Took yesterday to make sure I had all of the information I was going to need. I am going to do this for each program, once with the TXF file that Quicken creates to import and once without, only using native capability within the software and hand entering the rest.
It has only been 2 full days since I installed TurboTax and it still had to do an update.Two minutes. Usually I would blame the government for not having all forms done when they should, however, when I got the details, it appears that it was all Intuits issue "We are currently experiencing an issue in TurboTax Desktop 2015 for
Windows. When customers click on "More Details" in the TurboTax updater,
they are directed to the Answer Xchange main page. Resolution: An update to TurboTax Desktop 2015 for Windows will be released in
Mid-February fixing the "More Details" link in the TurboTax Updater.
This update will be available by February 19th, 2016." Well, at least they got it out a couple of days early. This (and the fore mentioned government delays) is why I rarely file earlier than April. It is worth it to note that the program checked for this update when it launched and was not adversely affected by having the "IntuitUpdater" service on manual mode and not running.
Opened the previous file that was created when I installed the program and imported last year's filed data. Saved a copy I will work from. TurboTax will import 3 kinds of files, previous year's returns, Accounting software (i.e. Quicken), Financial Institution data from online and donation data from It's Deductible Online, which you have to log on to access. I did not use IDO, so I started with the Institutional to be followed by Accounting, since not all of the places I bank/invest with do the Web connect thing with Intuit. They list over 250 institutions, however, only E*Trade, and USAA imported. Although I had tax documents from Everbank, nothing imported. If your earnings are less than $10 in one of the accounts for the year, don't expect them to provide any information (i.e. Everbank checking, Pentagon Federal) - you'll have to glean that info from your year end statement, should you choose to.
With everything imported "from the source" that I could, I then went to Accounting Software. The choices are for "Other Financial Software (TXF file)," "Quickbooks (2010-2016)," Quicken(2016, 2015, 2014)," and "Quicken Rental Property Manager (TXF file)." Notice that even though versions of Quicken prior to 2014 still work as accounting software, you would have to update to one of those versions to use it natively in TT. That effectively forces you to "upgrade" every 3 years. However, there may be a work around, since Quicken also exports TXF files (which I will have to use in HRB). I closed my Quicken 2014 to make sure there were no file conflicts and chose that option.
Turns out I did not need to close Quicken as TT launched it to get the information. It then presents a list of all the items that either Quicken or I identified as applying to taxes, so I could eliminate those that weren't really applicable or had already been loaded above
Even with import, there is still a lot of work to be done by hand. There were sales of stock that did not have cost basis reported, which is kind of critical, since the number TT had would have registered as pure profit and all been taxable. So there was a lot of manual entry required and I had to decide if I was going to use E*Trades import or Quicken's import. Since the download from E*Trade was what was supposedly provided to the IRS, I chose that one and hand entered all of the basis information. So much for saving me effort, fortunately Quicken has a Capital Gains report custom designed that I could print.
Since TT did not need to use the TXF file, but I still had to enter a lot of information to make it complete, I have decided to change my original concept to just going through this once (at least with TT). I did verify that my Captial Loss Carry over, and IRA basis information did import from last years file. The biggest issue I came across unfortunately is due to E*Trade as several of last year's transactions were reported as "Wash Sales" and I never trade at less than 31 days interval They are interspersed throughout the 1099-B, so I will have to go back and look at each entry and try to figure out why it was reported that way.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
Phase 2 - Install H&R Block Deluxe
The install disk I have is a Walmart Branded disc, probably because they are offering a $50 credit if you turn at least $400 of your refund into a Walmart gift card. I doubt I am even getting close to that this year, but we shall see.
As I begin the comparison, it is important to have the metrics set. In order for HRB to be a viable solutions it must: import my prior years' TurboTax data, including properly carrying forward my capital loss carry overs, as well as my basis data for both Traditional and ROTH IRAs; automatically download investment and banking data as well as TurboTax does (not critical since DFAS does not provide for electronic 1099s); import from Quicken; and finally compute the same result for taxes/refund.
So to start.
The installation CD was imbalanced and caused a lot of noise in the install. So much so I had to swap CD/DVD drives to get it to run. Not an auspicious start, but if I can get the install to complete, I will probably not have to put the disk in a computer again. Once I did that, the program installed in less than 3 minutes. The installer offered me the chance to launch HRB, but I closed it down, choosing to launch from the shortcut I let it place on the desktop. Unlike TurboTax, there does not appear to be any extra programs installed/running in the background. Also Unlike TT, H&R Block Deluxe is not concerned that it is being installed to an XP machine.
First Launch:
It immediately takes you to a registration/activation screen, which you can by-pass. Activation is apparently only required when it is time to e-file. The next page requests contacting the mother-ship to do an update, as well as permission to check for updates every time it launches. Found an update, claimed it would take 5 minutes to download on Broadband, was done in less than 45 secs. Choices were to restart and install or install on next start and continue. Restarted and the update was applied in less than a minute.
