equinecpa: You wrote: >>Two cents from a CPA: ..... Just the inconsistencies in results tells me you are making input erorrs -I'd count on it. The programs are not calculating the return differently -you are somehow inputting it differently. ========================================== That is not true. Compare TaxAct with TaxCut where you've bought and sold both taxable and tax-exempt bonds with acrued interest. You will find TaxAct understates the final income and therefore the tax. Several years ago I went thru the calculation line by line with both using identical input. (Both on computer and paper). I pinpointed the exact mistake TaxAct was making. I wrote it all up clearly and concisely and sent it by US Mail to TaxAct headquarters which was in Iowa. They acknowledged my analysis; said they'd fix it. They never did. A couple years later I checked it out again and this time emailed em. This time they denied the error. The wording of the reply showed that they did not understand the problem. I wouldn't trust TaxAct with anything beyond simplest of returns; ie wages only with a standard deduction.

Personally I'd say use the (or an) accountant for one more year because you've bought and sold houses. Tax software is great (I've used it for years), but accountants are paid to find deductions that the software programs may well not be able to flush out. Luckily my tax situation is very simple, so I don't need to worry about that. In the next couple of years, though, I'm going to start exercising stock options at my company. Then things are going to get complex.

auntjen -- I totally appreciate what you are saying and feel as if many people do wear their accomplishments and busy life as a badge. But, on this thread, I really felt everyone was just sharing how much really is expected of us and what we manage to get done in a day, a week, a month, etc. More like " This is my life in the trenches, what is yours like?" I for one certainly know the value of a slower paced life. I really want my children to know that life is more than being over-scheduled, always tired, stressed, etc. We greatly limit our away from home activities for this reason. I know that my children gain much from having a slower,stress free life. Most of my activities are done from home as I said. Much of what I do during the day is to foster a environment of calm. Being organized, staying home, cooking healthy food, home educating, etc. are all part of the picture. I really think many of us are just too busy, too stressed, too overworked. Some of us absolutely are required to work many long hours. Thankfully I am not one of them. For those of you that must work outside the home I certainly wish that you all might have relaxing outlets where you can slow down and take things as they come.

1. Getting married. The changes and new responsibilities are huge and mostly unknown, plus (this is a guy thing) you wonder up until the wedding date approaches: did I (or her) make the right choice? Will we be happy? Can we stand each other after a year? Can I make enough money to support us? Will we be sucessful? What about children, and when? Will she stll love me after a couple of years? 2. Passing the second stage of marriage: At about year 3, I found that I did not really did not know abour her religious preference. I thought that I knew, but did not. Its at this time that both of us re-evaluate our marriage, and must come to a conclusion: do we continue or split (before there are children on the scene)? We stuck together, had some rough times and dissapointments, not in each other, but from life's big blows that strike sometimes. Others are lucky enough to escape these calamities - its a crap shoot who gets what. After you realize that is the case, you blame no one, roll with the punches, and look for the best solution. We've been married 49 yrs - time to re-evaluate, eh? Maybe not! Let's give it a few more years and see what happens. 3. Leaving home at the age of 17 with two other high school graduates in my class to look for our destiny. I had about $200. We three rented a garage that had been converted to a rambling, open space, apartment (in St. Louis). My first chore the next day was to investigate a trade school to see what was offered and costs. The next thing on the same day was to do a job search to find work that would support my rent and food. If I did not find something in a week, I would have to take the bus home. This little adventure lasted about a week when my high school principal contacted me to tell me of another opportunity that he had discovered. I listened and immediately accepted the challenge. 4. The Challenge: My first escapade away from home was only 100 miles distant. This time, it would be 350 miles away by Greyhound Bus, and I would be alone - just me and my suitcase. I would attempt to win a apot in a new experimental engineeing training program sponsored the US Ordanace Weapons Command. Only 40 would be selected from a field of 400 applicants. Entrance was by the college entrance exam and the old fashioned I.Q. test. Veterans were given a 5 point advantage. I made it in! and now one of the biggest projects of my life began: working my way through college. This was during the Korean Police Action (the US never described our part as a war, but there was no difference. A dead or wounded soldier has the same hurt no matter what the policy makers choose to call it.) The US Government ahd no idea what the nation was facing during this period, but were preparing. They were training a pool of engineers for an Arsenal, and at the same time, trying a work-school program. One my 18th birthday, I did recieve a draft notice and had to appear at my draft board to show them where in the Federal Register to find a special act of scholatic defferment for this group of students. Mind you, this was not a 'freebie'. If for any reason, I did not complete my degree, I was subject to immediate draft. Also, it extended my draftable age. At that time, the draft was for ages 18 through 24. For those of us who were in this program, our draft age was from 18 through 28, thus we could have been taken after graduation, however, there exemptions that came into being if, as new grads, we took employment in certain capacities. This was my grand project and it was scary for the first couple of years. Failure was always a real possibility. Fifty percent of the group dropped out the first year. It was this period that shaped my future for the rest of my life.