HR Block (TaxCut) 2009 has major bugs - BEWARE

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caklim00
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HR Block (TaxCut) 2009 has major bugs - BEWARE

Post by caklim00 »

I'm at my wits end with HR Block... For some reason HR Block won't pull in the values from Form 8863 Education Credits into the 1040 unless I manually open up the 8863 Form from the Forms Menu. Then magically the 1040 gets updated. But, after saving, leaving the program, and then coming back in and reloading the file the 8863 information is not in the 1040 again.

I currently have a case # that has been escalated to the HR Block technical support people. Just be very careful and double check your numbers if you are using HR Block as you may be getting completely hosed on your refund value.

I found the same problem when using the online version. TaxAct and Turbotax have no problems with 8863, but HR Block doesn't seem to pull over the results to the 1040. Very odd...

And, for some reason I keep getting this download error 28 when trying to download my state program. Strange...
jebmke
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Post by jebmke »

This is one of the reasons I wait as long as possible (even after April 15) to file my taxes. Especially this year with the many changes, it is impossible for the software vendors to do proper regression testing on their code changes. They rely on users like you to do their testing for them. So do I.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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caklim00
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Post by caklim00 »

jebmke wrote:This is one of the reasons I wait as long as possible (even after April 15) to file my taxes. Especially this year with the many changes, it is impossible for the software vendors to do proper regression testing on their code changes. They rely on users like you to do their testing for them. So do I.
Yep, the credit I am claiming is the American Opportunity Credit which is a new one. TaxAct and TurboTax got this one correct. Actually I ran Turbotax all the way through as I was paranoid that there were other errors and wanted to check my values. The tax returns were the same for both TurboTax and HR Block (after manually opening form 8863 in HR Block) so I feel somewhat safe with the return. Although it would be nice to be able to save the return without having to do this manual workaround to get the 1040 to the proper value.
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nisiprius
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Post by nisiprius »

Yes, I've found this sort of bug before. By "this sort," I mean some relatively obscure entry that doesn't propagate properly and never makes it into the grand total.

I've found bugs like this in both TurboTax and TaxCut. And, I might add, have never had any success in getting them resolved. All telephone support ever has done for me is tell me whether there are official updates and how to download them. And play dumb on obvious commonsense errors, telling me the program "has no bugs" (meaning they don't have a date for any upcoming software update) and that they "can't give tax advice" so can't agree that $10 + $10 + $10 + $3 = $30 is a bug.

For years now I've maintained a spreadsheet, and basically what I do is simply enter on it every income item I have and every tax payment I've made, strike totals, and look back and forth to make sure that all the income I have has been reported and that if there are differences in the totals I understand why and can put in a correcting entry to reconcile them. Mostly it catches my own mistakes, but not always. And I've never once had the two agree perfectly the first time off the bat. Scary.
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chuck h
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Post by chuck h »

I prepared a return for a friend who had education credits using H&R Block and the Form 8863 populated correctly.

Let us know what you hear from H&R Block on your issue.
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caklim00
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Post by caklim00 »

nisiprius wrote:Yes, I've found this sort of bug before. By "this sort," I mean some relatively obscure entry that doesn't propagate properly and never makes it into the grand total.

I've found bugs like this in both TurboTax and TaxCut. And, I might add, have never had any success in getting them resolved. All telephone support ever has done for me is tell me whether there are official updates and how to download them. And play dumb on obvious commonsense errors, telling me the program "has no bugs" (meaning they don't have a date for any upcoming software update) and that they "can't give tax advice" so can't agree that $10 + $10 + $10 + $3 = $30 is a bug.

For years now I've maintained a spreadsheet, and basically what I do is simply enter on it every income item I have and every tax payment I've made, strike totals, and look back and forth to make sure that all the income I have has been reported and that if there are differences in the totals I understand why and can put in a correcting entry to reconcile them. Mostly it catches my own mistakes, but not always. And I've never once had the two agree perfectly the first time off the bat. Scary.
I think what this experience has taught me is that its best to run mutliple tax programs, and compare the results. It wasn't too painful to run TurboTax in addition to HR Block as I was able to import most of my details and fudge some data here and there. I would have run a third test in TaxAct, but seemed like it would have taken twice as long due to less robust data import.

I agree though this is scary and makes you wonder what the percentage of accurate returns sent to the IRS actually are? Maybe 5%?

I suppose the other option is to let an accountant prepare your taxes for you, but I'm mcuh more comfortable doing taxes myself. I bet if you took it to 5 different accountants you would get 5 different returns. At least with this software you can verify the results against each other for any discrepencies.
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caklim00
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Post by caklim00 »

chuck h wrote:I prepared a return for a friend who had education credits using H&R Block and the Form 8863 populated correctly.

Let us know what you hear from H&R Block on your issue.
Form 8863 populated correctly. It just didn't transfer to the 1040. Better check your friend's 1040.

I feel like you used to be able to manually update the forms, but there doesn't seem to be that functionality anymore. What a shame.
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steelerfan
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Post by steelerfan »

I used TaxCut and form 8863 populated just fine. I e-filed a few weeks ago, got my return a couple of days ago.
"As your wealth grows do not set your heart on it." steelerfan
sscritic
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Post by sscritic »

caklim00 wrote: Form 8863 populated correctly. It just didn't transfer to the 1040. Better check your friend's 1040.

I feel like you used to be able to manually update the forms, but there doesn't seem to be that functionality anymore. What a shame.
Could you please explain what you mean?

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TheEternalVortex
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Post by TheEternalVortex »

I used HR Block and had no issues with my 8863 working. *shrug*
hudson
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Post by hudson »

nisiprius: "For years now I've maintained a spreadsheet, and basically what I do is simply enter on it every income item I have and every tax payment I've made, strike totals, and look back and forth to make sure that all the income I have has been reported and that if there are differences in the totals I understand why and can put in a correcting entry to reconcile them..."

Useful idea...I think I'll start doing this. THANKS!
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caklim00
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Post by caklim00 »

FYI... After opening a few cases with HR Block since I couldn't efile due to having to manually open form 8863 a few days later there was a federal update that was put out. It fixed the form 8863 problem and then I could efile. HR Block second level support left me a voice mail message following up on the issue.

My take on this experience:
1) 1st level support was horrible at HR Block (except for one person I talked with due to some state download issues)
2) 2nd level support actually did get back with me after about 3 days and the problem was resolved

Not sure if I will use them again next year but at least it finally worked this year.
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