Tax Preparation?

[Slug]

TurboTax

[Beppington]

I use turbotax, but my return is usually not very complicated.

The part I have the most trouble with is figuring out capital gains/losses for stock sales especially when I have been dollar cost averaging, receiving divididends and there have been spin offs. Usually the company provides a formula for calculating the gains (or losses ) when there has been a spin off and I use an excel spred sheet to apply a formula.

Other than that, it is pretty much fill in the blank with the appropriate number.

It's that "appropriate number" I have trouble with

[Beppington]

c) I use a CPA. He happens to be my cousin and he and his brother now run the accounting firm that was started by my father and his father. I do pay him but at a significantly reduced rate to someone coming in off the street.

I want in on that deal; who do I have to say I'm related to?

[Beppington]

This is not exactly true. From what I know, those people are merely volunteers. They have to take an 8 hour class and then they are deemed 'able' to help military members prepare their taxes. We only went in once, and the result was so outrageously wrong I had to go back in and question them about it. It was then that I found out that they do not generally have any specialized knowledge, much less a CPA, and that they are just volunteers. Also, they do NOT sign the bottom of your return as a CPA does stating their name and giving a signiture that proves that they prepared it for you. You sign it yourself and at the end of the day, you are taking full responsibility for what you are filing, whether you understand it or not. Please be very careful if you do use the service provided by the base. You should always understand what you are filing. It is really not rocket science 99.9% of the time.

From what I understand even if you have a CPA prepare it, you're still the one fully responsible for it. I'm not even sure the reason for the CPA's signature. Supposed to provide a feeling of confidence for the tax payer?

[myrdale]

I use a local guy here in town to prepare my taxes. They are nice folks and he HATES the IRS.

In the past I have paid about $55, this evening I let them milk me out of $75, but they earn it. He can quote the tax laws forwards and backwards and I haven't had any problems yet.

[Caoineag]

Taxact here. I have been doing my own taxes for 9 years. Some years have been far more complex than others but generally I just google something or go on the irs website if I have a new situation. Since I don't own a business, that works just fine.

[Beppington]

I use a local guy here in town to prepare my taxes. They are nice folks and he HATES the IRS.

In the past I have paid about $55, this evening I let them milk me out of $75, but they earn it. He can quote the tax laws forwards and backwards and I haven't had any problems yet.

Ha-ha! I hope he's not "stickin' it to The Man" (IRS) using your tax return!!

[wnlbutterfly]

I work for a tax office, so I do mine own, but I always have even before taking classes.

The only thing with tax software is that you still have to have an idea what deductions you can take and credits you can get. That is probably where most people lose money with the programs. I know they are trying to make the software user friendly, but one wrong answer can really mess it up.

Even working with the software at the office, I already have a good idea what the clients return is going to look like and I have had many times I had to go back in and make some changes because a deduction or credit was missing when I viewed the return.

Having said that, if you have a W-2 or 1099 and not much else, there really isn't any reason to have your taxes done at an office, a simple return is no problem with software programs.

[ceejay74]

Hey, I've seen ads that say TaxAct will do federal completely free, with no restrictions. Does anyone know if that's the case? Usually my husband and I make too much to qualify for free e-filing, so I pull up PDFs of the forms and type in the numbers, then print and send them the old-fashioned way to avoid paying more than price of a stamp.

We have education credits and itemized deductions, but other than that nothing too complicated. It would be awesome if we could efile for free!

[Beppington]

Hey, I've seen ads that say TaxAct will do federal completely free, with no restrictions. Does anyone know if that's the case? Usually my husband and I make too much to qualify for free e-filing, so I pull up PDFs of the forms and type in the numbers, then print and send them the old-fashioned way to avoid paying more than price of a stamp.

We have education credits and itemized deductions, but other than that nothing too complicated. It would be awesome if we could efile for free!

I signed up with taxact.com yesterday & have begun filling in my tax return. So far it's free & is user friendly ... as long as you know the answers to the questions, which I don't for some of the dividend-related questions I'm getting, like:

1) "When foreign tax is withheld from dividends, additional information may be needed to enable the proper handling of the entries for the foreign country on the Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit. Please enter the following information if it applies to you for International Value Fund. Previously made entries are shown below, if the foreign portion is different, modify as necessary." This isn't on my 1099DIV.

2) "Check to indicate how to treat this income for the foreign tax credit on Form 1116: Passive category income or General category income." This isn't on my 1099DIV.

3) "Foreign tax paid:" Fine, it's $51.66 for me, but "Foreign country:" ... Not on my 1099DIV.

[blankcheck]

I have a pro do it (friend of the family; he's known my father-in-law for over 30 years and has worked with him), but I'll do a brief run via TaxAct or TurboTax so I have a general idea.

[maat55]

Until last year I used a CPA, last year and this year, I am doing it myself.

[Russell]

TurboTax for the last 7 years

[kork13]

Over the last week or so, I've pulled all the applicable forms and essentially "done" my taxes by hand (though I am still missing another 1-2 documents to go with them). This morning (thanks to the snow day I got from work today, due to the ice/snow storm currently hitting us here in OK) I went onto TurboTax and did it on their system (except actually submitting it/paying the TT guys ). From TT I got about the same result (within $50), so I'm fairly confident that I'm not totally screwing something up. **phew** that's a relief. The messiest part was dealing with my investments and itemizing my deductions, which isn't too bad for now... No wife/kids, no home, no side-business.

[wnlbutterfly]

You (and your spouse if MFJ) are responsible for what is on your return...period, no matter who prepares it. The only time they go after a tax preparer is when there is obvious fraud, like one that was in the midwest, was adding all sorts of made up stuff....a lot of schedule C's for businesses that didn't exist and such. She actually got jail time but it is rare because you are responsible for it once you sign your name at the bottom.