George —

My first point concerns the timing of estimated tax payments. When making these payments, taxpayers are given the option to submit the final quarter's payment on December 31, rather than waiting until January 15 of the following year (see image below).

The purpose of this option is clear: to allow inclusion of the payment as a deduction in the current tax year. Accordingly, I would expect the software to reflect this — not by reading my mind, but because I explicitly instructed it to schedule the payment on December 31, and it executed accordingly. Is it too much to expect the software to recognize its own actions? I don’t believe so.

Of course, I understand I can manually adjust the entry, as you demonstrated. But in that case, one might ask: why use software at all? After all, I could prepare my return with pencil and paper. What sets Homo sapiens apart from other species is our evolved ability to create and employ tools — a cognitive advancement that not only increases efficiency but also minimizes human error.