Option presented to begin a new return and import data. It did not scan the computer like TT did, however it presented the option to browse for the file. Once the location was identified, all of the TT data files I had used for my "What if" calculations were listed as available, and continue to be available. I imported the filed return and the program advised that, based on the prior return, all forms were approved as final by the IRS and I could enter this years information and file. Also, under "File" HRB presents the opportunity to password protect the file.
Next... comparing initial starting states.
As I begin the comparison, it is important to have the metrics set. In order for HRB to be a viable solutions it must: import my prior years' TurboTax data, including properly carrying forward my capital loss carry overs, as well as my basis data for both Traditional and ROTH IRAs; automatically download investment and banking data as well as TurboTax does (not critical since DFAS does not provide for electronic 1099s); import from Quicken; and finally compute the same result for taxes/refund.
So to start.
The installation CD was imbalanced and caused a lot of noise in the install. So much so I had to swap CD/DVD drives to get it to run. Not an auspicious start, but if I can get the install to complete, I will probably not have to put the disk in a computer again. Once I did that, the program installed in less than 3 minutes. The installer offered me the chance to launch HRB, but I closed it down, choosing to launch from the shortcut I let it place on the desktop. Unlike TurboTax, there does not appear to be any extra programs installed/running in the background. Also Unlike TT, H&R Block Deluxe is not concerned that it is being installed to an XP machine.
First Launch:
It immediately takes you to a registration/activation screen, which you can by-pass. Activation is apparently only required when it is time to e-file. The next page requests contacting the mother-ship to do an update, as well as permission to check for updates every time it launches. Found an update, claimed it would take 5 minutes to download on Broadband, was done in less than 45 secs. Choices were to restart and install or install on next start and continue. Restarted and the update was applied in less than a minute.
Option presented to begin a new return and import data. It did not scan the computer like TT did, however it presented the option to browse for the file. Once the location was identified, all of the TT data files I had used for my "What if" calculations were listed as available, and continue to be available. I imported the filed return and the program advised that, based on the prior return, all forms were approved as final by the IRS and I could enter this years information and file. Also, under "File" HRB presents the opportunity to password protect the file.
Next... comparing initial starting states.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Background and Start Comparison.....
I have been using TurboTax since I first got a PC compatible computer (@1987). I started with the Chipsoft product and was always happy with the performance, accuracy, and continuity, including ability to print accurate forms even within the DOS environment. Since the Quicken people bought Chipsoft, the program has been going through what I can only describe as a "Death of a Thousand Cuts." Intuit introduced various levels and, due to the presence of rental property or Schedule C small business, I have had to use the Deluxe level since that time. Not a big deal, I felt the situation warranted it, and it imported data straight from my Quicken software. However, since that time, I have divested myself of my rental house, and have not used schedule C for 10 years or so, the primary reason I stuck with Deluxe was that it included investment tracking and calculations.
In 2015 (for Tax year 2014) Intuit decided that anyone with active investments would need to purchase the Premier product at almost double the price of Deluxe, in spite of the fact that Deluxe, as stated before, had been sufficient up until that time. There was apparently sufficient outcry that, by the time it was time to file, I was able to unlock the Premier features for no additional cost, but Intuit was now on my RADAR.
Again, the Tax year 2015 TurboTax requires the Premier level to handle investments, so I decided it was time to shop around. I discovered H&R Block's Deluxe software, at half the cost of TT Premier, claimed that it would import TurboTax information (important as I have data such as Capitol loss, Traditional and Roth IRA basis information, etc. that TurboTax has been carrying over for me) as well as Quicken data and bank/brokerage information, like TurboTax. Thus an idea was born:
I bought both programs and am going to install them side by side and blog a comparison. Starting now:
1) Installing TurboTax, Intuit decided to get all Nanny State on me and advise me that Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP. Duh. However, the computer I use for these things is a very well behaved XP Pro machine, so live with it, Intuit. Install times are subjective, so I will not try to make anything of them. TT has a "prerequisites" folder, which I presume it would run appropriate installers if it felt it needed to, but the install continued uninterrupted.
2) First thing upon initial launch TT contacted the mother-ship and determined that it needed to update. That was expected - it advised it would take about 7 minutes, it took 5. I am not sure how much was actually installed in the initial setup as the update said it was "installing Federal Tax Forms" and "installing Federal ACA forms" for the first 68%, then installing Program updates to 90%, then installing Help and Support to 97% and then installing Mississippi for the remaining 3%. I am not sure why the Mississippi was installed, as I specifically bought the federal only edition, however, in the past I have reported Forms W-2G from gambling winnings from Biloxi, so it is probably prepping to try to sell me the State filing edition.
3) Launching the program after the updates, Intuit Nanny'ed up again and reminded me how bad XP was for the safety of the world as we know it. Like previous years, it wanted to know who I was (this is pre-transfer) however, you can continue without filling in the form. If it is like the last versions, it will hound you to confess your essence every time you launch the program until you do. It then offers you a chance to review changes to the program from the previous year's version, which can also be skipped if you choose.
