For Mac Users Seeking a TurboTax Alternative: TaxACT Small Business

Mac users who do their own small-business taxes* have been pleading for an alternative to TurboTax. There isn’t a Mac version of TurboTax, so Mac users have been forced to use Parallels while running TurboTax.

Anecdotal evidence says Parallels/TurboTax is unstable and unreliable. (For me, the pulldown menus and on-screen buttons aren’t visible, and that’s a problem.)

But there might be an alternative from TaxACT, which provides tax-preparation software for individual returns and now offers a cloud-based small-business solution.

The TaxACT product is called TaxACT Small Business. I haven’t found any reviews of TaxACT Small Business, so I’m going to update this post as I move through the process of using it. If you’ve used TaxACT Small Business, please leave a comment below.

I started a return today on TaxACT Small Business and this is what I can say so far:

• The TaxACT user interface is very similar to TurboTax.

• TaxACT costs $44.99 for federal (TurboTax is $149 for federal).

• With TaxACT, you don’t have to pay until you file your return.

TaxACT has been in business since 1998, according to Wikipedia. In October 2010, H&R Block reported it would pay $287.5 million in cash to acquire the parent firm of TaxACT. In May 2011 the U.S. Department of Justice attempted to stop the acquisition in an antitrust lawsuit. In November 2011, a federal judge sided with the Justice Department, and both companies mutually dissolved the contract.

*I recommend you hire a professional to do your business taxes!

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