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TurboTax- ItsDeductible

TurboTax- ItsDeductible

List Price: $19.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Didn't do what I expected
Review: I thought that this program would be like TurboTax, in the sense that I thought it would make suggestions on how I could change my charitable giving to save even more on my taxes.

However, it isn't much more than a glorified way to keep track of your giving -- which you could do in a spreadsheet program or Quicken or even by saving receipts.

The only thing I really learned from the program is that you can deduct the mileage for your trips to donate non-cash items. Other than that, my guesses as to "fair market value" for my donated items were pretty much right in line with what It's Deductible suggested. All that keying in ... and not much difference in the bottom line.

Moral? Don't spend the $20 on this one. Buy a really nice calculator instead to add up the value of all your items.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: ItsDeductible - Has Lost It's Edge
Review: I've been an Intuit fan for years. I've used TurboTax for 5 years & discovered ItsDeductible in 2000. ItsDeductible was ideal for monitoring cash & noncash donations. Throughout the tax year, you could simply go to Itsdeductible.com & download updates along with revisions on the "fair market values" of items. When tax time came around, I used TurboTax & simply imported my donations from ItsDeductable. I found ItsDeductable easy to use and have used it for the 2001, 2002 & 2003 tax years.

I've read some reviews where folks wanted to print out the "market values" so they can simply do an inventory of non-cash items then go back to the computer and input the information. Unfortunately, ItsDeductable won't allow you to do this. You are forced to make a hand written list. I've always had an issue with this.

BE AWARE!, ItsDectible has had some significant problems since the 2003 year. This year (2004), I can no longer download updates from ItsDeductible.com. Recently, I discovered the 2003 datafiles on my computer no longer exists as I went to open ItsDeductible on my computer to check on the 2004 release. I can no longer access any of my previous I.D. files (i.e. 2000, 2001, 2002 & 2003). Today, was the first time I attempted to open my I.D. this year.

In past years, you could buy ItsDeductible at CompUSA, BestBuy and stores of the like throughout the entire year. I've notice I.D. has not been available in any of these stores all year. I was informed today, by BestBuy, they returned all 2003 I.D. they had in stock, but couldn't say why. I'm very surprised the 2004 release is not out. The 2002 release was available February of 2002. The 2003 year was also released in February, yet 2004 remains unattainable. What is going on?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gets the job done!
Review: I've read these reviews and couldn't disagree more! I saved tons of extra money by using this product, which I think is the point. It has values for most of the stuff I gave away to charity, and it was very easy to use.

It also imported my donation info right into Turbotax, which made the entire process real easy. Great product, and well worth the money.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Valuable and easy to use
Review: I've used It's Deductible for the past several years and have always found it very worthwhile. I recently downloaded this year's version and didn't have a problem at all with installing it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Simple and Effective
Review: In the past, I always estimated my own dollar value for donations. This software was so cheap that I decided to give it a try. I've used it for two years now. The software is ok. The user interface could be easier. Bottom line, I am able to deduct much more $ on my taxes. My estimates were always too conservative. There hasn't been an upload from this software to TaxCut (which I use). This year I'm going to try Deduction Pro which does export directly to TaxCut.

This product helped me save money and more than paid for the cost.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Intuit took a great product and ruined it
Review: Intuit, what did you do? It's Deductable >>used to be<< a jewel of a program - fast, effective, great support, and cheap. After "upgrading" to the 2003 version, it is now filled with awkward interface, missing categories, and buggy -- plus to add insult to injury, the valuations on the items, which previously were guaranteed to pass audit, are now >>lower<<. BAD MOVE! My recommendation is to buy the book and keep your own records, this program is no longer worth the $$.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't waste your money or your patience
Review: ItsDeductible *might* save you some money, if the installer would work properly.
Tech support is also worse than useless. The chat can't provide any help at all and the *real* tech support costs another $20.

Save your money on this. Buy the book and use Excel instead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent Product, Saves You $$$
Review: Like most people, I've historically undervalued charitable contributions on my tax return. This software dramatically increased my deduction as compared with prior years (in which donations of things like clothing, toys and household goods were substantially similar). There's little doubt this software will save most taxpayers many-fold the cost of acquisition. I'm a believer, and will keep using It's Deductible!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: False Advertising
Review: The product literature states:
"Provides you with an Exclusive Kelley Blue Book Car Donation Estimator - allowing you to assign accurate valuations even to your car donations so you can be sure you are getting the full deduction you deserve."

It doesn't. I contacted product support and was told that an update would be released later. He couldn't give me a date. You really shouldn't advertise what you don't provide. I will now be using TaxAct instead of TurboTax.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Simplifies bookkeeping, but no real substance
Review: The program does produce a nice report, and it does import into TurboTax but it's database is pretty spartan. (Re: the import glitch: you need to close It's Deductible first, otherwise there's a file access conflict) The Jan 1st "glitch" is intentional -- the software is only good for one tax year. Don't buy this now thinking you can itemize last year donations and track this year's donations, too.

Database issues: You need the Deluxe version ($10 more) to download computer and electronics values (this is despite the example on the box saying 'computer monitor.' There was no 'kitchen chair,' no Barbie items (but Bionicles toys were specifically listed). I ended up building my own items and values.

I expected more from Intuit. I went to the support page to see about the refund (no $300 reduction here) but the entire page is under reconstruction. I'll update this review regarding success of refund attempt.


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