I'm a homeowner as well, and I used to pay a little over $200 to an accountant for my tax preparation. Four or five years ago, I decided to prepare my own taxes (also using TaxAct Online). It turns out that I got nearly the same refund. Over the years, my taxes have become a little more complicated. TaxAct doesn't do a whole lot of hand-holding, but my results are still satisfactory. I just have to be aware of what I can claim as a deduction/credit. A professional almost certainly knows this better than me and/or can fudge numbers a little better.

Paying an accountant $200 vs $18 with TaxAct would likely get me a bigger refund, but I prefer the ease and quickness of doing it myself right now.

I have my taxes done already for this year on TaxAct. I'm ready to submit, but the IRS hasn't published the final version of the 2008 Alternative Vehicle Credit form yet. I don't know how the IRS gets away with this.