What do you choose?
I normally do mine myself but I may go to a professional this year. I have some student 1098T and E's to file plus partial year state tax while living in a state with no income tax. Trying to justify if the $150-200 is worth it lol
I have some pretty difficult taxes and Turbo Tax has been better than sufficient. It does take me a little time and I usually have to mail off additional documentation, but I can't justify paying someone else a couple hundred bucks.
Also Turbo Tax for years. Personal and business return. No issues yet....(knocks the hell out of some wood).
edit, it's not free by any means but not very expensive.
I've been using
TaxAct for years. It's pretty much the same as Turbo Tax and IIRC it's made by the same company (Intuit).
I have a friend of mine do our taxes.
Quote:TurboTax for years now.
TurboTax seems to take forever. It takes longer and longer every year, even for the most simple returns. Most of it is the constant ads for junk I don't need. They even try to sell me state income tax.
It actually seems like more effort now than when I used to fill out the forms myself. Any good alternatives?
I do my own. It takes me about 20 minutes usually.
When I lived with both parents my dad always did taxes because he had a master's degree in math. Of course he always waited until April to do them because he was a staunch Republican. When he could not do it anymore, Mom had to file for an extension to do his 2004 taxes. Since then, she has always taken the forms to a professional in February.
Quote:TurboTax seems to take forever. It takes longer and longer every year, even for the most simple returns. Most of it is the constant ads for junk I don't need. They even try to sell me state income tax.
It actually seems like more effort now than when I used to fill out the forms myself. Any good alternatives?
I've never gotten ads. Then again, I buy it in Costco and don't purchase it online.
Quote:I've never gotten ads. Then again, I buy it in Costco and don't purchase it online.
I use the Online version not the desktop. But I pay for it. All I'm saying is if you have the simplest tax return you can possibly have, it should take like 5 minutes. That's the whole point of it. Enter W2, pay, go. They already have the rest of my info. That's the whole reason I'm paying for it in the first place.
I might use them again just so I can time it.
Quote:TurboTax seems to take forever. It takes longer and longer every year, even for the most simple returns. Most of it is the constant ads for junk I don't need. They even try to sell me state income tax.
It actually seems like more effort now than when I used to fill out the forms myself. Any good alternatives?
do you import your previous years turbotax file, that'll save a lot of time, you'd just punching in new numbers at that point.
nvm you kinda answered it in the post above this one
On an unrelated note I always take the October extension.
Quote:When I lived with both parents my dad always did taxes because he had a master's degree in math. Of course he always waited until April to do them because he was a staunch Republican. When he could not do it anymore, Mom had to file for an extension to do his 2004 taxes. Since then, she has always taken the forms to a professional in February.
I'm not a "staunch Republican", but I don't do my taxes until April either. I usually end up "owing" the government more of my money, so I put it off as long as I can.
Without getting too political in this thread, a very large portion of people that get "refunds" are not getting a refund at all.
I pay a pro, he keeps me out of jail and has to answer the IRS on my behalf.
According to the government I died 15 years ago on a Bolivian river boat. So no taxes for me
Quote:According to the government I died 15 years ago on a Bolivian river boat. So no taxes for me
You sound like Jimmy James, the man so nice they named him twice.
Quote:I'm not a "staunch Republican", but I don't do my taxes until April either. I usually end up "owing" the government more of my money, so I put it off as long as I can.
Without getting too political in this thread, a very large portion of people that get "refunds" are not getting a refund at all.
I know members of all political parties wait until April, but am pretty sure being an elephant had something to do with it. I got refunds too, but because of my impossible-to-understand financial situation Mom gets the money instead.
I used TaxCut forever, but then had rental property... and for reasons I forget I then switched to TurboTax.
Have been using that for several years now.
Yours doesn't sound complicated for using a program to DIY. It sounds intimidating, but the software does walk you through it all - asking questions and giving you guidance.
Go to the home sites of the software providers, then use their decision tools to find which version fits you best.
Then go shopping for the best price. I bought mine today on Amazon, was on sale.
I choose the refund route because my wife has a problem with see money.
The more of it I have out of sight, the less likely she is to spend it. Not a large enough amount to cry about any lost "interest" or "investment" opportunity. It's there, and it wouldn't be otherwise.
I ended up using TurboTax tonight. I was able to use the Absolute Zero thing for fed and state and it covered my student loan stuff. Took me all of 30 minutes. Glad I didn't pay someone