The software (download) deserves 5* but it's ALWAYS a hassle getting it to work, and getting through to a tech support person who can help you. It will be a 3 minute fix once you get to the right person, but it might take you 3 to 5 hours on the phone to get to the right person. But it's a 5* program once you deal with the hassles. And it's a download not cloud based, which I strongly prefer.
Good as Turbo tax without big price. tested both HR and Turbo on one year and number came out the same. I have been using HR for over 10 yrs and have no change in my opinion about HR tax software quality.
Product is merely adequate for a competent user. While requiring the user to do the FULL "interview" the first time through the preparation makes sense, it is very difficult to make revisions to the already-entered data without redoing full sections of the interview. I would like ability to jump directly to the "input section" to change a value.
Continues (several years in a row) to not perfectly copy the New York state forms into the software. Last year (2020) the program made errors due to this. This year (2021) the forms were mistaken but at least the arithmetic was correct. However, to realize this, I had to dig extensively and to calculations by hand. (I bought the program to NOT have to do these hand calculations.)
HR Block tech support is nearly impossible to reach. In previous years when I reached them, they were helpless at investigating or fixing the software bugs I identified to them.
It is only because NY law requires free e-filing from software companies that this product is barely worth the lowest discount price you can find. If I had to pay the HR Block fee for state filing, it would fall into the "rip-off" category.
Been using H&R Block tax software for years. Instructions are easy to follow and the way it carries last years info to the current year saves lots of time in filling out forms. Plan on using it as long as I can.
Pros: Easy to prepare, Maximizes refund, Easy to import documents, Fast
The software product almost complete... but I wound up having to submit my return by mail. It doesn't address all the issues that are associated with tax returns.