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Ask Slashdot: Open Source Tax Software?

Posted by timothy on from the enclose-a-stinkbug-with-each-envelope dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I finally started looking at my taxes and instead of handing over my personal information and money to TurboTax I was wondering if there were any recommendations for freely available/open source tax software? Ideally, the data would be stored in a portable, open format. I wouldn't really need a GUI, but something that filled out PDF forms would be nice." It's a question that just won't go away. Open source solution or not, if you're a U.S. taxpayer, the deadline for filing is nearly to hand.

6 of 387 comments (clear)

  1. Open Tax Solver by rbowen · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's one: https://sourceforge.net/projects/opentaxsolver/

    Having said that, I have found that paying a professional has always been a worthwhile investment. I have a masters degree in mathematics, so it's not a question of the calculations, but my accountant knows things about tax law that I don't, and keeps me from getting audited while getting me the best refunds that the law allows.

    --
    Apache guy, Open Source enthusiast, runner
  2. Re:For this you want a professional product by alen · · Score: 5, Informative

    no, the reason turbo tax costs money is they have teams of accountants translate new tax laws in every state into easy to fill out forms and the math functions behind them

  3. Re:For this you want a professional product by SJHillman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Also, TurboTax's online tool is free if you make under $31,000 (about $14.90/hr at full time). My girlfriend did it that way - it's called Freedom Edition or something.

  4. Excel 1040 by n1ywb · · Score: 4, Informative
    It's sort of open source, as open as an excel spreadsheet goes anyway. Works fine in OpenOffice Calc. I've been using it for years, haven't been audited yet.

    http://home.mchsi.com/~taxcalculator/

    --
    -73, de n1ywb
    www.n1ywb.com
  5. IRS Site has Free Options by mikestew · · Score: 4, Informative

    If your main criteria is "freely available" and not "open source", and your adjusted gross income is less than $57K, you can just fill out the forms for free. It uses Adobe Flash if you have an aversion to such things, and there doesn't appear to be anything open source about it.

    If your AIG is more than $57K, your tax situation is probably such that you ought to be handing over some money to a pro or Turbo Tax.

  6. Re:For this you want a professional product by jeffmeden · · Score: 4, Informative

    For complex returns, that may be correct. But there's no reason there can't be an open source product with consists of nothing more than an electronic version of the forms which allows you to type rather than print and which automatically does the math (on the forms) for you. Then it either prints or electronically submits the return. It's no different from picking up the paper forms and filling them out yourself. You're responsible for selecting the correct forms, knowing which laws apply, etc.

    As amazing as this seems, the IRS (and many state and muni tax agencies) have in fact figured out how to produce a form-style PDF that can be filled in ENTIRELY electronically. The IRS does make you do the math yourself, but I am sure you can find an open source calculator to help with that, right? Many state and munis seem to do this better, with forms that run all the math for you and can be submitted electronically. And believe it or not they even make them easy to find via Google. The wonder of it all!