Confessions of a g33k 

Commentary, insight and techno-lust.  Read if you must. 
 

January 14th, 2003

Rant about TurboTax

Well, it's that time of year again, when we're getting our W2s and financial statements in the mail.  Apparently, this year some of us are also finding a TurboTax For Tax Year 2002 CD-Rom in our mailboxes too.  TurboTax  is the the do-it-yourself tax preparation software from the Intuit company.  There are several versions of the program for Federal Taxes, each individual state, and some versions geared towards your lifestyle. 

Currently, I teach a class on how to use Quicken, which is personal money management software from the Intuit company.   The only real competitor to Quicken is Microsoft Money.  In addition to Quicken and TurboTax, the Intuit company offers a product called QuickBooks for business accounting usage.

Since I've offered the Quicken class, it has been quite popular with my students.   For example, it is one of the few classes that I see both Windows and Macintosh users in.   The absolute beauty of Quicken is that it's gosh darn easy to import data from Quicken into TurboTax.  In fact, there are many retail outlets that offer a two for one deal or other similar specials for the two programs.  So, let's just say that there is a significant installed user base that already has an Intuit product on their PC or Mac.  Also, lucky for the Intuit company that the US tax laws change every year, so users are forced to purchase a new version to complete their tax forms.

All that being said, TurboTax 2002 has been subtly altered this year, according to an article on News.com and a discussion on slashdot.  Since TurboTax is one of those programs that is most likely used once, there is a fear that some folks buy the program, install it on one computer and then give the TurboTax CD-Rom to their friends or family to install on additional computers.  In light of this fear, Intuit has made TurboTax 2002 a single install program through an activation code scheme.  Yep, you read that correctly.   You will be given the opportunity to install the program once on one computer at your home.  If you try to install it on another machine, the print and electronic filing features will be disabled.  Thusly, if you get audited and you need to print out records, or the hard drive on your computer breaks, you might be out of luck.  Apparently, you should be able to call an Intuit representative to get another activation code, but who knows where Intuit will be in 7 years.  Considering that Intuit isn't known for their great customer service.  (Remember, you can get audited up to 7 years worth of back taxes by the IRS.)

This is the link to the TurboTax customer support center.  Even for someone like me, this FAQ looks a bit confusing. 

In addition to all of that rigarmarole, TurboTax installs spyware called C-Dilla onto your machine, apparently to ensure product activation and allegedly to disable copying of the CD-Rom.  Here is the story of one slashdotter's experience with the malware.  Here is a forum on broadbandreports.com discussing C-Dilla.  Another forum on spywareinfo.com debating the matter.  A page on privacyandspying.com discussing some of the concepts behind C-Dilla.  Wonderful characteristics of C-Dilla include:

• You can't uninstall C-Dilla (the hidden C:\C_DILLA folder and the executable) off of your computer without freezing up/disabling your operating system.  i.e. You would need to format and reinstall the OS to get the program off of your computer.

• C-Dilla does not get uninstalled if you uninstall TurboTax.*

• C-Dilla runs in the background when your computer is on, even when TurboTax is not being used.

• C-Dilla apparently uses more than 1MB of memory when it is running (which would be all of the time after you install TurboTax).

*OK, according to an ExtremeTech.com article dated 1/13/03, Intuit is going to release an uninstaller for C-Dilla which will be available as an update to TurboTax.  However, if you uninstall C-Dilla, TurboTax will be disabled, thusly the C-Dilla program has to run if you are using TurboTax.  Got that?