Tax software

Mike Danger

I recently got a little bit of a bonus at work, and I was wondering if TurboTax or something of that nature might be a good investment with tax season coming up and me not having Clue 1 about how to do taxes.

Suggestions or commentary on this sort of thing, please?

LaPuzza

I really, really like Turbotax. I can't vouch for anythingmore complicated than w2s, 1099s and deduction work, but it is really easy to use. Not the cheapest, but worth it IMHO.

Derrick

Use TurboTax for federal taxes.

Use it for state to get the right numbers, and then use a free program to finish your state taxes (make sure the numbers match) for the cheapest option.

Thanatos

Are you making more than $58,000 a year? Do you have a lot of investment income? Do you have a trust? Do you own a home?

If your answer to all of the above is "no," just use one of the online free-file sites (like H&R Block). Filing your taxes is actually really easy for most people (especially people in their 20s-30s), and TurboTax is a waste of money if your financial situation isn't complicated.

noir_blood

Basically what Thanatos said. If you're just doing a basic filling, there is absolutely no reason to pay someone to do it. You honestly could do it yourself within an hour or so.

That said, turbotax online offers free basic federal tax, so that works for me, especially because I'm in texas and don't file state taxes. It's basically idiot proof.

Thundyrkatz

I used Turbo Tax on line for the first time this year. I was a little nervous, having only ever done them by hand in the past. Also, the idea of paying any amount to have some one do something i can do for free was a tough pill to swallow.

Well, it was... in a word... awesome

I have 2 incomes, a house, an energy credit, some investments and student loans. So, it normally takes me hours to go through all the forms and double check everything.

Turbo Tax pulled in all the information for the W-2's and the investments. It was super easy filing in the missing info for the energy credit and the student loans.

Finally, not to sound like a commercial, but it seriously did find some things i would have overlooked. That basically paid for itself.

Finally the whole thing took me less then an hour. That alone was worth the cost.

Unless you are just doing a 1040-EZ, its a slam dunk.

Newton

I've been using the H&R block software for the last few years and have been very happy with it. It's available to download from Amazon for less than $20 for the federal version. I've never tried the Turbo Tax software because it costs at least double, but I have never seen any shortcomings of the one I use. Even this year with itemized deductions, HSA contributions, child tax credits, an adoption tax credit and a few other things, it handled all of it easily. I had my taxes done in about 45 minutes and my return was something like 15 pages long this year.

Djeet

I use TaxACT and I've been happy with it, but since ditching paper filing I haven't tried any competing software. I was surprised that it could handle my income from a foreign trust (K-1 or something), but generally my taxes aren't too complicated.

spool32

TurboTax ftw.

Seriously, I'm 6 years into using it now, with kids, mortgage, investments, etc. Nevermind what Tim Geithner says! It's simple, cheap, and accurate.

jclast

I can vouch for H&R Block At Home (used to be TaxCut) as well. It's handled everything I threw at it and the import from year-to-year makes getting the taxes done super easy even with mortgage, kids, and me in grad school.

Cabezone

TurboTax online will also save your information for transferring each year. It's a fantastic service.

oldsak

Thanatos wrote: »

Are you making more than $58,000 a year? Do you have a lot of investment income? Do you have a trust? Do you own a home?

If your answer to all of the above is "no," just use one of the online free-file sites (like H&R Block). Filing your taxes is actually really easy for most people (especially people in their 20s-30s), and TurboTax is a waste of money if your financial situation isn't complicated.

If your answer to these is no, then you can use the free version of TurboTax.

wileee

Here is a link to the IRS.gov free file section.
http://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp?ck


You can pick any of the online tax services from the list though I've favored the H&R Block or TurboTax options.

One thing I ran into a couple years ago was that the tax sites had different "gateways" to beginning your taxes. I didn't use the free file link directly from the irs.gov website and when I got to the end of doing my taxes it wanted to charge me for my federal return. They may have changed it but wanted to mention it.

Buying the boxed software at the store isn't worth it to me since everything you need is already online. Basically allows you to do your taxes offline and then transmit when you're done. Though you usually get a coupon for a free federal return (or similar) with the box, but if you qualify for the free file link above it would be a waste of money to get the box version.

I vote for just using the online version of whatever you choose.

strebalicious

TaxCut/H&R Block site! I've been using it for about, man, 12 or so years. This year, it literally took me less than 5 minutes to do both my federal and state. Import, click, click, input W-2, click, input 1099-INT, click, kid qualifies for EIC, click, tax credits, click, e-file, wait two weeks, spent cash, done.

Lykouragh

I usually use someone's free software, but this year I used the IRS link above to do something called "Free File Fillable Forms", which appears to be just a 1040EZ and an efile mechanism without anything fancy attached. I liked that, but it may not be for everyone (you have to read the tax instructions).