TruboTax - online vs installed CD

have used Turbotax Basic for years... just noticed and clicked on a TT ad for their online version.

wondering on the choice of using a SAAS (software as a service) vs installing as a local application ?

just looked, and I have several years of TT software installed, but don't recall ever really going back to "use" the software to tweak, vs just looking thru the paper or PDF file of the generated reports.

Reply to
P.Schuman
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I don't use TT but I do use a competing product. I uninstall the prior years version when I archive my final tax return in PDF format.

I would say the more complicated your tax return is the more likely you might want the CD. Truthfully though - like you - I rarely use it beyond the current tax period.

Reply to
Oilcan

Last year, I got a notice from the IRS of a letter audit. They wanted $13,000 in taxes and penalties. After I caught my breath, I looked through my return, and their audit info, and found that I had a few small errors introduced by my Quicken import. I also found that they had some really big errors.

I corrected my errors, and recalculated my tax. I sent them a response with explanations, including cut and paste from TT. I also sent them a check for my newly calculated payment, which was far less than what they had requested. They responded with a bill for the interest and penalty which I expected, but it was just a few dollars.

Having the prior year installed made the entire thing a snap. I'd keep TT installed for the three years that are subject to an audit. It doesn't take much space, and disk drives are really cheap.

Jim

Reply to
JimH

I'm with you. Although I've personally never needed to reuse an old TT version, I also keep them installed for exactly the same reason--the need may turn up one day.

Unless you are short of disk space, there's really no advantage to uninstalling old versions. Contrary to what some people think, doing so has no effect on the performance of your computer.

Reply to
Ken Blake

Others have commented on why you would want to keep previous years of your tax software installed. I agree-keep them installed.

As for your other question--SAAS (i.e. web-based application) vs. local application--I would never use the SAAS version. I don't like the idea of sending my financial data over the web to a private company.

Tom

Reply to
MrTom

Ken Blake wrote: Contrary to what some people think, doing

Two points -

1) I've said in years past NEVER to allow TT to import Quicken data unless your ABSOLUTELY double check the results inside TT once you've done this. If there's a mistake, the IRS could care less how the 1040 was prepared, so you need to ensure accuracy!

2) Ken - you say " Contrary to what some people think, doing so has no effect on the performance of your computer.". I do beg to differ. The more 'stuff' you have on your harddrive, the 'harder' it is for Windows to locate free space, or even to find files that are multi-fragmented (becuz it can't locate freespace easier and has to chain file segments together) and the like. It DOES have a noticeable effect on your computer performance. Now granted, I speak from the old FAT16/32 days, maybe with the NTFS file system this isn't true anymore, but I'd like a definitive statement from someone who knows. But I doubt it.

And so saying that, I do agree that one should keep multiple years of TT around - I just had to file a 1040X with last year's version that I still had after installing t/y 2007 which kept t/y 2006 around.

Peace.

Reply to
Andrew

I can see the locally installed benefit, but wonder how would you - if even possible - go back 3, 4 years with the Web version ? Currently, just looked, I have all the TurboTax versions installed + data going back to 1998. Had to change the installs from my trusty fast Win98se desktop to one of our WinXP laptops for the most recent TT versions.... rejected installing on Win98se.

As far as financial data being shared with an outside service, I guess that would be a separate issue....

Reply to
P.Schuman

I agree completely. Did I suggest otherwise?

You are certainly welcome to differ all you like. Nevertheless, I'll stand by what I said.

Any such effect is easily obviated by defragging the drive.

Fragmentation is much less of an issue with NTFS than it was with FAT.

Reply to
Ken Blake

Jim,

I had a similar problem with 2005. I had a lot of unusual investment sales during the year that were not straight entry off of tax documents onto Schedule D - plus a couple of minor reporting mistakes that had zero impact on my taxes. I reinstalled the software and redid my taxes and sent it off to the IRS. An $11000 request turned into a $5 refund although it took me

10 hours to gather everyth>> I don't use TT but I do use a competing product. I uninstall the prior
Reply to
Oilcan

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