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What Tax Software Do You Use?
r_jensen11 asks: "I know this topic has been asked at least once before, but seeing as how 6 years have passed, I figured the question is due again. It's about that time of the year again when we find out how much we owe Uncle Sam (or as in my case, how much Uncle Sam owes me). Software has changed drastically in the past 6 years, since the previous query I found on Slashdot, as well as many tax rules. Does anyone here use tax software other than TurboTax and TaxCut? I know that there are also online forms I can fill out, but which ones are accessible to people that use OSes other than Windows and Mac OS X? I'd preferably use a program that I can use off-line and store my information locally instead of using eforms, but if I have to resort to eforms, which ones should I investigate and which ones should I stay far away from?"
Print the forms, get a calculator, and do the math....whats the problem?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
taxact.com
already done and efiled - no charge if you go directly to their site. DO NOT visit the IRS site first or you will pick up a cookie which will make them try to charge you for efiling if your AGI is above $52k regardless of how you actually enter the taxact site later.
If you are getting a large refund - look into talking to an accountant that can tell you how many deductions you REALLY need to be closer to break even. My goal is to hit somewhere between a 100 dollar refund to paying 500 dollars. I can afford 500 dollars, and I'd just assume be making the interest while the money sits in my bank account before giving it to the Man.
But PLEASE don't take my advise - talk to an accountant (IANAA) to find out what is correct for you
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
"Have an accountant do your taxes. They're cross platform, less error prone, and in many cases charge about the same price as popular tax prep software costs."
As complicated as the US tax code is, this is the BEST advice for anyone above the poverty level. It is also why our tax code will not be reformed. There are way too many accountants out there who make too much money on handling taxes, and they support the candidates who will keep the status quo. Tax reform is very much needed in the US. I lean towards a flat tax or national sales tax.
I reserve the right to think for myself. Others' opinions are optional. Puppy on lap = typos...not illiteracy.
Over two thirds of tax payers can file online for free. The IRS runs Free File, which helps you to select a service to file through.
Most of these were browser and OS agnostic last year & a good choice for those with AGIs low enough.
...is a qualified tax accountant, which you can access via an online virtual community called OutDoors, which features amazing high res graphics and panoramic 3d first person perspectives. When you locate the tax accountant, he or she will upload your financial data at a staggering speed with his or her eyes and ears, and using the revolutionary HumanBrain processor, calculate the maximum refund available to you.
It's quite a rush, get ready to ride the mongoose.
TurboTax online
I think it's the same service (provided by Intuit), but other students or such like myself who have an AGI of $27,000 or less can go to taxfreedom.com and do their federal taxes online for free. The program this year is actually quite good from both a technical and interface point of view.
For state income, some states let you do free filing online via their own websites (like UT), but AL, AR, AZ, GA, ID, IA, KY, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NY, ND, NC, OK, OR, RI, VT, and WV are all members of the Free File Alliance, and you can usually file taxes in these states for free online.
I'm a poor student, so my only goal is to get my refund back as fast as possible. Granted, my return is simple, but it took only 6 days last year from submission to direct deposit. In any case, I've found that there's no reason not to file online, especially if it's free.
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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Unconstitutional? There's a Constitutional amendment, the sixteenth, that explicitly authorizes income taxes, ratified in 1913. To quote:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
Now, as most of our rights are guaranteed by amendments to the Constitution (like the right to keep and bear arms), and as most of the time when laws are struck down it is because the violate the terms of the amendments and not of the original articles (particularly those pesky first ten amendments), I think you're going to have a hard time arguing against the validity of the sixteenth amendment.
By the way, by definition, amendments have priority over the text of the articles - after all, they are *amendments*. Any discrepancy between an amendment and the articles must be resolved in favor of the amendment.
Note!!! H&R block people are NOT accountants!! Sure they have accountants for dealing with buisnesses. But the people who the average joe tax return at H&R block are not accountants and are just trained to fill out the same form you would if you went to their online website...
In Florida the CPA association filed a advertising complaint against H&R block because several of their commercials implied their people were better than accountants "We'll catch the refunds that your accountant missed" and crap.
It's still pen and paper for me
Sure, but it's easier to get the forms with a browser and KPDF than it is to drive to the library. Also, it's easier to add the stuff up with gnumeric than it is to use a calculator. After that, the check's in the mail.
Of course, all of it's a stupid curse. Uncle Sam knows exactly what you made and has the resources to present it to you over the web. Taxes should be as easy as going to a web site and choosing between "I agree" and "I have something else to report" then doing it.
I'm going to continue to use paper as long as Uncle Sam does, mostly because the programs made to do taxes have proved themselves less than trustworthy.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
That Uncle Sam returning that nice interest free loan you have given them by over witholding is "Giving you money back". Biggest fallacy in the book ...
The biggest fallacy in the book is that fiat currency has an intrinsic value. Look up Alan Greenspan's little essay on the gold standard, and realize that you are not free without a secure store of value. The withholdings are a time consuming but insignificant part of the bigger scam.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
This is part of a negotiated settlement between the IRS and for-profit tax preparation companies during the Clinton years. It, after all, makes more sense for the IRS to offer free software for the public to encourage everyone to file electronically and standardize everything, etc. More efficent for the IRS, and therefore you. But that would hurt some big companies (I'm sure you can intuit whom I mean). Thus a deal was struck a while back, which as far as I know is not promoted/advertised by the tax-prep software companies.
The result is that people who make less than a certain amount (Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $52,000 or less) are entitled to free software by the "Free File Alliance, LLC" (ie, the tax software industry). During the Bush administration, the # of people who has qualified for this has gone down every year...
The government believes that private industry, given its established expertise and experience in the field of electronic tax preparation, has a proven track record in providing the best technology and services available. In addition, the government believes a partnership with private industry will: provide taxpayers with higher quality services by using the existing expertise of the private sector; maximize consumer choice; promote competition within the marketplace; and meet objectives in the least costly manner to taxpayers.
FYI.
Having an accountant do my taxes is great for getting my taxes done this year I agree. But it doesn't teach me enough about the process to help me make decisions throughout the following year.
Doing it myself keeps me informed of what is being taxed and how.
Having a program helps reduce the time it takes to enter the data and make the calculations and find help and forms when I need them. I can get into it as much as I need to (which you might say is true for an accountant too), I have all the records and processes when I need to consult them later to see what the tax implications are of doing or not doing something, etc.
Plus to use an accountant I have to assemble all my documentation myself anyway (all the taxable records) which is a major part of the tax effort - once I got all my papers the rest is not so bad.
Given that, I use one of the major programs, and I don't believe it matters much which you use.