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Is it that bad? I tried out TaxACT for the first time and was fairly unimpressed. It didn't help clear up any of the tax questions I had, basically just linked me to the tax docs. It also had a pretty poor UI. Was thinking about trying out TurboTax next year, but it is more expensive and if it is just as bad...

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I used TaxACT from 2000 until last year, when its interface for handling my HSA made me want to immolate my computer. Then TurboTax helped out.

This year, I just said "fuck it" and went to H&R Block, because I'm just done with doing it myself. Someone else who does this all day can do it faster, yell at the computer less, and I'll get the same results.

All of this should be automated by now, but no...

I normally do my taxes myself (I only have a simple schedule A -- home mortgage interest and property taxes deduction). However, a couple years back I sold stock I got years before, so I went to H&R Block. When I looked at what they billed me for -- I sold something like 160 shares of a stock, but the broker had to do multiple transactions (150 shares in one block, 8.something, on another transaction, etc), so I had something like 10 lines that accounted for a few bucks each. And the Block charged something like $25 for each "stock sell" line. All told it cost close to $300 for them to do my taxes.

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