Review by Steve Ramm

As a CPA I have been using H&R Blocks Deluxe Tax software for at least 15 years. While theyve actually cut back some of the features I found VERY helpful, I find it more user-friendly that Turbo Tax the only other personal tax software out there. Sand its always cheaper and Amazon always has the best price the list week of the year or often on January 2nd.

The feature I miss most is the Compare to Prior Year report (which was deleted about four years ago when HRB changed name of their tax software from Tax Cut to HRB at Home. This was a handy way to see if you missed anything from prior year or why your estimate this year was off. I sure wish theyd bring it back.

The other factor I want to alert you to (as it applies to both HRB and Turbo Tax) is the state tax program. If you live and work in the same state or there is NO STATE Income Tax in either your home or work stare, you can skip this comment. However if you have the above situation (or have rental real estate in other than your home state), you will need TWO State tax programs. HRB gives you ONE state included in the program package. EACH additional state module which you can only buy and download from HRB costs $39.95 plus tax. Since the Deluxe + State shouldnt cost you more than $34.95 (probably less) you are paying more for that second (or God forbi9d third state) than for your original Fed + State return. This is very common issue for those living in NY, NJ, PA, and CT. I wish that HRB would offer a Deluxe + StateS for maybe $10-$15 more and allow up to say three states. But, since like airlines they can make more by charging for each addition extra they probably wontnOne other thing. With the deluxe you get up to 5 free Federal e-files. But you get NO free State e-filing. That costs about another $15.00. This is really annoying. But know the cost going in.

So I would give the software five stars but am withholding one star because of the high cost of extra state modules and lack of the simple compare with last year report.

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm CPA