Comments on: ItsDeductible vs DeductionPro for Valuing Donations

By: Portia

Portia — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 20:45:07 +0000

These comments all are fascinating! I’ve used Its Deductible for at least ten years. From the start I bought a new edition each year to load onto my own computer. But starting in 2006 it became only available on-line (and that year there was a cost), and the on-line version wouldn’t show the values assigned to the items. My solution: I’ve just kept the 2005 version on my computer and used it each year. (I figured that items donated in later years would be worth at least as much as the 2005 values.) Before I found this web site I was considering trying DeductionPro, but not now! I’ll just stay with my 7 year old version of Its Deductible — I’ve learned all its “quirks” and how to get out the info I want.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:04:27 +0000

Both programs this year leave a lot to be desired (i.e. “crappy”). Go to the DP and at least you can print out their entire list with more realistic prices. However, don’t waste your time trying to do anything else with this software.

By: Chad H

Chad H — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:30:16 +0000

I’m really taken aback this year by Its’ Deductible’s values. The majority of the items in perfect condition are now valued considerably less than medium condition was in last year’s version. I really need the deductions this year and will be giving up hundreds due to the difference. What the heck is going on? There’s no way a $12 meduim quality item is worth $4 in perfect shape this tax season. It’s really flaky. I may have to resort to manual itemization I guess.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:58:19 +0000

If I use a prior year Deduction Pro, will it give me the same amount of deduction that it would for 2011 Deduction Pro?

By: Susan Hudson

Susan Hudson — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:26:44 +0000

I have used Tax Cut and Deduction Pro for over 10 years. I have always bought the software from Office Depot or Office Max. I tried to find Deduction Pro and had a hard time finding it. After reading all the mess you guys had, I am thinking maybe I will change my tax software to Turbo Tax. My banks all use Turbo Tax & it’s free to use. I haven’t used Turbo Tax for years and wonder if they are a mess also. It’s bad enough that we have to do taxes anyway, but when the tools we use are a wreck, and we have to do our own spread sheets, I’d rather just do it by hand. It seems so much easier than spending hours trying to get the software working correctly. I also have had trouble for a couple of years with Deduction Pro adding double deductions and giving me wonderful deduction amounts that are so much, at least it’s easy to catch, but a nightmare to fix. So, I am glad I found this blog so I won’t even try it this year. Thanks for the Info.

By: tim

tim — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:26:43 +0000

If you are looking for your saved file, search for files ending in .d11 or .d10. To do this, press and hold the Windows button and then the letter F (for find). In the search box, type *.d11 and it will find your file. Your version of Windows might work different.

I agree… DeductionPro 2011 sucks. I may do the spreadsheet thing, too!

By: Terry Davis

Terry Davis — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:37:07 +0000

I see that I am not the only one with a hugh problem with DeductionPro. This is my first try to use this program in connection with H&R Block Deluxe Tax Program. I entered Deduction Pro from the tax program and set up an account saving the data and disabled the pop-up Blocker as required. I entered about half of the items and saved using the save button and closed out for the night. The next day I attempted to re-enter to add more items using the “Find an Existing Account” and though it says it is saved in my documents, it was nowhere to be found either searching my documents with using “Browse” or doing so by going directly to Documents. Frustrated, I started over and entered new account information and began to enter the items. When I got to the Other category and had entered about half of the items a pop-up appeared and said I could not enter more than 50 items. I was going to delete a couple of the items in the OTHER category and enter them as Miscellaneous so it would be one item and it would not let me back into the category or any other category. It only poped up the notation that I could not enter more than 50 items. Now I am getting really frustrated and called H&R Block locally to find out who to call for help with this program. I was given a number for Deduction Pro Customer Service and called finding that it was H&R Block Bank. I was eventually transferred to a department and the guy who answered said he was a customer service representative but it did not take long to determine that he did not know the program or how to help. He kept asking if there was an edit button. He talked to his supervisor and after 15 minutes of back and forth conversation, he had me save and close out to the H&R Block Program where I could again attempt to open the existing file using Browse and again no file was found and he could not tell me where it was saved and said I would have to start over and enter everything again. I had just spent 4 hours entering the information as my hand written sheets are by box the items were in when picked up, and I had to reorganize the information to Deduction Pro’s organization. Does anyone know of any contact to get information as to how to retrieve the saved file? I am beyond frustrated and don’t look forward to spending another 4 hours only to save it and not be able to find it.

By: Carlos Bendiks

Carlos Bendiks — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 04:25:30 +0000

I agree with almost all the previous comments re: DeductionPro (DP). I used it for the years 2008 & 2009 when it was downloadable into my PC and it worked fine. With TaxCut 2010 it became a web-based product and it was a nightmare to use! I then reverted back to the 2009 version, entered all my data then printed it out and manually entered the required totals into the IRS schedules in TaxCut 2010. Thus one has a detailed record to back up one’s return.
I received the HR Block (TaxCut) 2011 in the mail. I tried to purchase it online but it was very confusing & not working properly, so I abandoned that effort. I went to OfficeMax & purchased the Deluxe version (advantage is that one gets a CD and it was sold at a discount!) since it showed the DP unavailable for the cheaper version, Basic, then I find out that it is available online for free! Misleading information on their cover box! However, this version is only on their web-site & I found it very clumsy to use (lost files, not very detailed, etc.).
I will use the DP 2009 version on my PC and identify the file XXXXX_2011, & print out the data.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:10:41 +0000

Deduction Pro used to be a PC based production free with the H&R Tax Software, now called, At Home.

As PC software, it provided some labor saving tools, inluding fair market value for clothing donations.

Starting 2011, the product was web based. Now it got clumsier to use: start the internet, locate the file, accept the file, etc. it took a minute or two just to get started. In August, when I was using the web based version, something crashed (IE8, Deduction Pro, not sure), my PC based Deduction Pro file was trashed. I had a backup, but it was a month old. It took me a hour to reconsruct the file.

In December 2011, the Deduction Pro web page was unavailable for 15 plus days while they got ready for the new version, so I could not put in deductions during that time period. When the new version was ready, I imported 2011 data. It TOTALLY screwed up my non cash donations: Much higher values were used. I called H&R Block about the problem – nothing happened. I manually fixed it, by reentering the information.

When I went to enter new cash donations, it got worse!!! First it didn’t bring up the current date, requiring you to go through the calender for each donation.

But the real big problem was it started to create duplicates of entries. Each new donation, and file doubled in size and donations.

Bottom line, if the PC version Deduction Pro saved me a couple of hours a year when preparing my tax return, I spent over 8 hours this year in fixing the web based version file.

I am not using this software again. I can create a simple spread sheet to record my deductions, and place those values into my tax return. If I need to look at the fair market value, I will just print off the values and put the sum in my spread sheet.

Shame on H&R Block for screwing up a good product. I still use the At Home for my personal and business tax returns.

By: Jozie

Jozie — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:29:48 +0000

Thank you Steve. I appreciate you taking the time to answer. Be well, Jozie