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Used Turbotax this year and have been for the past few years. It's easy and fast. It also depends on how complex your portfolio is. For example, if you're married, have kids, have assets, have charitable contributions, or have other tax deductibles, then hiring an accountant might be the better route. If you're single and don't have any assets, Turbotax is the way to go.
I'd also vouch for TurboTax in simple cases. It's quick, easy, and inexpensive. I'd get a professional if you have unique situations, such as your own business(es), use a home office, etc. If you're stretching for write-offs, I'd also go with a professional.
Did you go with the standard service or advanced?
Ended up going with TurboTax.. don't think I will ever see an accountant again..
Agree. It was my first time filling taxes as an independent and I used Turbotax, paid 39$ and got my taxes done in 90min.
My peers have been saying that too.
The equation to determine what you owe or are owed is the same regardless of which preparation service you use, so the end result should be the same. If there is a difference, someone is messing up somewhere.
I personally do not use Turbotax because their makers lobby heavily to keep the IRS from simplifying the process. I like FreeTaxUSA, but there are plenty of options out there.
Very true. That did not occur to me while writing the post, but thanks for recommending FreeTaxUSA
Giving a reco without understanding the problem, wow, WSO never ceases to demaze me.
Are you single? Married? Business Owner or LP? W2 or 1099? International Income? Other unique or unusual items?
If you're a single or married person with a W2 and few 1099s with a 1098, I'd say use any of the various software programs. If you file a Schedule C or K-1, I'd lean more on an independent tax professional (not HR Block or Jackson Hewitt).
Single, Few W2's and one 1099 along with investments from Robinhood.
Onward with a tax software!
He didn't ask for which one he should use, but what other people are using. Give it a rest.
I'm trying to use the Free File option on the IRS website. I was able to fill out everything easily enough, but then to confirm your identity you need to either use your PIN from the prior year or enter your prior year AGI. For some reason my return keeps getting rejected for an incorrect AGI. Doesn't make sense since I only had one W-2 and one 1099-INT last year.
So I tried to go get my prior year transcript from the IRS website to verify and was locked out because for some reason none of the credit card numbers I tried to use for verification "matched" their records. Now I'm locked out for 24 hours. Might as well just mail it now.
Feelsbadman
More so advice for the new recent college grad analysts in the U.S. If you made under $66K during the year you can file for free in most states with most tax software providers like H&R and Turbo Tax. It was super super easy and I have filed already. Just make sure you keep everything organized and saved on your personal computer with PDFs of all available tax information that you used (W2's, 1098-T, 1099, etc.).
Here are some links to state tax sites, if you want to find what e-filing is available to you. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/efile/default.htm</a">NY https://www.mass.gov/how-to/file-your-massachusetts-personal-income-tax…</a">MA https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/efile/allsoftware.shtml</a">CA http://www.revenue.state.il.us/MyTax/IL-1040.htm</a">IL
I really recommend doing it yourself for the first few years out of college as our taxes are wicked easy since we aren't dealing with the more complicated deductions like homeowners interest, multiple dependents, etc.
Use this link to reddit for more info: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/7r0tvv/tax_filing_sof…
I used to use a software, but when I had a few questions on stock grants I went to a professional. My general advice (I passed the CPA, but dont do taxes):
If you (and/or family) have a few W2s and just a few 1099s then the different software options should all be fine for you. IF you're young or not making too much money they may even be free.
If your situation is a little more complex - equity through work, real estate investments, partnerships, charitable giving, etc... a local person is likely the best route.
When I say a local person, I mean an actual local tax accountant. I have a full time CPA from a small, local firm do my taxes and it's fairly cheap. It's a much better idea than saving $100 and having someone who took the 2 hour HR Block training session.
While they all guarantee your tax refund to be "right", that just guarantees the math. The math is not where a professional helps you. A professional helps you with strategies, deductions, etc.... I'm 100% sure that my local guy has saved me enough $ over the last 5 years vs. H&R Block to pay for the nominal increase in his fee.
You said what I said better. Just do this.
As said in the above, if you're taxes aren't complicated with kids, assets, marriage, etc., then all of the online services will be easy to use. I use HR Block and I've used TurboTax in the past; pick one they're all EZ...
Even kids isn't really complex unless you have significant expenditures for them that are deductible (even that isn't THAT bad).
It really comes down to types of income and deductions you're looking to take.
I've used a couple different software programs, have gone in person to do H&R block one year, and I've used a CPA/tax guy. I just bought a house last year and have some other investments and I still used the tax software for 2017. My justification is that even if you have investments/real estate assets, it really only is beneficial to use a tax guy in my opinion if you have multiple dependents and have your own business or something similar where you may not know everything you can deduct. But if you just have an investment/real estate portfolio, it's not terribly difficult to know enough about how those deductions work on their own to make sure you're doing it right on one of the programs, which will be a lot cheaper than a local person in a lot of cases. I know the one year I used the CPA, I got gutted on the price from the year prior when I used one of the programs, and haven't been back to one since.
I personally am a CPA who has worked in tax and I still use HR Block. Took me 20 minutes and I received my tax return in 5 business days.
Should I contribute to tax advantaged acct to boost refund? Thoughts there?
Not exactly sure what you mean by tax advantaged account. Also, in theory you should want your refund to be as close to zero as possible or owe the government a little bit of money. TVM.
When you get to my bracket, you incur penalties for underpayment through the year. I claim 0 and still have to make quarterly payments in order to avoid interest and penalties. IRS letters suck.
Yes. I don't qualify for an IRA anymore. Get the max tax advantage while you can. I have a traditional IRA. Sometime I'll find a way to get the distributions tax free. I get mailers on seminars in the area which claim a loophole has been found.
My firm has a deal with TurboTax, so that's the option I'm taking.
Also check with FreeTaxUSA. They're usually cheaper than TurboTax.
I personally use Turbotax. Well, it is the most expensive choice for filing taxes online, but gives a high-quality user interface and access to specialists. By using the IRS Free File Program presented by TurboTax, low to moderate-income tax filers can prepare and electronically file IRS Tax Settlement and all state tax returns for free, while claiming all the deductions and credits they deserve.
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