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TT Esq · Jan 10, 2003, 10:10 PM

Looks like Intuit is taking marketing advice from AOL. I just received a "free" Intuit TurboTax CD ("free" meaning that you have to go to their website and give them your credit card number to get the access code).

Fair enough. The only problem is that it's WINDOWS-ONLY!!! Ok, I'm used to getting all sorts of Windows stuff in the mail. The difference here is that Intuit KNOWS that I'm a Mac user, as I've used Quicken for the Mac for at least the past 5 years, and Turbotax for the Mac for almost as long. And yes, every year, I register. So this is kind of a slap in the face.

The letter on the front of the CD says that this is because I'm a "loyal TurboTax customer." Yeah, sure, for the MAC! C'mon, Intuit, get it together!

There is no mention anywhere of getting a Mac version. I see that the Mac is listed ONCE in the documentation -- "This TurboTax for Windows product will not run on a Mac operating system using Windows emulation software."

Once again, Intuit seems to take a step out of their way to slap Mac users in the face. Looks like I got another coaster, and maybe I'll think about switching to Kiplinger's this year. . . .

'Nuff said.

Brien · Jan 10, 2003, 10:20 PM

I don't blame you. I'd be pissed off too.

nerd · Jan 10, 2003, 10:50 PM

I just went to CompUSA and bought the TurboTax CD today. I assumed I could download the State portion for free because I have in the past. Not this year. $29.99 for the State (you do get a $29.99 rebate) on top of the $49.99 for the program. $80 to do my taxes, well $50 after waiting for 6 weeks for a rebate. I should have read the packaging better.

For this price I'll probably skip the tax programs next year and go to some place that does taxes.

FYI for those of you about to buy Turbo Tax.

Brad

KaptainKaya · Jan 11, 2003, 12:20 AM

I got the free one as well. Had to pass it to my g/f. Catch is, you can figure the taxes just not submit online unless you purchase a code. F*** that.

TT Esq · Jan 11, 2003, 01:33 AM

nerd:

You're saying that there was no free download of the State taxes program??? Right on the website, it says that TurboTax Deluxe includes the State taxes for free.

This is quoted from the TurboTax product page on the website: "*After installing your TurboTax federal product, you will be prompted to download your free TurboTax State for Mac product. If you prefer to have your TurboTax State product shipped, the cost is $5.95."

Are you saying that this is not the case -- that you have to PAY, and then get your money back by way of a REBATE? Geez, that blows.

I did notice that the Kiplinger's TaxCut program is only $24.95 -- and includes both the federal and the State program. Seems like a pretty good option.

Does anyone know if either of these are OS-X native, or is one of them going to be running under Classic? Just wondering.

nerd · Jan 11, 2003, 10:42 AM

TT Esq,

It's free after rebate. Sucks. When you chose to download the state portion it takes you here . They make is sound like it's the same process as the last 5 years I have used TurboTax which is the free download of the state. I skipped TaxCut because the "free state download" is also after rebate. Now this, oh well the box is opened might as well have some patience and get the state when it's available for mine.

Brad

-Q- · Jan 20, 2003, 12:50 AM

Turbotax is OS X native, as is TaxCut I believe. I didn't know about that "Free" state tax rebate scam. I detest crap like that.

Tried Tax Cut a couple years ago as an OS 9 and it was the biggest POS I'd installed on my Mac in years. Hope they've improved it....

Boochie · Jan 20, 2003, 11:37 AM

Well, one tiny consolation is that if you itemize your deductions, you can deduct the cost of tax preparation software.

PubGuy · Jan 20, 2003, 11:44 AM

TaxCut has been improved since taken over by H&R Block. The reviews of the product over the most recent 2 years put it on par and actually surpass TurboTax.

