The 1999 edition of Intuit's TurboTax line aims to hold on to its top-selling U.S. tax software crown. With a redesigned interface and a lower price, TurboTax Home and Business targets the sole proprietor with several useful features and makes income tax filing as easy as it's going to get. TurboTax checks Intuit's Web site to confirm that you have the current version. If an update is required, it is easily done through the Internet. The software will tell you what it is about to update and gives you the choice to abort. Many easy-to-use options help speed up data entry. You can transfer 1998 data from any Intuit tax program -- the program will fill in static information for you. If Intuit's Quicken or Quickbooks is on your computer, you can import data from them. Data from other financial programs can also be imported, as long as they can create a .txf file. The program uses a step-by-step interview process, called EasyStep, that provides checklists to direct you through each step. With the EasyStep Navigator, you can go directly to any point in the process and it will check off each step as it is worked on. The EasyStep screen looks a lot like your Web browser. A summary of your tax data is constantly updated in the upper right-hand corner. Links to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) are displayed along the right side of the screen in each section. Your interview section takes up the rest of the screen, with an option that allows you to see the tax form being affected, which you can also fill in. Some forms will be hard to read on an 800 by 600 screen. A section for businesses, Business Inc., is dedicated to entering business income and expenses. This includes a Depreciation Expert, which helps deal with one of the most difficult areas of taxes to understand, and a Home Office Expert for home-based businesses. If you prefer to skip some of the hand-holding, forms can be completed in any order at any time and you can resume the Easy Step interview process whenever you want. The direct approach is recommended only if you know exactly what you're doing, however. Handy video clips outline what steps are about to be taken or what information needs to be prepared. They also provide explanations of program features. Additional information is available by clicking the "More Info" button. Video clips include information for starting businesses, discussions of accounting methods and tips on how to structure payments and deductions to reduce taxes. The final review process points out incomplete or inaccurate information and any area that may trigger an Internal Revenue Service audit. For businesses, the review process also includes tips on such issues as whether or not to incorporate. There is a wealth of information and it's all easy to find. A big yellow "Help?" button is always visible on screen, ready to take you to the video library, documentation and help guides. Electronic copies of many IRS guides and Money Magazine's Income Tax Handbook are included. For business, electronic copies of Tax Savvy for Small Business and J.K. Lasser's Tax Deductions for Your Small Business are included. There doesn't appear to be any limit to the number of mail-in federal returns you can file with this edition. It comes with an option to download one free state form. It costs an additional $27.95 US for every extra state form you download from their site. Reviewer's rating: 4.25 / 5 Comments: TurboTax Home and Business endeavors to take the pain out of tax preparation and succeeds. Minimum system requirements: For PCs, Windows 95/98/NT 4, 16 MB RAM, a 486DX processor, 30 MB of hard disk space, a 2x CDROM (4x is recommended) and an SVGA monitor. For Macintoshes, Mac OS 7.5.3, 16MB RAM, a PowerPC processor, 30 MB hard disk space, a 2x CDROM (4x is recommended) and an SVGA monitor. Prices: TurboTax Home & Business: $64.99 US (with one free state form) MacInTax Home & Business: $64.95 US (with one free state form) Additional state forms: $27.95 US   
| |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Adding RAM is easy, 