Did anybody ever notice that the first thing a CD does is download the actual current program? Not only tax prep software but all software of any value. Why? Of course, the first reason is they want your unique key before activation of the program. It is called theft prevention. And CDs are way too slow and small to load the full program in a reasonable time. And the IRS doesnβt actually approve the programs until long after those boxes and CDs are entered into the supply chain. Oh, I havenβt owned a computer with a built in disk drive in many moons. However, I do know approximately where my $10 dollar USB drive is stored.
Billbobboy42 wrote:
I have been using this product since the 1980s and have always opted to purchase the cd. This year it appears the cd is no longer available; download only. Additionally, to buy directly from Turbo Tax or retailers like Best Buy one must open an account. I am up to my ears in accounts. And each one creates spam. Anyone here miffed by this chance?
CD is on saie at Costco with $15 rebate. Sale starts in a few days.
Jack 13088 wrote:
Did anybody ever notice that the first thing a CD does is download the actual current program? ...
Really? I loaded Turbo Tax from a CD and the first thing it did after installation was check for updates.
I have other programs on CDs that are stand-alone, they don't download
anything.
Careful with the
blanket statements....
Yes, it does check for updates first every time it opens and it finds them until all settles down which is sometimes after you have filed.
Jack 13088 wrote:
Yes, it does check for updates first every time it opens and it finds them until all settles down which is sometimes after you have filed.
Slightly different that downloading the whole program.
Sounds like everyone here would be in favor of a flat tax for federal income tax.
Billbobboy42 wrote:
Just located TT 2023 CD at Amazon.com.
Yes, me too. Been downloading from Amazon for years. No fuss, no muss.
DirtFarmer
Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
jonyrot wrote:
Sounds like everyone here would be in favor of a flat tax for federal income tax.
I didn't hear anything like that.
Billbobboy42 wrote:
I have been using this product since the 1980s and have always opted to purchase the cd. This year it appears the cd is no longer available; download only. Additionally, to buy directly from Turbo Tax or retailers like Best Buy one must open an account. I am up to my ears in accounts. And each one creates spam. Anyone here miffed by this chance?
I have been using Turbo Tax on-line for several years. Works great. I haven't seen any spam as a result of using it.
Jim Plogger wrote:
I have been using Turbo Tax on-line for several years. Works great. I haven't seen any spam as a result of using it.
Same here, no spam. We use the PC version though.
Jim Plogger wrote:
I have been using Turbo Tax on-line for several years. Works great. I haven't seen any spam as a result of using it.
True. It is my understanding that your filed return is encrypted in the format required by the IRS before it is transmitted to Intuit and forwarded to the IRS so your data cannot be exploited.
On the other hand Intuit, and the others I assume, has been criticized for deceptive practices for hiding free filing agreements with IRS from eligible individuals. And for extensive lobbying (legal bribery?) against report less filing. So individuals who are not self employed have to collect W2s and 1099s to report income to compare it with the same data already reported by payers so they can threaten you if you make a mistake.
Is there a happy ending to anything?
Billbobboy42 wrote:
I have been using this product since the 1980s and have always opted to purchase the cd. This year it appears the cd is no longer available; download only. Additionally, to buy directly from Turbo Tax or retailers like Best Buy one must open an account. I am up to my ears in accounts. And each one creates spam. Anyone here miffed by this chance?
We use Turbotax and got our CD in the mail as usual.
I have used Tax Act for many years. Web-based, nothing to download. All my information are transferred to next year automatically. I get a year to year comparison. We used a CPA one year, who missed an income we had, and we had to pay a penalty. So no more CPA.
However, this last year TaxAct (and also TT, as I heard) was not able to handle a one time tax rule change we have in our region. So a lot of actions have to be done manually (i.e. paying estimate tax, no electronic filing). So I have no confidence in any tax filing programs.
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