Tax Software Recommendations

I've used Turbo Tax for many years and haven't had an issues with it. (The IRS, though? You betcha!) Today, you don't even have to buy their CD to run on the computer, just setup an account on-line and it remembers it all year-after-year....very handy.

 

One caveat about Turbo Tax online remembering your stuff year to year:

If you miss filing one year (guilty as charged ... IRS doesn't really hound you for the return much if everything they have looks like they'd owe you a refund anyway) and then you go back to Turbo Tax online the following year and want to do two years, it will tell you, surprise, we still have your data from the earlier year but you can only get it back with the paid service.

At which point I said bah, humbug, and did my own dumb taxes.

 

Turbo tax no longer participates in the free tax filing program. AFAIK, you will have to pay to use the software now. If your tax is very simple, it may not be a cost effective way to file. I understand that there are other free tax programs. I have always used the paid version of TurboTax for all of my tax filing going back 30 years or longer. I just can't think of using anything else now.
IRS Free File Program delivered by TurboTax is no longer available

Edit: Apparently even though Intuit no longer participates in the IRS free filing program, very simple tax form (1040 only, no other forms) may be filed free using their online service. I have never used it, so I don't know how it works.
TurboTax® Official Site: File Taxes Online, Tax Filing Made Easy

 

I've used only TurboTax for a long time, so can't compare it to others. Two problems cropped up some time back:

(1) The first year I used the on-line version instead of optical disc version, their 'cloud' lost it before the next year, so if I hadn't kept my own local e- and hard-copies, I'd be SOL. Since your previous year's return is also used as a guide to pre-fill many fields and give reminders for regular items and carryovers on the current return, this help was also lost.

(2) one year, on an IRA form that was generated separately for each spouse, TT uploaded only the primary taxpayer's form to the IRS, not the spouse's form, causing the IRS to send us a dunning letter asking for some additional taxes and penalty. This was easily resolved on appeal, once the IRS received a copy of the missing form, but was a clear TurboTax processing error.

I'd also mention that if you are "the family accountant", doing taxes for not just yourself but also for an elderly parent, and estate trusts of a deceased parent (e.g. inheritance that won't be distributed until other parent passes), and barely-adult children, and possibly even paid but not-financially-savy family help, then don't use the on-line version, get the CD version instead. On-line, you have to pay for each entity's returns. With the CD, you can pay just once, then can fill out all the additional family returns without additional cost (though mailed, not e-filed). The last I heard, sis was generating and filing 11 (federal and state) returns for extended family.

 

I've used both Turbo Tax and HR-Block; CD/USB versions only. Don't trust the cloud; I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to my finances floating around in the cloud for all to see. I keep redundancies; personnel cloud storage on an old PC that I converted into an in-house cloud storage device, USB, and paper backups.
Both programs/apps has their quirks - the trick is to do annual tax comparisons. Both will give you an annual comparison and deviation on year over year - assuming you have a digital copy of last years return. Both will export/import from Quicken or whatever accounting software you use. They will also cross-import (ie. used turbo tax last year and got HR-Block this year - they will read each other's formats). This is all using a PC; I'm not a Mac/Apple guy; so can't tell you how it works out using a Mac.

Hope this helps.....

 

Wifey is a now retired CPA. She used Turbotax from forever even before retiring to do the taxes. She would never use anything else. Last I checked Amazon and Costco were cheapest. Get the disc or download TT to your computer. Do not do the online version. If you want pages of discussion about TT vs H&R vs CreditKarma go to the Slickdeals website and search for Turbotax and read the pages of discussion.

 

Turbo Tax for at least 16 years. My taxes are pretty routine once I get all the data from places where I have stashed investments. No real estate, farm, business, depreciation, etc. Takes me a couple of hours but I have learned the hard way it doesn't correct my typos. I don't download from any sources though it does have that capability. I print all 60+ pages of federal, state and backup pages and have two people review it for errors. Last year we found a TT error and an IRS form error. It had no material effect on the taxes owed so I went ahead and filed. I file Fed online, state in paper as they don't seem to use the same online data the fed use to audit me. Cheaper to do state on paper too.

