people who need to prepare past years taxes. These are tax returns that people missed filing on the due date.  One of the few online tax websites that actually do have a good past year tax product is Taxbrain.

We decided to test drive their site just like we love to do with all tax sites. We want to make sure what they promise is what they deliver.
So here  is our review of Taxbrain :

Taxbrains Past Year Tax Site

The past year tax process on the Taxbrain site works very similar to current years tax preparation steps. First the Prior year tax section is available as a tab on your taxbrain home page. Once you are inside the tab, you can view all your past returns or start a new past year tax return.

• Questionnaire
• Worksheets
• Review
• Pay
• Print and File

The Quesitonnaire section walks you through some basic steps. It collects your personal information - Names, SSN, dependents etc.  Based on this basic information, several important tax parameters are determined in the tax calculation process  -your filing status, number of exemptions etc. It is really important to pay careful attention in this section. One mistake here and the entire tax return will be incorrect.

The Worksheets

The worksheets are the heart of the past year tax preparation steps. Here is where you will begin to enter your actual numbers - your W2 information, your tax deductions like home mortgage interest, property tax information etc.  If you had a home business or small business, you will be able to put in the numbers for that. There is a section devoted to capital gains and losses - which is where you would put in your stock / bond purchases and sales for the year.

Note on the worksheets:  It is useful to get all your tax documentation ready at the time you prepare your tax return. If you dont have it ready do not sweat it. Take some time, collect all the required documents and you can come back to it. Remember this is an online system, so your data is never lost - everything is stored on Taxbrains computers. You can even work from a different computer.

Review

Once Taxbrain has all the information from you, it will do the math to get your return completed. Actually, it does the computations constantly so anytime you change something anywhere, the entire tax return is immediately recalculated. That is the beauty of software. Imagine doing the same thing using paper worksheets and forms - a single change in any number and you will have to redo all the calculations - on paper. Ouch!!!

Past Year State Tax Return

In all likelihood, if you haven’t filed a past year federal return, you haven’t done a state return too. Taxbrain offers past year tax filing in all states. In fact it will automatically pick up the right form to fill based on the initial questionnaire.

Print & Mail

Once you have paid for the preparation fee, you will be given the option to print your tax return. The tax return can be printed on any printer attached to your computer. Its also available as a pdf download for you to store on your computer.

Since the IRS does not allow you to e-file, you will have to print and mail your tax return.  Taxbrain provides a cover sheet with the mailing address.

Online Support

Taxbrain has outstanding support both using online chat sessions with tax specialists and also via phone. Our experience with them was they were very courteous and knew to speak in English well.