Doing your taxes

[TracyThom]

I'm curious what method everyone uses to do their taxes. For the 6th year in a row, I'm using TurboTax. I paid $50 for the state and federal version. That includes the Federal E-file fee, but not the state. Turbo Tax really is easy to use, but it kind of stinks to dish out $50 each and every year for the software.

 

Has anyone filed online at the IRS' site? If so, how was the process? Anyone go to H & R Block? How much do they charge? Thanks.

[Blancofan1]

Taxactonline.com--used it the past 3 years and it is excellent. $16.95 to efile both federal and state returns with their ultimate bundle package. I actually worked at Jackson Hewitt in college doing taxes and taxact is almost identical to the program that we used there.

[Point Beer Is Best]

You can do your federal at TurboTax.com for free. The e-file is free there as well. They'll do your state taxes, but charge you $24.95 and e-file your state return for "free" as well.

 

It's likely the same program - I'd check it out and return the store-bought copy if I were you. It would save you 50%.

[fondybrewfan]

I also use tax-act. I am a little nervous about filing my own taxes this year. I switched to an HSA health plan this year, I am a little confused about the filing process for that. Why wife made some side money working as an independent consultant so I need to file the SE forms, and I am going to get deduct the first time home buyers tax credit so it is way more complicated than I had ever done before. I am going to wait until after this stimulus package is passed to file my taxes, because apparently this credit is being altered so that I never have to pay it back (As it stands it is essentially a $7,500 no interest loan that you have to pay back over 15 years, $500/yr in additional tax). The stimulus proposed that homes bought in 2009 would not have to pay it back but it isn't clear if that is the case for homes bought in 2009 but claimed on 2008 returns. So I am going to wait, I might have to claim it on my 2009.

 

But I have been very satisfied with Tax Act, never had any problems, I just hope my new complications don't make it too hard for me to do myself. I don't want anyone to know my finances except myself.

[pitchleague]

TurboTax online for me for the last 8 years. Works great and I never seem to miss a thing. It walks you through the tough stuff if you need help, plus there is live chat with professionals if you still have questions. Love it.

[temke]

pencil and paper here. pretty easy though...nothing tricky outside of mortgage stuff

[bork]

I do them by hand, but I use Turbotax.com to make sure I didn't miss anything. I can go through everything online for free and stop right before the e-file so I don't have to pay any fees.

[NeedMoreFans]

I have a question about Turbo Tax...

 

Last year, we were above the income threshold to file for free (above $30k or something like that), and I have a lot of deductions, so the basic didn't cut it...I had to spend $30 to file my taxes, which was fine. I'm in the same situation this year, so I was thinking about buying Turbo Tax deluxe, which runs around $60. If I buy it, do I have to pay to buy next year's version (or pay for an update)? I sure hope they wouldn't scam people by making them pay a lot of money every year for updated software.

[pitchleague]

you basically have to use the new year's version every year because the program (or the online version) includes all the tax law changes every year. If you try to use TurboTax 2006 to do this year's taxes, chances are pretty solid that you'll get something wrong due to all the changes to the tax law.

 

Sorry to bear the "bad" news in that department.

[DougJones43]

I've used TaxSlayer for the past few years. It's only $9.95 to e-file it and have it sent to the IRS, and I think it's easy as heck. My taxes are fairly simple though -- no dependents, and I just take the standard deduction with a few adjustments....

[ewizabeff]

as Point Beer mentioned, I use turbotax.com. It's the same thing as using the boxed software but it's free, offers different levels depending on your needs, and stores your returns from year to year. love it.

[RightFieldCoder]

I go to IRS.gov and free file. It links to numerous sites that will allow you to do it for free. I usually use H&R Block. Though this year they wanted to charge $15 to import my information from last year. In previous years they imported for free and it made it even easier since it knew about what W-2s, stocks, bank interests, etc I had.

 

Wisconsin.gov allows you to file your state taxes for free. But this year's is worse than last years. In previous years all you had to do was enter the boxes from your federal form. Now all they have is an interactive screen of the paper version. You have to know where and what numbers to put in the boxes. Which was a problem for me this year since I sold some stocks I've had for 20 years last summer. So I paid the money to H&R Block to also do my state taxes.

