After having collected the last w-2 I rushed over to turbotax to see how much my refund would be (happy-happy) after the initial glee of the $$$ amount I relized that my handy dandy credit/ATM card is expired so I wouldn't be able to go that route this year. So I then go over to the IRS site, print out the forms and do my taxes manually. Surprise, turbotax was wrong! off by $1032 (my EIC credit amount + my total tax) And of course this was to the Fed's favor. 1 of 2 things would have happened had I e-filed, I would have lost all that money (in ignorance) or my return would get audited (delaying my check) So if you want to use turbotax, make sure you check their figures!

Even H&R Block have been reported to do 'shabby figuring' and cost their customers 100's of 1000's of dallors (why do you think this year they are offering "free double checking of last year's return") Unless you have a business and lots of property and deductions you are always better off to do a little research and do your own figuring. I have done my taxes myself for over 15years now, after running some tests to find out that I was paying others up to $150 only to claim the same amount I can get by doing it myself and pocketing that $150 ($150 for 2 hours work....not bad) Of course the key is always "Good Book Keeping"! I keep mine in a shoe box ;-P

H&R Block has a "Standard Guarantee", in which they assume responsibility of any errors they make. That would explain why they are offering "free" double checking of last years return. :) As far as DIY goes, I agree. It's easy and free. There has only been one year I should have paid someone to do it. That year I said "I am not going to pay someone to tell me I have to pay!".. Well, I came up just a bit short and got a bill from the IRS about 8 months later. DOH!

normally I don't pay anyone to do my taxes (actually I normally do other people's taxes) but last year I used turbotax as my return was more complicated due to a house fire, insurance pay-outs, mortgage pay-off etc.., This year I wanted to use it just so I could e-file. Good thing I didn't. personally I am amazed that they messed up on such a simple return. Income - deduction - exemtion = taxable income Tax - child credit = Tax Witholdings + EIC - Tax = Refund That's all there is too it! how can they mess that up and still be in business, except for the fact that most people won't check that they did it correctly (that's why they're paying someone to do it in the first place!)

there has been a delay in the form release as I can understand the problem. The program gets released early then there are usually fixes and updates, but the problem is that many people do not check for the updates etc. As always everyone has to be careful of program errors, H&R block really seems to charge a lot for the returns I think they use a per form basis for charging. I believe all the fed forms are out right now but the CA state forms are not yet released (CA540 adjustments) so there might be some delay until the forms are released. I think you can go to the IRS site and fill in your own form via internet. Usually people tend to be confused over the correct way to enter the data into the forms, the program simply does the calculations, one still has to know if it is a legal deduction or not, whether they can take child credits, or qualify for EIC.