For the third year, I used TaxAct, an online program. If I were under 55, it would have been free, but since I am not, it cost a whopping $7.95. Turns out I owed the Feds $99 over the deductions. Last year I had to pay over $500, but all in all, I paid $125 more total, because I had a higher profit from investments in my cash account in 2007. I plan it so I don't have to lend the IRS money, which is what you are really doing when you get a huge refund.
I used TurboTax for years, first on my Commodore, then on my PC. I used to buy a copy and share it with a friend. Then one year, not only did it refuse to allow this, it also froze in the middle of my return twice. I never did figure out why. Naturally, it was impossible to get through to TurboTax via phone. I barely got the damned thing in on time. After that, I used the Kiplinger program, but three years after that, TurboTax bought them and shut them down. A pox on that sort of annoying buyout. I really detest Money magazine for buying out Mutual Funds magazine and shutting it down, since Money has become quite sucky and useless over the years. If you want to know what you SHOULD have invested i four months ago, they always can tell you.
Then I started using TaxAct.
TurboTax basically sends you a worthless disc, because after you install it, it gets online and installs many kilobytes more, so what they sell you in the store is an incomplete disc in a huge box. Still, it beats paying some tax "professional" a huge bundle. I don't have any home interest deductions or anything exotic, so this would be a huge waste of money, in my opinion.
If you go to irs.gov, you will find a whole array of online tax programs, some of them free. I can't comment on any other than TaxAct and OLT, which I used for my girlfriend's return. It was also pretty useful and fast.
Before computers, doing my taxes was a 15 hour drag. My taxes are more complicated now, but this time it only took 5 hours with time for lunch.