[Vgmastr]

If you made less than $30,000, you can use turbotax.com and the fee to file your state return is only $9.95 if you use this link.

[Blancofan1]

I just looked this chart up and thought it may be helpful in answering any questions on how long it should take to get refunds back this year. I only pasted the chart up to filing by April 15th, but the entire thing can be found here.

 

2008 IRS e-file Refund Cycle Chart http://www.taxact.com/images/IRS-efile.gif

Transmitted & Accepted (by 11:00 am) between...	Direct Deposit Sent*	Paper Check Mailed*
Jan 16 and Jan 22, 2009	Jan 30, 2009	Feb 6, 2009
Jan 22 and Jan 29, 2009	Feb 6, 2009	Feb 13, 2009
Jan 29 and Feb 5, 2009	Feb 13, 2009	Feb 20, 2009
Feb 5 and Feb 12, 2009	Feb 20, 2009	Feb 27, 2009
Feb 12 and Feb 19, 2009	Feb 27, 2009	Mar 6, 2009
Feb 19 and Feb 26, 2009	Mar 6, 2009	Mar 13, 2009
Feb 26 and Mar 5, 2009	Mar 13, 2009	Mar 20, 2009
Mar 5 and Mar 12, 2009	Mar 20, 2009	Mar 27, 2009
Mar 12 and Mar 19, 2009	Mar 27, 2009	Apr 3, 2009
Mar 19 and Mar 26, 2009	Apr 3, 2009	Apr 10, 2009
Mar 26 and Apr 2, 2009	Apr 10, 2009	Apr 17, 2009
Apr 2 and Apr 9, 2009	Apr 17, 2009	Apr 24, 2009
Apr 9 and Apr 16, 2009	Apr 24, 2009	May 1, 2009

* The IRS does not guarantee a specific date that a refund will be deposited into a taxpayer's financial institution account or mailed. Taxpayers should wait at least three weeks from the time the electronic return data is acknowledged as accepted by the IRS before checking the status of a refund. To check the status of a refund, call TeleTax at 1-800-829-4477 (toll free) or go to www.irs.gov and click on "Where's My Refund".

[Team Canada]

I also use TaxAct. Only $12 for me this year for Fed and State. I usually also put it into TurboTax as well, just to make sure that one of them isn't missing something. Still only a couple hours worth of work, even with the duplication.

 

I would highly recommend against actually buying the software, you're almost never going to get the same deal as using online.

[Diskono]

I also use tax-act. I am a little nervous about filing my own taxes this year. I switched to an HSA health plan this year, I am a little confused about the filing process for that. Why wife made some side money working as an independent consultant so I need to file the SE forms, and I am going to get deduct the first time home buyers tax credit so it is way more complicated than I had ever done before. I am going to wait until after this stimulus package is passed to file my taxes, because apparently this credit is being altered so that I never have to pay it back (As it stands it is essentially a $7,500 no interest loan that you have to pay back over 15 years, $500/yr in additional tax). The stimulus proposed that homes bought in 2009 would not have to pay it back but it isn't clear if that is the case for homes bought in 2009 but claimed on 2008 returns. So I am going to wait, I might have to claim it on my 2009.

Why would you be able to claim a house that you bought in 2009 on your 2008 tax return?

[BMuch]

Why would you be able to claim a house that you bought in 2009 on your 2008 tax return?

 

Part of the stimulus allows first time homebuyers to take the (up to) $7,500 credit on their 2008 tax return if the home was purchased between Jan 1, 2009 - June 30, 2009.

 

BMuch, CPA

[Godspeed]

Why would you be able to claim a house that you bought in 2009 on your 2008 tax return? Because the IRS says you can:

You can choose to claim the credit on your 2008 Form 1040 for a main home purchased after December 31, 2008, and before July 1, 2009. If you make this choice, check the box.