 

I never had a Mac, but the above is what coworkers with Macs at home used. Eventually, MacInTax and TurboTax were merged.

 

Used TaxAct for years. Then they increased their prices to match TT and H&R. Not needing the ability to file multiple tax returns, I left. It appears their price has dropped, but the free ones work for me. Was using Credit Karma, but last year they did taxes through Cash App, and it is somebody else this year. Going to try TaxHawk; it and the two sibling programs have good reviews.

Note that Pennsylvania has a flat income tax rate, and the state's online filing site is easy enough. So I don't need state support from tax software.

 

While a flat tax is not a good answer at the federal level, I'd love to see the other two elements at the level -- simple enough for the great majority of individual taxpayers that a free federal website is sufficient.

 

In Canada, used Simple Tax for a few years now, name was changed (due to their being "acquired"?) to WealthSimple Tax. It's free, except they ask at the last step if you'd like to voluntarily donate, which I do, not a lot.

An odd thing: you get all these information slips in the mail, for regular income, interest income, government provided income and so on. The software asks if you'd like to automatically fill in the related fields, using the data from Revenue Canada.

Sure, but it seems a little odd, to be getting the data from them (you're cautioned to verify against the slips mailed to you), and then hand it back to them. The only real contributions you make are the above-and-beyond stuff, claims for medical expenses for example.

Anyway, it works good, and being a couple, you can do both returns together, and then use the "optimize" function, which will check for anthing overlooked, and review who's claiming what shuffle it to reduce what you owe and/or increase refund.

 

The lack of the highlighted items is a major deficiency with the U.S. system.

 

I use Turbo Tax, frequently I have my data before they have their forms. (They blame the IRS, I am not savvy enough to know)

My wife get a bonus Dec 15 of 10% to 200% of her salary, so I am always in a hurry to get our refund as we can't guess how much to withhold. This year we should get $18,000 back on Feb 15ish. ($25,000 in charitable donations and $6,600 in solar rebates mean we can itemize.)

 

There hasn't been one, historically, not because of a problem with feasibility, but because the federal government, lobbied heavily by Intuit and H&R Block, promised not to offer one. But if I'm remembering some not-very-old news item right, there might be some glimmer of light on that front, like that promise didn't get renewed the last time it came up. The details escape me.

 

TurboTax here.
Some years ago, Virginia elected officials got rid of our handy dandy free VA tax online, apparently campaign donations from Quicken were intended to make then get rid the free Va system, and our elected officials took the bait. So I get a little upset when I have to pay for filing state. But I usually get TT discounted from Fidleity that helps.

 

I've used the TaxHawk web site for several years. It functions well. $15 for state returns, $0 for federal, because they don't spend as nearly much on advertising as TurboTax does. They also have a free version, if you qualify.

The same thing happened in South Carolina.

 

Do you want them to do all the work without you being able to check the math?

The other side of that is that the continual cuts to the IRS budget means they likely don't have the ability to properly maintain a government site.

 

Well, their budget got an un-cut more recently, assuming it survives the debt-limit dramatics.

And I bet if a web service could reduce the number of paper forms they currently wade through, they would love to reallocate some resources in that direction.

 

It should still be easy to check the math, for those interested in doing so.

My annual running spreadsheet always ends up close to the final filed return, except when I blunder an entry, which is always discoverable when trying to reconcile. I need it to figure quarterly estimate payments and to plan fiscal maneuvers before the end of the year. (Being retired with no paycheck, not taking social security or a pension just yet, my taxes are from investments and IRA withdrawals and conversions.) There is some minutia (for me at least, not for some big fish) that isn't factored into the spreadsheet, on certain items where the details remain unknown until all the 1099s arrive, but the sheet figures those items at the max rate, so at the end I owe slightly less than it shows.

Those budget cuts are driven by somewhat similar politics.