4) TT then scans your computer for the *.tax14 files that represent your past year's return. I did several as worksheets/what ifs and fortunately included the term "FILED" in the one that I actually eFiled to the IRS. Once I selected the proper one to transfer, TT imported it and then initialized the questionnaire to verify if any information had changed, as it has done in the past.
5) I continued through the personal information questions, and chose to quit the program at that point. TT asked if I wanted to save the file and when I said yes, it popped another Nanny screen about XP and offering to add a password along with Secret Question to recover it. Interesting, I had heard reports that some people last year had some security issues that involved their TurboTax data. My selection is not relevant to the comparison.
6) Every time I have installed TT for the past X number of years (I believe about 10), it has installed the IntuitUpdateService, which I have to believe is for push updates to the program. Since it also asks to update the program each time you launch it, I find this redundant at best and a nuisance for someone who tries to maintain an optimal, lean Operating System with minimal contact with the outside world that are not directly supervised. I launched the Services application in Administrative Tools and shut the Service down, and switched it from Automatic to Manual, as I have in the past. I relaunched TurboTax to verify it sould exists without the service running and sure enough it not only does, but it launches the IntuitUpdater to "phone home" before launching TurboTax proper. It ran just fine without the update service running and soaking up CPU cycles.
Tomorrow, install of HR (H&R Block Deluxe)...
In 2015 (for Tax year 2014) Intuit decided that anyone with active investments would need to purchase the Premier product at almost double the price of Deluxe, in spite of the fact that Deluxe, as stated before, had been sufficient up until that time. There was apparently sufficient outcry that, by the time it was time to file, I was able to unlock the Premier features for no additional cost, but Intuit was now on my RADAR.
Again, the Tax year 2015 TurboTax requires the Premier level to handle investments, so I decided it was time to shop around. I discovered H&R Block's Deluxe software, at half the cost of TT Premier, claimed that it would import TurboTax information (important as I have data such as Capitol loss, Traditional and Roth IRA basis information, etc. that TurboTax has been carrying over for me) as well as Quicken data and bank/brokerage information, like TurboTax. Thus an idea was born:
I bought both programs and am going to install them side by side and blog a comparison. Starting now:
1) Installing TurboTax, Intuit decided to get all Nanny State on me and advise me that Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP. Duh. However, the computer I use for these things is a very well behaved XP Pro machine, so live with it, Intuit. Install times are subjective, so I will not try to make anything of them. TT has a "prerequisites" folder, which I presume it would run appropriate installers if it felt it needed to, but the install continued uninterrupted.
2) First thing upon initial launch TT contacted the mother-ship and determined that it needed to update. That was expected - it advised it would take about 7 minutes, it took 5. I am not sure how much was actually installed in the initial setup as the update said it was "installing Federal Tax Forms" and "installing Federal ACA forms" for the first 68%, then installing Program updates to 90%, then installing Help and Support to 97% and then installing Mississippi for the remaining 3%. I am not sure why the Mississippi was installed, as I specifically bought the federal only edition, however, in the past I have reported Forms W-2G from gambling winnings from Biloxi, so it is probably prepping to try to sell me the State filing edition.
3) Launching the program after the updates, Intuit Nanny'ed up again and reminded me how bad XP was for the safety of the world as we know it. Like previous years, it wanted to know who I was (this is pre-transfer) however, you can continue without filling in the form. If it is like the last versions, it will hound you to confess your essence every time you launch the program until you do. It then offers you a chance to review changes to the program from the previous year's version, which can also be skipped if you choose.
4) TT then scans your computer for the *.tax14 files that represent your past year's return. I did several as worksheets/what ifs and fortunately included the term "FILED" in the one that I actually eFiled to the IRS. Once I selected the proper one to transfer, TT imported it and then initialized the questionnaire to verify if any information had changed, as it has done in the past.
5) I continued through the personal information questions, and chose to quit the program at that point. TT asked if I wanted to save the file and when I said yes, it popped another Nanny screen about XP and offering to add a password along with Secret Question to recover it. Interesting, I had heard reports that some people last year had some security issues that involved their TurboTax data. My selection is not relevant to the comparison.
6) Every time I have installed TT for the past X number of years (I believe about 10), it has installed the IntuitUpdateService, which I have to believe is for push updates to the program. Since it also asks to update the program each time you launch it, I find this redundant at best and a nuisance for someone who tries to maintain an optimal, lean Operating System with minimal contact with the outside world that are not directly supervised. I launched the Services application in Administrative Tools and shut the Service down, and switched it from Automatic to Manual, as I have in the past. I relaunched TurboTax to verify it sould exists without the service running and sure enough it not only does, but it launches the IntuitUpdater to "phone home" before launching TurboTax proper. It ran just fine without the update service running and soaking up CPU cycles.
Tomorrow, install of HR (H&R Block Deluxe)...
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