Product Reviews

It's happy days for third-party tax programs. With the fiasco early this year - when HM Revenue and Customs' website was rendered unavailable for days - still fresh in the mind, many users are re-evaluating the Revenue's own online submission tools. This excellent alternative will be one of the first to benefit.

There may be big changes to the 2008 self-assessment forms, but TaxCalc 2008 Personal 6, which covers the SA100 return and its supplementary pages as well as Partnership, Trust, Companies and the R40 repayment forms, retains a familiar look.

It's divided into two main windows, the first of which lists available and created tax returns, along with filing status. The main tax return window, where you enter tax details, features a neat Dashboard that updates your tax liability as you go through the return.

A significant TaxCalc advantage over online submission - ignoring the fact that you're not completely hostage to the Revenue's website -

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is that it imports data from a previous TaxCalc file.

This works well: a comparison icon next to some boxes shows previous years' data when clicked. You can also generate a report of year-over-year variance, which highlights inconsistencies liable to attract Revenue interest.

As well as a standard-forms mode that mimics the paper return, TaxCalc offers a wizard-like 'SimpleStep'. You can switch between either mode from the Returns page, and we found it simple to enter data in SimpleStep and examine the results in the Forms view. It's much easier to use than the Revenue's online submission tool, although not all forms are available in SimpleStep mode.

But TaxCalc offers other practical advantages, largely prompted by the changes to the Revenue's system. The new requirement to attach Capital Gains Tax calculations to submissions is catered for: TaxCalc does the background calculations in SimpleStep. And it handles splitting liability between for shared investments or Gift Aid payments equally well.

Once entered, the data can be easily imported into a second form - you can create up to six returns from a single licence. But perhaps the most useful tool is the addition of a wizard to make adjustments to taxable profit or loss if your basis period and accounting period differ - something that can faze the most well-prepared of taxpayers.

There are several versions of TaxCalc, including more powerful versions for businesses and accountants. But this version is ideal for the self-employed and offers excellent value for money.