Filed under: Macworld
Beer and Taxes - The H&R Block Macworld Booth
As we've We also saw a booth sponsored by the tax prep company H&R Block. Huh? What are they doing at a Macworld expo you may wonder? To be honest, I did too. Well, they are showcasing several things at the expo including demos of their new tax prep software called Tango -- which supposedly makes preparing your taxes even easier than before. They are also giving out free copies of their Tax Cut software at the booth as well.
As if that wasn't enough already, here's the really good part: they are also graciously giving away free beer from 4-6 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. Yes, that's right, I said free (or wrote to be precise). Unfortunately, according to what I was told, you are technically supposed to be a member of the media in order to take advantage of this great public service. However, I would bet that if you asked really, really nicely they might be able to hook you up. What the heck, it's worth a try at least, right? After all, free is good.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
David said 12:36AM on 1-16-2008
Is this free beer, free as in beer or free as in free speech? Sorry I couldn't resist...
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Trevor said 1:00AM on 1-16-2008
So now H&R Block are trying to prostitute themselves back into the Mac community, eh? As I recall, they dropped their Mac software a few years ago, but luckily Intuit stuck it out and continued to release TurboTax for the Mac year after year. Now that the Mac is coming back strong, our fair-weather friend H&R Block wants back in the game. Don't let their giveaways fool you! They're no friend of the Mac community and are just trying to steal customers from Intuit, a company that was right here with us all along. Support a loyal Mac-friendly company by buying from Intuit, not H&R Block, no matter how much free beer they offer.
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SSteve said 1:28AM on 1-16-2008
Intuit a Mac-friendly company? Render unto me a break! Quicken for Mac is Intuit's red-headed stepchild. The latest version doesn't do half the things I could do with the Windows version seven years ago. When it gets within a galaxy-width of feature parity with Quicken for Windows you can defend them. Until then, they are as dead to me as Heather Clark, Bowtie Pasta, and Owls. (http://www.colbertnation.com/cn/notice-dead.php)
Trevor said 11:08PM on 1-16-2008
Yeah, Quicken for the Mac isn't the best financial software out there, though it will likely get a lot better this year:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/01/16/sneak_preview_quicken_for_mac_overhaul_due_out_this_fall.html
But I was referring to Intuit's tax preparation software for the Mac, which is quite good. And even if it were mediocre, it's still more than what H&R Block has provided, which is nothing.
SSteve said 1:30AM on 1-16-2008
"As we've wondered the show floor"
What do you do to make them all wonder so? A cool break dance? Solve cube roots in your head? Do tell.
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Charles said 9:40AM on 1-16-2008
Last year was my first tax season as a Mac user. I got my MacBook labor day 2006; my wife got hers for Christmas. We still had our PCs kicking around.
We received a free copy of TaxCut for Windows in the mail, probably trying to cut into TurboTax's share. My wife and I debated using it, but I was loathed to boot the PC. I called and asked if they could swap it for a Mac version. The woman on the phone reacted as though I asked her to do my taxes for me.
I went into Staples, and walked out with a Mac copy of TurboTax.
This year, I bought TurboTax from Meijer (a grocery story)--Mac and Windows were in the same box.
It looks like TaxCut is trying to buy market share. I suspect that, as long as they are free, they will be successful. I don't think folks have that much brand loyalty to tax software.
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Ian said 10:07AM on 1-16-2008
I look at tax software the same way as virus software for a Mac. It's pointless... all I'm doing with Mac virus software is protecting some stupid Windows user who didn't buy their OWN software. I can think of a lot better things to do with $80 or so. Games? Movie rentals? Nice dinner? But as for the tax software, there is NO WHERE in the American Constitution that says you have to pay income tax. It was put in place to pay for the war and never subsided. Check your history. Ron Paul is wanting to get rid of Income Tax (you did fine without it!)and the IRS. By the way... I'm saying this as a Canadian who also should not have to pay income tax... there is NO reason for it other than to pay overweight bureaucrats, useless programs, etc. It's our money and we pay enough in taxes as it is with gas, etc.
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mathmonkey said 10:29AM on 1-16-2008
I'm not sure why I should buy software from H&R Block when they offer an online tax prep service. AFAIK it's the same thing.
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Shauna Wekherlien, aka The Tax Goddess said 9:01PM on 1-16-2008
OK - This is the best post I've seen in a while, not only are the H&R block people, shall we say, mostly "incorrect" in the bulk of their tax return filings, but now they are drinking on the job! That makes me even more "Confident" in their skill level!
Praise the H&R block as they give the rest of us (CPA's, etc.) more amendments to handle each year!
www.swcbe.com
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Vicky said 4:54PM on 3-02-2008
I quite agree, that drinking on the job makes me really confident in their abilities. My DD uses them but I believe I will ask her to look elsewhere from now on. What were they thinking!!!
Vicky's Virtual Office
http://www.vickysvirtualoffice.com
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