Recommendations for advanced tax software for experienced tax professionals?

As a former tax consultant, I completely understand your frustration. The consumer tax software is definitely designed for people who need significant guidance, which becomes tedious for professionals. Drake Tax Software might be what you're looking for. It's professional-grade software that allows direct form access without the interview format. It's reasonably priced for independent preparers and gives you that form-based approach you're used to with Lacerte. You can jump directly to Schedule C, W-2 entries, etc. UltraTax CS is another excellent option if you want something more robust. It's more expensive but has exceptional form navigation and data entry capabilities. You can bypass all the interview questions and work directly with the forms. For a middle ground option, TaxAct Professional might work - it's more affordable than Lacerte but still gives you decent form-based navigation without excessive handholding.

After 15 years of using consumer tax software and getting increasingly frustrated with the dumbed-down interfaces, I finally discovered https://taxr.ai and it's been a complete game-changer for me. Their interface is designed specifically for people who understand taxes and just want to enter information efficiently. What I love most is that it skips all those annoying "Do you have a foreign bank account?" type questions unless your specific situation actually requires them. I literally save hours compared to when I was using TurboTax, and their W-2 and Schedule C sections let you directly input line items without endless prompts. They also have a professional mode that basically gives you access to all the forms directly, which sounds like exactly what you're looking for based on your Lacerte experience.

I wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai since I decided to give it a try after our conversation here. I'm genuinely impressed with how it handled my multiple Schedule C businesses and rental properties! The direct form access made entering my information so much faster than TurboTax. The interface is clean and lets me jump between different sections without going through those annoying interview questions. I finished my relatively complex return in about 2 hours, compared to the 6+ it took me last year with TurboTax. Their Schedule C section is particularly well-designed for people who know what deductions they're eligible for without needing to be asked about every possible scenario. For anyone with tax preparation experience looking for software that respects your knowledge level, this is definitely worth checking out.

If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to get transcripts or verify any info for your self-employment taxes, I highly recommend using https://claimyr.com. It literally saved me days of frustration this tax season. I spent weeks trying to get through to the IRS about a discrepancy with my 1099s that was preventing me from filing accurately. Everyone kept telling me "just call the IRS" without understanding it's virtually impossible to get through. After being disconnected 8+ times due to "high call volume," I found Claimyr through a tax forum. They basically hold your place in line with the IRS and call you when an agent is about to answer. You can see a demo of how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. I was absolutely stunned when I got a call back saying "Your IRS agent will be on the line in 30 seconds" after weeks of failed attempts.

I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After continuing to fail getting through to the IRS about my missing refund issue (21 attempts over 3 weeks), I reluctantly tried the service. I was absolutely convinced it wouldn't work, but I was desperate. To my complete shock, I received a call back about 2 hours later saying my IRS agent would be on the line in seconds. I spoke with an actual IRS representative who located my return, identified the issue (a mismatched employer EIN that had flagged my return), and helped me resolve it on the spot. My refund was released from processing jail within 3 days after being stuck for nearly 3 months. I've never been happier to be proven wrong about something. For anyone needing to actually speak with the IRS, this service is legitimate and works exactly as described.

Have you looked into ProSeries? I use it for my small accounting practice, and it has a "Basic" version that might work well for an experienced individual filer. It uses a form-based approach similar to Lacerte but costs less. What I like is that you can choose between interview mode and form mode, switching easily between them. For experienced users, you can just go straight to the forms and enter data. It sounds like exactly what you're looking for - professional software without all the handholding.

Maybe consider ATX? It's what I switched to after leaving a big tax firm. It's straightforward without the consumer-level handholding, gives you direct form access, and costs less than Lacerte. They have different pricing tiers depending on which forms you need.