H&R Block 2012 Tax Products, Deluxe $16.99, Home Deluxe + State $21.99, Home Premium + State $26.99 @ Amazon Gold Box

Great deal, too bad no discount for the digital version....

AMAZZON RUNS THIS EARLY H&R TAX SOFTWARE SALE EACH YEAR AROUND THIS TIME
THIS IS THE TAX SALE THAT YOU WILL LOOK BACK ON AND KICK YOURSELF IN THE ASS BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T GRAB IT. ... GRAB IT NOW!

H&R Deluxe / No State (List Price: $34.99) Sale Price: $16.99
.....H&R Deluxe + State (List Price: $44.99) Sale Price: $21.99
...............H&R Premium (List Price: $64.99) Sale Price: $26.99
..Premium & Business (List Price: $79.99) Sale Price: $38.99

Should You Grab It Now? YES Should You Wait For A Better Deal? NO (Doesn't Get Much Better)

Should you get the Box or Download? Over the years I've come to realize that the BOX is worthless for me.
The download is more convenient for me and Amazzon maintains a record, so if you lose it you can download again with no problem.

How does this compare to TurboTax?

just bought one. thanks for sharing

I grab this at Amazons sale around this time each year. I agree with bluefude, it probably won't be much lower than this. Last year I bought the 2011 version on 1/7/12 for $19.99. Oh well $2 won't break it...considering we lost the FICA break for 2013. Software works fine for my rather simple homeowner return. The 5 Federal efiles seal the deal. If I remember right, last year I was able to efile the NYS return free also...don't hold me to that.

Dollar Tree has had the basic version for $1 at least for the past 3 years. It doesn't include State or efile (extra fee) but if your State is easy and you don't mind mailing your return it is a great deal. I did my taxes by hand until a married an accountant, now we have to buy the software.

HELPDESKGUY said:   Good price but still holding out for free....

There is a free version... Just search for it on SD posted by estoyloco.

In for 1. Thanks OP.

bping2 said:   Will I be missing something (as in, wasting $10) if I get the Premium version compared to Deluxe?
I don't have rental properties.
Is there any benefit of trying to apply Schedule C ( even if it is only a 'what if' scenario)?

Please comment for someone that is not a tax accountant. Thanks.


Edit >>>>
From what I gathered comparing both versions more closely, Premium caters to:
- rental property owners
- if you have self emplyed income

Premium is supposed to include state as well. Can't confirm this, but would be only $5 more compared to Deluxe + state.

Deluxe includes schedule C. I just doesn't give you "advice".

i see people sayng the box is useless versus the download. A few years back I needed to reprint a tax return from 3 years earlier, in the interim I had gotten a new computer and while I had saved my returns and migrated them to the new computer, I had not bothered to reinstall that years software on teh new computer. It happens that year I needed to print was the ONE year I bought a download version, not the box. I could NOT print my return, I ended up finding and buying the old version to reinstall and print the return. It was $45 or so and I kicked myself. Now I save my returns as PDF's as well as the tax programs file format (and do 2 separate back ups) and keep the physical discs with the software in case a few years dwn the road I need to reinstall the program.

cerich said:   i see people sayng the box is useless versus the download. A few years back I needed to reprint a tax return from 3 years earlier, in the interim I had gotten a new computer and while I had saved my returns and migrated them to the new computer, I had not bothered to reinstall that years software on teh new computer. It happens that year I needed to print was the ONE year I bought a download version, not the box. I could NOT print my return, I ended up finding and buying the old version to reinstall and print the return. It was $45 or so and I kicked myself. Now I save my returns as PDF's as well as the tax programs file format (and do 2 separate back ups) and keep the physical discs with the software in case a few years dwn the road I need to reinstall the program.

I bought the download version off Amazon the past two years. I back up the install files with a text file containing my key on my file server, but I can always go to Amazon and re-download from "My Software Library", there's a download link and my key code there if I ever need it. As far as I'm concerned, there's no real advantage to the boxed copy vs. the download version when buying this from Amazon.

The extra charge to efile your state return always irks me. Then I'm reminded Virginia had a free filing system for everyone until a Intuit/H&R Block sponsored bill got rid of it. Best representation money can buy, and us regular people don't have enough money to compete.

jhpurchases said:   There is a thread over at SD about getting HR Block Deluxe with State for basically free

http://slickdeals.net/f/5768474-H-R-Block-At-Home-Deluxe-State-eFile-FREE-it-s-back-Premium-State-Program-19-95?&page=46 A 15 step process in order to save $20ish does not seem like a hot deal imo.

Always keep your old returns forever. This is one thing that I wold not shred. The government can come back on you at any time. I am an accountant an the state of Indiana made an error and sold my wife's information to a collection agency. This was the only year that she did not have a copy. She filed in Ca because she was in school. Fortunately, Ca had it and the problem was solved.

Remember the government makes mistakes even though they will not admit it.

Just got the download for deluxe with state, tried for the cd but got hit with tax. So beware if you live in CA if you want to avoid it.

jhpurchases said:   There is a thread over at SD about getting HR Block Deluxe with State for basically free

slickdeals.net/f/5768474-H-R-Block-At-Home-Deluxe-State-eFile-FREE-it-s-back-Premium-State-Program-19-95?&page=46

Been wondering why no one on FW was talking about this deal, figured it was banned. I did the free software and efile trick with no problems at all, took 5 minutes and not only do you save the $21.99 you also save the $19.99 efile for state on this deal at SD. So it's $42 savings.

thanks

Awww.. I bought the premium version a day ago.. I missed the discount offer. I managed to get the free e-file codes per SD thread discussion.

Thanks for posting this.

Solandri said:   cerich said:   i see people sayng the box is useless versus the download. A few years back I needed to reprint a tax return from 3 years earlier, in the interim I had gotten a new computer and while I had saved my returns and migrated them to the new computer, I had not bothered to reinstall that years software on teh new computer. It happens that year I needed to print was the ONE year I bought a download version, not the box. I could NOT print my return, I ended up finding and buying the old version to reinstall and print the return. It was $45 or so and I kicked myself. Now I save my returns as PDF's as well as the tax programs file format (and do 2 separate back ups) and keep the physical discs with the software in case a few years dwn the road I need to reinstall the program.
I've started installing infrequently-used software which I need to keep around for many years (like tax software) in a virtual machine. That way when I upgrade computers every 2-3 years, I can just copy the entire virtual machine over without having to worry about reinstalling. But yeah, definitely keep a PDF or printout of everything you send to the IRS.

Also, it's interesting that the price goes up after several years. One of the LLCs I'm a member of consistently files an extension and sends me my K-1 in September. So I have to file an extension on my taxes anyway. I use the previous year's software to estimate my taxes and send the IRS a prepayment for that amount. Then around June I can usually pick up the current year's tax software for about $8-$10.

I'm confused and fascinated. I always thought that a virtual machine went away. How do you keep new software and context in a virtual machine?