Intuit TurboTax Premier 2005 (Mac & PC)
Manufacturer: Intuit Inc. Part number: 297707
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Intuit TurboTax Premier 2005 is the best ease-of-use choice for filers with complex returns. If you have investment, rental, and small-business income--and you hate paying usurious accountant fees--buy this program.
Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ![]() | In stock Get free shipping on orders over $25! | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 06/18/2013 |
CNET editors' review
Intuit TurboTax Premier 2005 (Mac & PC) price range: $62.91
- Reviewed by: Jeff Bertolucci
- Edited by: Elsa Wenzel
- Reviewed on: 01/01/2006
- Released on: 11/25/2005
The good: Intuit TurboTax 2005 provides an easy-to-understand tax interview; well-written explanations of IRS jargon; includes TurboTax ItsDeductible for itemizing noncash charitable contributions.
The bad: TurboTax 2005 offers no free IRS audit support.
The bottom line: Intuit TurboTax Premier 2005 is the best ease-of-use choice for filers with complex returns. If you have investment, rental, and small-business income--and you hate paying usurious accountant fees--buy this program.
User reviews
-
-
Mac Owners Beware
by Antisthenes on January 25, 2006
Pros: Excellent program but...
Cons: Too many glitches and poor tech support for Mac users
Summary: Full disclosure: I am Turbo Tax user for 4 years and love the program.
BUT ...
Bottom line: too many unresolved problems with (1) the 2005 program installed initially from a ...Summary: Full disclosure: I am Turbo Tax user for 4 years and love the program.
BUT ...
Bottom line: too many unresolved problems with (1) the 2005 program installed initially from a Welcome Back CD and then, in another attempt, downloaded from the web, (2) its companion program ItsDeductible, and (3) poor Intuit support.
My problems centered around an initial inability to even use ItsDeductible, which was eventually fixed, but only after a protracted delay. More importantly, the updating Turbo Tax typically does eventually crippled the main program in a way tech support could not identify or fix. This occured after I had spent considerable time entering my tax data.
Thus, after spending hours on the phone trying various workarounds, I had to cut my losses, grudgingly request a refund, and resort to the online/web version.
This situation was less than ideal because the online version was unable to import last year's return data (from my Mac as well...) or the data I had entered for 2005. Back to square one.
Turbo Tax is great, but Intuit seems to have Mac users as an afterthought. Very disappointing.
I can't suggest alternatives, and, as mentioned above, I am making do with the web version this year without a problem so far, but Mac users should walk into this program with eyes open, and visit Intuit's tech support knowledge base often to get a glimpse of the problems others are having.9 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
All-inclusive, but not always correct.
by manage1 on January 24, 2006
Pros: Comprehensive, can make a difficult return easy
Cons: Can create errors in filing, not responsive to problems.
Summary: I have used TurboTax for more than ten years, considering it simple, accurate and quick. When I was audited by IRS I knew that there must be a mistake, but ...
Summary: I have used TurboTax for more than ten years, considering it simple, accurate and quick. When I was audited by IRS I knew that there must be a mistake, but I went over all the TurboTax questions to verify my own accuracy in my answers, especially pertaining to rental income. The IRS auditor made it a point to check my form versus the answers to the TurboTax interview and told me that the form was just plain filled out wrong, thus a mistake of about four thousand dollars plus a sizeable interest penalty. Of course I contacted TurboTax about the matter but received no real response, and when my form came out the same in the following year on TurboTax I decided to lie on the program's interview so as to make the form come out correct. Last year when it was still incorrect unless I lied I decided to try TaxCut. This year everything seems to be coming out right.
8 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Overdone and overpriced
by tcarterva on January 7, 2006
Pros: Does the job
Cons: Bloated, expensive software
Summary: It used to be that TurboTax was THE tax preparation software to get. It was lean and mean; I used it for years. But Intuit has gotten fat and happy ...
Summary: It used to be that TurboTax was THE tax preparation software to get. It was lean and mean; I used it for years. But Intuit has gotten fat and happy with this product and has loaded it with unessential feastures and priced it ridiculously high. There are alternatives that are just as good, if not better. I use TaxCut now, which sells for a significantly lower price.
I doubt that most people use all of the features; they just want to do their taxes.9 out of 16 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Navigation much improved, facility remains top-notch!
by digame on January 23, 2006
Pros: All-inclusive (Premier) version continues to excel as the predominant tax software preparation.
Cons: Haven't found any, as yet... 'cept maybe the retail pricing (which remains a bargain in comparison to professional service fees!)...
Summary: Available on eBay for as little as $25 shipped (full NIB sealed, boxed version), this program continues to simplify the nightmare of tax-time; I've used Intuit's software (formerly ...
Summary: Available on eBay for as little as $25 shipped (full NIB sealed, boxed version), this program continues to simplify the nightmare of tax-time; I've used Intuit's software (formerly MacInTax) for 10-to-12 years now, and it just keeps getting better... especially now that a single shipped version (combination MAC/PC) levels the "paying" field!
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
The taxes are filed (but not without a lot of yelling at my monitor)
by brookscn on February 5, 2006
Pros: Not too many
Cons: not very intuitive (from a company called Intuit??)
Summary: I can't BELIEVE that the editors gave this an 8 rating - I don't think they used it for real world problems. We've used this software for ...
Summary: I can't BELIEVE that the editors gave this an 8 rating - I don't think they used it for real world problems. We've used this software for years, and never had any real problems. Periodic glitches, but that's it. This year, major headaches. We own a rental property and had a software consulting business, and we couldn't get the standard software to "interview us" - all this software wants you to do is upgrade (which we did for $30). We could have downloaded a form to do the rental info, but it would have required an MBA and a CPA to figure out. We're very disappointed, and will be using TaxCut next year.
