Maybe bots are cheaper than software engineers?
Anyway, in case anyone is still interested, I checked out the competition.
Tried H&R Block first. Generally a good experience, just as easy to use as TT, but ran into a problem with (drumroll...) the AMT version of form 1116. Totally different problem though. Block didn't bother to fill out the worksheet for line 18 of the AMT 1116, which in my case is (a) mandatory, and (b) saves me about $500 in AMT. Doesn't appear to be any way around that without intervention from a human at Block. I'd guess that is possible, probably for an additional fee, since they do have employees who do tax returns. But if I can't depend on the software to do the right thing, I'm not really interested in being their customer.
Tried TaxAct next. Generally a good software experience also - all three are very similar in user interface - and, as far as I can tell now, did all the tax calculations correctly and is happy to efile it for me. I'm still waiting a few more days to see if TT pulls its head out before I commit to the switch. If any further problems come up I'll update, but for now it looks like I'll be a TaxAct customer this year and into the future.
