Tax software preferences

10 years ago

Following on the same vein as alisande's thread about doing your own taxes......

for those that do do their own taxes, which program do you prefer and why? I've seen mostly TurboTax, HRBlock and TaxAct commented on.

I did like BeeOHIO's idea of running the taxes through 2 different programs, good idea!

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Comments (3)

Fun2BHere
10 years ago
As I mentioned in the other thread, I switched from TurboTax to HRBlock's Tax Cut because TurboTax didn't have one of the forms I needed. I don't know if they have since added it as that was several years ago.
rob333 (zone 7b)
10 years ago
I did what Bee suggested a couple of years ago and compared turbo and another really popular program... same exact dollar amount. I think for a fairly simple return (like I didn't have any stock activity to claim, but a bit of alimony that year. Not completely stripped down) it really doesn't matter. I stayed with TurboTax, they keep my returns from year to year, if I should lose my hard copies or the PDFs I keep. I can't imagine a third fail-safe, but it's there if I need it.
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I disappear for awhile, come back and this is still on the front page. Wow! Slow moving post. :-) I used to get my taxes done early - like February. But then we started having to *pay in*, and really, who's in a hurry to do that? I sold Avon for awhile too, and that seriously made taxes a nightmare, since I'm a horrible bookkeeper. Next year will be different though. I quit Avon awhile ago, so no more business stuff to worry about. And hubby is switching jobs this summer to a far lower salary (for stability, his company was bought, and seems to be in the process of dismantling itself), so we'll be in a lower tax bracket - less taxes owed. I dare say I'll have our taxes done in Feb. next year, since we shouldn't owe anything for the first time in years (or not as much, anyways)! Funny how that works...
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From a tax standpoint, it would have been better had you been able to sell when you moved. But, you did a good deed, and now you have some aggravating paperwork to deal with, but it should not be a major worry. Remember that in addition to the $12,000 you paid in 1965, that you undoubtedly made improvements to the house over the years. Those improvements would increase your cost basis in the house, and reduce the gain on sale. In all likelihood, your gain is quite small, and won't cause you to owe any taxes. However, the IRS does have the Form 1099 reporting the $50,000 sales price, so you should see a volunteer tax preparer to report it.
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I use tax software to do my taxes, but I also do 5 other people's taxes too (because they know I bought the software!!!!!). I, like fellow Canadian joyfulguy, took the time to learn how our income tax works. Doing it manually really gets you to learn. I scoured our government website, and actually reviewed as many help guides in the tax software i could. There are cheaper versions out there than the one I got, but once you buy one version, your kinda stuck with it each year, as it "remembers" stuff you put on last year and carries them forward for this year. I did get it done professionally once. I believe it is still a good idea to do that, just to reaffirm yourself that you are capturing all the deductions and claiming everything you are entitled to.
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Comments (2)
Just a warning, if your gross income is over $52,000, those tax prep services will charge you a fee. The one I used charged me only 46.95, which I consider a bargain as I itemize my deductions and there's no way I could do my tax return without the help of software to fill in the exemptions, deductions, etc and do all the calculations!
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wanda_va
10 years ago
I have used Turbo Tax in the past, but switched to TaxAct a number of years ago. It seems more user-friendly to me. I appreciate that they remember me from year-to-year, which makes the process go faster. A few years ago, I really messed up on long- and short-term capital gains--it was easy to do an amended return.

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Tax software preferences

Comments (3)

Fun2BHere

rob333 (zone 7b)

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wanda_va

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