Link

 

You're basically eligible if you purchased your main home located in the United States after April 8, 2008 and before July 1, 2009, you did not own any other main home during the 3-year period ending on the date of purchase and your Adjusted Gross Income is less than $95,000 (or $170,000 if married filing jointly).

 

I e-filed through irs.gov for Federal, choosing the 'without tax software' option (it's free), and did the entering-the-numbers-deal for the state of Wisconsin on their website.

[stoops17]

I have used H&R Blocks free e-file for federal and Wisconsin's free e-file as well. So far no issues, I usually do a dry run, ask questions/research if anything comes up. And I agree that last year's state online program was better than this years.

[FVBrewerFan]

I've used Taxcut from H&R Block the past 3 years. Used Turbotax before that. Honestly, I walk through Best Buy and grab one or the other. Taxcut has been $5-$7 or so cheaper so that's what I got. really don't notice much difference between the two. This Taxact mentioned earlier has my attention though, I think I'll check it out next year.

[PeaveyFury]

I am going to wait until after this stimulus package is passed to file my taxes, because apparently this credit is being altered so that I never have to pay it back (As it stands it is essentially a $7,500 no interest loan that you have to pay back over 15 years, $500/yr in additional tax). The stimulus proposed that homes bought in 2009 would not have to pay it back but it isn't clear if that is the case for homes bought in 2009 but claimed on 2008 returns. So I am going to wait, I might have to claim it on my 2009.

 

Boy, they're sure doing a heck of a job to make this confusing. The current stimulus proposal does double the amount and eliminate the repayment, but it's not a refundable credit, meaning that you only get back what you have due on your taxes. So, if you have a tax bill of say 4,000, that's what you get from the credit, not the full 15k or 10%. Not to mention that it'll take place from when the new bill is signed, so people closing on homes in the next week or two are in a major limbo with regards to the credit and filing their taxes.

[pitchleague]

Just finished mine up on Turbo Tax online. Getting some nice refunds back from Federal and Arizona. I probably should adjust our withholdings so the government doesn't get interest free loans from us every year but it's still kind of nice to get fat refunds every year rather than just increasing our paychecks by $40 or so every 2 weeks.

 

The only thing I worry about is getting forms mailed to me after I file. That happened last year with one form and my data entry from Quicken was off a tad, costing me a few bucks in refund probably. But I'm pretty sure my numbers are accurate so I'm not too worried. Hopefully, I'll have my refunds by Feb. 20th!

[And That]

The current stimulus proposal [regarding the homeowner tax credit] does double the amount and eliminate the repayment, but it's not a refundable credit, meaning that you only get back what you have due on your taxes.

This is not exactly correct. The Senate version of the bill doubles the credit from $7500 to $15K and does turn it into a non-refundable tax credit. The House version of the bill leaves the credit at $7500, eliminates the repayment provision and keeps the credit refundable. The conference committee version of the bill will ultimately combine the two somehow... I'm guessing the credit will end up higher than $7500, will not need to be repaid and may or may not be refundable.

 

And even if it is not refundable, it more than likely will be able to be taken over two years. So, even if you're only able to claim say $4000 of the credit in '08 or '09, you can still claim the rest of it (if you have sufficient tax liability) in '09 or '10, respectively.

 

Edit: It looks like the final version of the tax credit will be closer to $7500 than $15000... since it will be that low, I would assume (or, hope) that the credit will become refundable and something you definitely won't have to pay back. But we'll see in the next day or two.

[fondybrewfan]

Sounds like the $15,000 or 15% tax credit was wiped out in the final version of the bill. I am not sure if the tax credit will be changed at all. If I had to guess I would say it will stay at $7,500 but you won't have to pay it back. That is certainly a sizable chunk of cash. The sad thing is that I plan on taking this credit but I will be using it to pay off credit cards and then put the rest in savings. So it will do absolutely nothing to stimulate the economy.

[And That]

It's going to be at $7500, you won't have to pay it back and you'll be able to use it in the 2008 or 2009 tax year. I haven't been able to find out if it's refundable or not, and if not, if you can spread it over two years.