H&R Block Tango

This is a great-looking tax prep site, but you should consider waiting until its substance catches up to its style.

Tangois the new kid at the H&R Block party of tax preparation offerings, among whichTaxCutis the main attraction. The online service's sleek and stylish interface is one of the best looking, most intuitive, and easiest to navigate that we've seen.

H&R Block says that the Tango site is designed for taxpayers who want a "do it with me" experience (which is why Tango includes unlimited free access to tax advisors via live chat, phone, or e-mail), though it's also likely to attract young, hip filers who want something less stodgy and more stimulating than the standard Block treatment.

That's because Tango is oddly entertaining: The instructions have a casual tone, and a window on the right side of the screen dishes out commentary, tax trivia, and even compliments (it called me a "rock star" for having no errors in my return).

Nevertheless, Tango probably isn't for filers whose tax situations are even moderately complicated, because it doesn't offer as much strategic tax advice as other sites do.TaxAct, for   example, links directly to a database of tax advice and offers more up-front counsel. My confidence in the service took a hit when I contacted an online tax pro for guidance on which of Tango's eight options I should choose to classify a simple stock sale--and he simply referred me to the IRS's Web site.

Other Tango features seem out of step as well. For instance, you can't file returns with Tango in more than one state, and at the time I visited the site it had returns available for only 13 states. Tango doesn't import W-2 or 1099 information, though it can import data from TaxCut and TurboTax. Nor can it handle certain forms and special situations that filers might encounter (such as health savings accounts, distributions from education accounts, adoption credits, casualty and theft losses, hybrid vehicle deductions, or extensions).

Like the dance, Tango is hot and beautiful; it makes other sites look like they're Clogging. But the site has some work to do before it hits all the right notes. At $70, Tango isn't the cheapest option, but it is the most intriguing.