The Tax Book vs. Quickfinder

[Crank]

I am considering trying either The Tax Book or Quickfinder for the upcoming tax season. Every year I look over their mailers and finally decided its time to find out if they are as good as they say they are. I am leaning towards The Tax Book.

Any input from people who have used either of these products is appreciated.

Thanks

[MAMalody]

I have used both and have settled on The Tax Book the last couple of years and have already ordered it for the upcoming season. TTB seems more responsive to their customers, from my experience. The accuracy of both seems the same. TTB updates seem to be a bit more timely. The TTB message board is easy to navigate and responsive to questions like this board is. I think they both would serve you well.

[Crank]

Do you buy the books? (If so which ones.) or do you use The Tax Library?

Considering The Tax BooK Deluxe Edition, All States Edition & FastTaxFacts Master Set ($190) or The Tax Library + States ($130)

[mcb39]

I have used and trusted Quickfinders for many years. I usually order the 1040 and the Small Business every year and the All States about every three years. IMO

[SaraEA]

Quickfinders has better comics.

[JohnH]

Either one is fine. I switched from Quickfinder to The Tax Book several years ago and have been pleased with it, with no reason to go back. I've seen and heard comments by others on this forum slamming one or the other, but for the most part none of the negative arguments either way were convincing to me. (some of them sounded like sour grapes for one reason or another)

As Mike pointed out, The Tax Book has a great forum, which I personally enjoy just as I enjoy this one. I've never partcipated in the QF forum, but I imagine the QF advocates would make a simliar positive statement regarding it.

I see no defensible reason to prefer one over the other in terms of quality or convenience. At the same time there's no reason to buy both. So whichever decision you make will be the best one for you. Personally I vote for The Tax Book.

[Lion EA]

I have used both, including for at least one overlapping year to compare, as well as others such as Kleinrock Quick Answers. I now get TTB Deluxe each year. I also get TTB All States every few years. You might want to consider TTB CD or whatever their current format is, as it's searchable and has links to take you straight to IRS pubs and other sources. I also learn a lot on the TTB forum. I stopped going to the QF forum as it was not very active.

[mcb39]

I don't think any of us rely on (or should) either Quickfinder or TaxBook exclusively. As Lion states Quick Answers is a huge plus; as is the CCH US Master Tax Guide which is included in the Max Package. Online searches as well as forums such as this are a huge source of research and information. I often search through several to find the exact wording or cite that I am looking for. Last but not least, I always have a copy of the Pub 17 on hand and generally carry one with me for quick reference.

Certainly, this board has been the answer to most answers. On that note, we all need to remember that "Donate" button as the new tax year rolls around.

[Crank]

Thanks for the input... much appreciated. :)

[MN dhawk]

I've used the online version of TTB for three years and like it. It is way faster than paper. Updates are automatic and you can see what has been updated. You can jump directly to IRS pubs. I'll never by paper again.

[Lion EA]

With my more complex tax returns, I've been getting CCH's IntelliConnect. Pricey but worth it for my needs. On line, best of all within tax returns and jumps directly to the line/area I'm working in, mobile version is included, huge library of searchable info including the CCH explanations, tax code, government publications, Master Tax Guide, etc., emailable to clients, when I print a highlighted section it includes the source/cites, a great product but different animal than a quick answers-type book or CD.

I've heard good things about the new Parker research from the old Kleinrock folks.

[Catherine]

I like the Tax Book and get the Deluxe every year and the all-states every couple of years. For more in-depth research I use TaxTools online research; reasonable price and pretty good search features. Plus this forum and a couple others!

Either book should do fine for you -- they are terrific for quick-reference on mild-to-moderate issues (and TTB at least frequently cites the code section if you need to go there for nitty gritty details).

[Crank]

I was leaning toward the online version of The Tax Book. Its cheaper and downloadable into .PDF's You could, if you wanted to, download it and burn it to a CD or DVD for archive purposes.