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Level 10
December 17, 2025
Question

Survey Tax Planner

  • December 17, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 7 views

My rankings. Interested in yours.

1. Income Tax Advisor

2. Tax Planner

3. 2025 Lacerte Tax software

Each has pros and cons:

ITA. Con:  state inputs and reports, especially California, are incomplete.  Pro: Strategies are good

Tax Planner: Con:  The "drill down" aspect has been unwieldy since the 1990s; please update it to modern input forms.  Pro - scenarios and years are useful. Clients love options and this feature is necessary.

LC: Con - seems to be the last software to be updated for latest tax laws and so planning must wait.  Pro:  Input forms beat all ITA and Planner.

 

1 reply

Level 10
December 18, 2025

The tax planner calculates the same Federal Tax as Lacerte. However, the California tax calculated by the tax planner is wrong.  So, the decreased reliability, combined with the tedious and obsolescent drill-down input forms, drop Tax Planner to #7 in my rankings

sjrcpa
Level 15
December 19, 2025

Then what are 2-6?

The more I know the more I don’t know.
George4Tacks
Level 15
December 20, 2025

Maybe Tax Tools is in the hidden mix?

Answers are easy. Questions are hard!