Tax Software

[laurannm]

I am going to file taxes on my own this year for the first time. What's the general consensus as far as the best software to use? I was thinking Turbo Tax but read a couple of posts that talk about how it isn't very good when it comes to state taxes

[JRScott]

How complicated are your taxes?

I do mine by hand myself.

[justbroke]

TurboTax is the best hands down (period).

I have used TurboTax for the last 13 years, with no problems at all. Now, the other tax program TaxCut, had given me all sorts of problems and calculated my taxes wrong. I gave up on them... 13 years ago.

I do taxes as a community service. I do upwards of 20-30 individual tax returns a year. They vary from single, married, head of household, with and without children, with real estate, with other taxes, with various States, includes multi-State returns, itemized deductions, charitable contributions (via It's Deductible), Incentive and Qualified Stock Options (ISO/QSO), Retirement Accounts from 401(k) and 403(b) through IRAs, business income (Schedule C), child tax credits, child care, unemployment, multi-employers (overpaid SS taxes), education costs, non-reimbursed employer expenses... and much much more.

I haven't had one issue.

[laurannm]

Mine aren't very complicated. I do have a little bit of 1099 income in addition to my W-2 stuff, but not much.

Otherwise, nothing unusual.

[SubPrimeME]

Turbo Tax fed is free!

Turbo Tax online rocks! It keeps previous filings online for you, and you don't have to do any admin stuff up front that way! I disagree with those that say the state isn't good, in fact it finds things I didn't think about!

[liz417]

I am going to file taxes on my own this year for the first time. What's the general consensus as far as the best software to use? I was thinking Turbo Tax but read a couple of posts that talk about how it isn't very good when it comes to state taxes

Hi, I asked this same question a couple of weeks ago. I decide to "give it a go" and do it myself this year and save $200 bucks! I got some positive responses about Turbo Tax and went out and purchase it last week!

Good Luck!

[twuoo]

Just FYI, I've been reading a Nolo book about self-employment.

In there, it actually recommends doing a paper tax return if you want to greatly lessen your chances of getting audited. When you do a paper return, there are people who actually have to physically process your paperwork. That takes alot of extra time and effort.

When you do an online tax return, it's all 100% electronic and there is no need for a live body to do any sort of processing. Therefore, if you have anything fishy going on in your taxes, it's much easier for a computer to spot and flag you.

Personally, I've ALWAYS done online taxes since the late 1990's. But now that I'm self-employed, and after having read parts of the Nolo book, I'm thinking of going the paper route.

I know it'll take alot longer to get a return, if there is even one. Advantages and disadvantages.

Just thought I'd share that nice tidbit of info.

[justbroke]

In there, it actually recommends doing a paper tax return if you want to greatly lessen your chances of getting audited. When you do a paper return, there are people who actually have to physically process your paperwork. That takes alot of extra time and effort.

Having worked on the IRS systems which perform audits...

These are computers that crunch through tax returns day and night looking for interesting things, flagging certain TINs, and interrogating returns from people already flagged. It may then be sent to an examiner who will look further into it. The system will generally catch under-reporting automatically and send out it's own dunning letter.

All a paper return does, is force the IRS to have someone enter it electronically. Once it's electronic... the auditing systems do all the work. It is irrelevant as to whether it was submitted on paper, or not.

Just file a Tax Return Transcript (4506-T) and see what comes back. This is what's in the computer system.

[JRScott]

Mine aren't very complicated. I do have a little bit of 1099 income in addition to my W-2 stuff, but not much.

Otherwise, nothing unusual.

If all you have is a 1099 in addition to a normal w-2 there is no reason you couldn't read the instructions and fill it out yourself.

[magyar123]

Tim Geitner, Obama's Treasury Secretary appointee used Turbo Tax, and wound up paying back taxes for 3 years. And this chump wants to be Treasury Secretary.

[laurannm]

Tim Geitner, Obama's Treasury Secretary appointee used Turbo Tax, and wound up paying back taxes for 3 years. And this chump wants to be Treasury Secretary.

Thanks, but not sure how this is at all related to the original question...

[laurannm]

If all you have is a 1099 in addition to a normal w-2 there is no reason you couldn't read the instructions and fill it out yourself.

This is true, I could easily do these manually. I've had a W-2 and 1099 for the past several years, and have taken the same deductions every year. My 1099 income amounts to around $5k total and I only have 1-2 self-employment deductions, so nothing really complicated going on.

However, we are really anxious to get this years refund (around $6k total) as we have some things we want to get started on around the house.

I did them via Turbo Tax last night and their audit tool shows me as being at low risk for an audit. Not sure how accurate that truly is though

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I switched from Turbo tax(TT) to TaxCut(TC). That was 5years ago. TT seemed buggy and was giving me problems. Then they also did the surprise "fee" for filing. They made their box look it was free when it wasn't. I also thought TC interface was easier to use when I switched. TC also has the ability to do all the stuff listed in the previous posts. I like how TC allows you to export your taxes after they are completed into a PDF(portable document file) or adobe file. this allowed me to bring 5 years worth of taxes with me to my 341 on a USB drive. Of course, I always scan my W2's. If you use TC from the previous year it will import a majority of your information ( returns, employer info, address, children info..ssn etc)


However, here's a issue. I tried to open up my 2006 tax file with TaxCut 2007. It would'nt let me do it and I had threw the 06 software( since I had 07) . So, I couldn't open up my taxes. I don't like that. Good thing I saved my taxes into PDF. I also printed them. I believe TC was cheaper at Target than TT. We also checked Walmart.

TC also comes with Deduction pro and lets you do scenarios for starting to save for next year. ie.. retirement.. deductions for school.. deductions for tithes ( if you give to a church) using a FSA, HSA etc.. In other words tax planning.

Eitherway, which ever one you pick.. I am sure it will work just fine. Both worked for me. I buy the +e-file & + state. I also do returns for other people. If you buy the cheaper version you will most likely have to pay to file ( which I think you can do for free online). However, if you are receiving a return the cost can be deducted from the return. So.. no additional costs(since you already paid it in taxes)

[Mi Bankruptcy]

This is true, I could easily do these manually. I've had a W-2 and 1099 for the past several years, and have taken the same deductions every year. My 1099 income amounts to around $5k total and I only have 1-2 self-employment deductions, so nothing really complicated going on.

However, we are really anxious to get this years refund (around $6k total) as we have some things we want to get started on around the house.

I did them via Turbo Tax last night and their audit tool shows me as being at low risk for an audit. Not sure how accurate that truly is though

We get about the same back.. It's returned fairly quick if you have it done via direct deposit.

[justbroke]

Tim Geitner, Obama's Treasury Secretary appointee used Turbo Tax, and wound up paying back taxes for 3 years. And this chump wants to be Treasury Secretary.

He had some special tax issues.

People, please read this. As a tax preparer, regardless of what software package you are using, you can mess up your taxes! This is because, most of them are interview driven, but experts, like myself, don't use the interview and enter what we want. We also tend to pull in additional forms, which the interview doesn't cover (like injured spouse and other esoteric forms).

This is not a software issue. It's a tax preparer issue. Also, some folks will actually fudge numbers, and I believe Tim Geitner took advantage of tax deductions that he shouldn't have or that didn't exist. This is not a software issue.

Even H & R Block makes mistakes.