And yes, they have a Max OS X native version. http://store.taxcut.com/dr/v2/ec_MAI...P=0&CACHE_ID=0

Also, TurboTax this year incorporated C-DILLA DRM (Digital Rights Management) software on their Windows product. From what I've read, this program is written to an unused, hidden protion of the hard drive and is used as part of the activation scheme....plus it monitors all data writtent to the CD ROM drive. The program consumes about 1 MB of resources and runs CONSTANTLY. You can even un-install TurboTax and the program is left infected on your machine still consuming the same resources....the regular user can not unload it...it even persists during a hard drive reformat (you need to do a low-level format to eradicate it). So here is Intuit sending out these "free" Windows version with this software that gets installed without the user's knowledge and can not be removed even if you uninstall TurboTax. Worse yet (even if it was removed with an un-install), most people, i.e.: regular users, leave TurboTax installed from year to year. So this C-DILLA program will be constantly running on their machines.

Well, after finding this out and using TurboTax for years, I've switched to TaxCut. Their program actually looks more robust and COST LESS than TurboTax. I also emailed everyone in my address book warning them of TurboTax and letting them know about TaxCut.

Yeah, I'm a Mac user and don't have to worry about this C-DILLA thing THIS YEAR, but what about next year? Also, did you know that TaxCut can read in the TurboTax data? Or, that their Home & Business product for Windows contains all the Business forms plus the Personal forms for only $49? TurboTax business by itself (no personal) is $129.

Oh well, you can tell that this issue really tweaked me. Hope this is useful to someone else. Pass the info along to your Window's friends.

-- PubGuy

siluni · 01:28 PM

Originally posted by nerd:
I just went to CompUSA and bought the TurboTax CD today. I assumed I could download the State portion for free because I have in the past. Not this year. $29.99 for the State (you do get a $29.99 rebate) on top of the $49.99 for the program. $80 to do my taxes, well $50 after waiting for 6 weeks for a rebate. I should have read the packaging better. For this price I'll probably skip the tax programs next year and go to some place that does taxes.

FYI for those of you about to buy Turbo Tax.

Brad

On the turbotax.com site, it says that the TurboTax Basic doesn't include a free state download. TT Deluxe does though, which I purchased for $49.95 from Inuit, got the free state download with no rebate involved. Works great in X. I don't know, sounds like some weird & lame CompUSA TT deal with the state via rebate, but it's not the product Inuit advertises on their site. Print the Inuit product page and complain to CompUSA?

darkprince · Jan 22, 2003, 02:51 PM

Originally posted by TT Esq:
nerd:

You're saying that there was no free download of the State taxes program??? Right on the website, it says that TurboTax Deluxe includes the State taxes for free.

This is quoted from the TurboTax product page on the website: "*After installing your TurboTax federal product, you will be prompted to download your free TurboTax State for Mac product. If you prefer to have your TurboTax State product shipped, the cost is $5.95."

Are you saying that this is not the case -- that you have to PAY, and then get your money back by way of a REBATE? Geez, that blows.

I did notice that the Kiplinger's TaxCut program is only $24.95 -- and includes both the federal and the State program. Seems like a pretty good option.

Does anyone know if either of these are OS-X native, or is one of them going to be running under Classic? Just wondering.

So where did you find TaxCut for $24.95. The cheapest that I've seen it is $39.95.

TT Esq · Jan 24, 2003, 01:28 AM

I'm pretty sure that I saw it at Fry's for $24.95. I think that was after rebates -- like an an-store rebate and a mail-in rebate. Next time I'm there I'll have to check it out again (I'll probably end up buying it then).

I do see that the online retailers have a $5 rebate after a $39.95 purchase price. Like MacMall and so forth, so it's $34.95 there -- after the rebate.

I'll post here if I can remember where I saw that price. . . .

schalliol · Jan 29, 2003, 04:53 PM

I thought I'd chime in here. I bought the CD after using TT for the Web last year from Intuit direct. They had me specify which state I wanted to download (I wish they'd let you download the whole thing).

What I saw that makes me really mad is that we have the same software as the Windows version, but they charge $10 more for it. I got a hold of their customer service (what a sh*tty process) and asked them what functionality the Mac version had that the Windows doesn't and they said that there was no difference in functionality and they are charging $10 more because there are fewer Mac users. My argument is that they did all their work creating the program that includes all the tax stuff and managment and then they only had to figure out how to do it on the mac, which would be not nearly as hard as the full thing. So, in effect, they are charging more just to port a text based program with some electronic communication capability (which should be able to be less).