TaxEngine Reviewer's Comments
Coming in at #6 this year is TaxEngine Federal and State, from RedGear Technologies. TaxEngine is a good choice for anybody looking to file more than the standard 1040 EZ. TaxEngine has been re-designed this year and at the time of this review, kept TaxEngine from making the top 5.
TaxEngine’s navigation is very much like those ranked in the top five Online Tax Sites, including a guided interview process, where you answer all your tax-related questions and TaxEngine fills out the proper forms. You can even get a peek at the actual forms while you fill out the questionnaires or wait until you are finished and print copies for your own records. TaxEngine also fills in the proper amounts for Social Security and Medicare wages and taxes based on income, which saves time and toil.
The only minor drawback to navigation we found was when entering dates, phone numbers, and social security numbers. TaxEngine wants them all in a particular format and isn’t flexible enough to allow for forward slashes instead of hyphens or numbers without symbols altogether. Most other online tax sites auto-correct entries without scolding the user. Again, not a major obstacle, but annoying, nonetheless.
Novice-Friendly:
TaxEngine has a handy, printable checklist that instructs you on which files, forms and information you need before you get started. Visually, TaxEngine makes it clear what needs to be filled out and where, and we found it easy to complete the interview process. While email support is always available, we found it a little difficult to access the online help, and a search feature would have been helpful at times.
Ease of Sign-up:
Signing up was easy; we were up and running in a minute. All that’s needed is a valid email address, you pick a user name, and choose a secret question and answer combination, and you’re set.
Feature Set:
TaxEngine offers most of the features needed to prepare and file comprehensive Federal and multiple State returns. Data can be imported from the previous year if you used their service before, the interview process makes it easy to complete in little time and deductions are easy to find with TaxEngine’s interview process. In addition, fast, personal support is a click away and error checking ensures your data is properly entered and calculated before sending your return to the IRS.
TaxEngine's Calculator, which gives an up to the minute snapshot of your taxes owed/due, is a handy way to see where you stand at any point during the interview process. It worked great in Internet Explorer, but for some reason, not so well in Firefox. Not a huge show-stopper, and the folks at TaxEngine assured us it would be fixed soon. The same goes for the Tax Advisor, which, at the time this review was written, was listed as “Coming Soon."
Overall, TaxEngine shows promise: filing a return with TaxEngine is fairly easy, and once a few of their features are tweaked, TaxEngine can become a more viable option for the average taxpayer.
Help/Documentation/Search:
TaxEngine has a wealth of information available, a comprehensive database of federal and state tax forms and schedules, and FAQs that will answer most questions. We liked how their email support was a single click away, and their responses were fast and helpful. TaxEngine would benefit from a search feature to help both novice and expert users alike, but overall, their help and documentation was solid.
Summary:
TaxEngine has many of the features of the veteran online tax preparation services, and at the low price of $19.95 for Federal, $10 for State returns, and free E-filing, you get a lot of bang for your buck. If you need a lot of help, their email response is fast, but it’s nice to have more in-depth FAQs and a searchable help database, which TaxEngine lacks. With a few additions and tweaks, TaxEngine will be a great choice.
