2nd Story Software TaxAct Ultimate Bundle

The Tax Help link gave me specific hints and tips from the J.K. Lasser Tax Guide, although they were less targeted to the specific topic than in TurboTax and required me to read and digest a lot of information.

For example, when entering dividend information, TaxAct had a Click Here link for a review when an amount in box 1b (Qualified Dividends) did not qualify, but what I got was a whole bunch of information about line 9b on the IRS form. There was also a link that gave a definition of "qualified dividends," but it led me to another link to J.K. Lasser's guide that had a multitude of further links on the subject. In general, TaxAct made me dig for information and do more research than TurboTax did.

TaxAct, though, is very flexible--I could choose whether to go through the entire program, step by step; answer only life event questions in specific areas; go directly to the federal interview; or enter data directly onto IRS forms such as 1040 and Schedule A.

In short, for those already familiar with doing their taxes, the desktop version of TaxAct offers a multitude of ways to approach the job. It's not as interactive as TurboTax, which was better at guiding me through the tax topics and gave me more targeted answers to questions, but the information is all there if you take the time to seek it out--and you can't beat the price.