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
5 years and THEN... Bad
by earmark on February 26, 2006
Pros: It's 20% of the product it used to be
Cons: Gee... I hope it's doing the job?#
Summary: I've used turbo tax for mac for 5+ years... this one (2005 tax year) has led me to pay taxes I don't owe and input information into the ...
Summary: I've used turbo tax for mac for 5+ years... this one (2005 tax year) has led me to pay taxes I don't owe and input information into the wrong areas. No nifty support in an instant (or at all) as in past versions. Bad news... bad enough to make me look around.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
QUICKEN Users: Beware the On-Line Version
by drbb on February 16, 2006
Pros: Easy-to-Follow Q & A Format
Cons: My Return Disappeared before I Could File
Summary: I used the on-line version, working on my return for almost a month as new documentation arrived. Before I could put the finishing touches on the return--it disappeared!
After three ...Summary: I used the on-line version, working on my return for almost a month as new documentation arrived. Before I could put the finishing touches on the return--it disappeared!
After three days with tech support, the conclusion was that it was a QUICKEN PROBLEM (I accessed TurboTax through Quicken). Apparently, a day before the "disappearance" I had to re-register at quicken.com because of a corrupted data file on the Intuit server. Apparently, the TurboTax and Quicken on-line services are linked when TurboTax is accessed through Quicken. The re-registration on quicken.com had made my TurboTax return irretrievable. Be warned!
Quirky on-line help requires two sign-ons, one for on-line return, one for help. Minimize help instead of closing window or you'll have to go through the sign-in process the next time you need help.
State return was useless; kept receiving message that the final version of a form was not yet available; however, there was no clear, intuitive way to check for program revision or status of form.
Finally, I have used TurboTax for ten years, and the on-line version for two. I'll never use the on-line version again.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Turbotax for Mac OS X is absolutely horrible
by kitasoo on February 4, 2006
Pros: looks pretty
Cons: if you upgrade to 10.4.4, you'll lose the tax file you've been working on
Summary: I have been purchasing this product for years, and each year, it gets worse. This is the first time it has completely corrupted a tax file that I have been ...
Summary: I have been purchasing this product for years, and each year, it gets worse. This is the first time it has completely corrupted a tax file that I have been working on and was ready to e-file; now I have to re-enter my entire return; I will not be using TurboTax do to this.
See the following forum for the issues and intuit responses.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Best on the market
by rogconklin on January 29, 2006
Pros: Easy to use
Cons: Cannot pay my taxes for my
Summary: Intuit's TurboTax is and has been for years, the leader in personal tax preparation software. For the 2005 tax year, it has a new interview process that makes it ...
Summary: Intuit's TurboTax is and has been for years, the leader in personal tax preparation software. For the 2005 tax year, it has a new interview process that makes it easier than in previous years to jump around your return. Need to enter another W-2? Just click on the Income button and click Add.
If you want the least expensive copy, check out the shopping clubs; Sam's, Costco, B.J.'s. The price for the standard version is around $20, $30 for the Deluxe version.
Lastly, your government has made the tax code so convoluted that each year, to code such a package is about as difficult a job as can be imagined. An upgrade to this type of software wouldn't be cost effective. Just buy the $20 version and call that an ugrade. Compare the $300 for the upgrade to XP to the $20.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Excellent! I used to use Tax Cut and this is much better!
by Scott May on March 10, 2006
Pros: Easy to load, easy to use, no problems like others reported
Cons: No cons at all! Works with Mac fine
Summary: I was very concerned about using TurboTax after reading the reviews on this site. I have always used TaxCut which is no longer available and I did not want to ...
Summary: I was very concerned about using TurboTax after reading the reviews on this site. I have always used TaxCut which is no longer available and I did not want to do taxes by hand or pay someone so I decided to try.
No issues at all! Very easy and worked with the Mac perfect. Not sure why others have had problems...
OSX 10.3.91 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Intuit Inc.
- Part number: 297707
- Description: TurboTax Premier software guides you through your return with extra help for investments, Schedule C business, and rental property. It's the total tax solution - everything you need to do your Federal and State taxes.
General
- Packaged Quantity 1
- Category Business applications
- Subcategory Business - commercial finance / tax preparation
- Bundled with TurboTax State
- License pricing Standard
Software
- License Type Complete package
- License Qty 5 users
- License Pricing Standard
- Platform Windows,
MacOS - Min Supported Color Depth 16-bit (64K colors)
- Distribution Media CD-ROM
- Package Type Retail
System Requirements
- OS Required Apple MacOS X 10.2.8,
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition,
Microsoft Windows XP,
Microsoft Windows 2000,
Microsoft Windows 98 - Software Requirements Macromedia Flash Player 7,
Internet Explorer 6.0,
MSXML 3 - Min Processor Type 200 MHz
- Peripheral / Interface Devices Printer,
2x CD-ROM,
SXGA monitor,
Internet connection 28.8 Kbps - System Requirements Details Apple MacOS X 10.2.8 - PowerPC G3 - RAM 128 MB - HD 150 MB,
Microsoft Windows - Pentium - RAM 128 MB - HD 225 MB
Product series
-

TurboTax Basic 2005 (Mac & PC)
Manufacturer: Intuit Inc.
Specs: Business applications,
Mac,
PC -

Intuit TurboTax Premier 2005 (Mac & PC)
Manufacturer: Intuit Inc.
Specs: Business applications,
Mac,
PC
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Intuit Inc. products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Intuit Inc.
- Address:
2800 East Commerce Center, Tucson, AZ 85706 - Phone: 1-650-944-6000



