Question about your tax preparer

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 4:54pm

Has anyone here used turbo tax? Do you recommend it?

My accountant will be charging me about $450 to do mine, and I don't have a very complex situation. I think his rate is too high.

I was thinking about turbo tax but don't have a clue what it's like. I'm wondering if it could be too confusing for a lunatic like me to figure out.

Or- I wouldn't mind hearing if anyone wants to recommend their own accountant to me, if he/she is reasonable. If you do, please pm me.

Oh - in Manhattan!

[Marianne2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 5:30pm

I used it last year, and thought it was easy to use. Actually, I don't know what your income level is like or if you would be considered elderly, but you might qualify for a free service called VITA. They get volunteers to do your taxes. They do get trained so they know what they are doing. My dad has been doing it for the past three years. All you need to do is see if you qualify, and then find a site close to you, and bring all the information you need. I think some places you need to make an appointment, but some also might be walk in situations.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 5:34pm

Thanks Marianne! This is the first time I'm glad I'm old, but I don't know if I'm elderly. I'll look into that immediately!

[danmag]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 5:44pm

Jane, I have used Turbo Tax for the past 2 years and it is SO easy to use! They walk you thru every step - as long as you don't have a lot of complicated tax issues I would highly recommend it!

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 5:47pm

that's what I'm wondering about, Danmag. The only thing I have besides 3 W2s are some 1099s from having some stocks and bonds. Is that too much for them?

[danmag]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 5:52pm

No! I would absolutely give it a try...there is no commitment to pay until the end if I remember correctly, so if as you are going along you don't like it you can bail out with no harm done. It does take a while (I think it took me about an hour to do the whole thing, maybe a little more...) Good luck - it's a great money saver - I agree accountants are ridiculously overpriced if you have a relatively easy tax return to do!

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 5:55pm

I agree with Danmag. I have used Turbotax for 2 years now and love it

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 6:26pm

"No! I would absolutely give it a try...there is no commitment to pay until the end if I remember correctly"

But I was told that you have to buy the program to even put it in your computer. Not true?

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 6:28pm

Jane, if you have online account with your brokerage house, they may be able to upload your trade info and 1099 automatically. Some brokerage houses can do this, others can.

I have used TurboTax for the past 4-5 years and found it relatively easy to use. My taxes are a teeny bit more complicated, but it seems to handle them fine (though I have never been audited, so who knows!).

It is also nice if you have carryover losses year to year since TurboTax can capture the information from the last year and use it for the current year as a carryover.

I have been pretty happy with it.

[Anakela]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 6:28pm

I love Turbo Tax! I first used it a couple of years ago when I moved cross country, and it completely walked me through the
- did you live in this state the entire year?
- what dates did you reside in state A
- what dates did you reside in state B
questions, and filled out the one Federal plus two state returns that I needed to file that year.

Have been using it every year since, no complaints.

eta:
But I was told that you have to buy the program to even put it in your computer. Not true?

you can do it on disc, or online, and I *think* online you don't pay until the end. (I've only ever used it via disc.)
Updated On: 2/24/10 at 06:28 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 6:49pm

ok, you guys have convinced me! now if I don't qualify for the IRS to do it free, I'm going with turbo.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 8:07pm

I use TaxSlayer.com and I love it. It's super easy and they walk you through every step with you. If you qualify to get your taxes done for free this year, TaxSlayer is one of the services you can use. That is how I found them last year and I used them again this year. (My last year getting it done for free! *tear*)

Updated On: 2/24/10 at 08:07 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 8:21pm

So, you have to be young for them to do it free?

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 8:31pm

If you're under 25 or over a certain age (I don't remember what) and you only make below a certain level of income, you can get your taxes prepared for free.

Anyway, this is my last year being under 25.

I probably should have said my last year doing it for free for a few decades.

Posted: 2/24/10 at 9:21pm

I've used Turbo Tax. This, year they wanted to charge me to E-File. So I went online and found another free service. It found me a $400 tax credit that Turbo Tax didn't.

So I saved $420 by NOT using Turbo Tax!

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 9:29pm

Even though it sounds like you are convinced already, I will also give a thumbs up to TurboTax. I switched to them last year, after having used H&R Block's online service for several years before that.

You can start Turbo Tax online with no commitment to pay until you go to file. Last year Turbo Tax actually got me a refund through the state of NY, while H&R Block had me paying them. I still had to pay the feds, but that was unavoidable due to doing some opera work with their stupid 1099/Independent Contractor status for stage managers. (Side note: I love working on operas, but hate that they still cop out on covering stage management, and singers, for basics such as unemployment coverage, workers' comp benefits, etc, by forcing us into Independent Contractor status. I'm glad Equity doesn't allow it for any of their salaried contracts.)

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 9:47pm

Thanks AEA. I'm so confused! The thing I'm nervous about is figuring out how to deal with 1099's from my financial institution, you know, dividends and that sort of thing. Does turbo tax take you through that?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 10:21pm

I can't say for sure about the dividends stuff, but they walked me through the 1099 MISC/self employment taxes pretty easily, as well as the forms for student loan interest payed. And I know as you go through it basically keeps asking if you have such and such a document, and then I assume walks you through entering it. I've found it to be a really user friendly process.

And you can do it online without having to purchase the software. As a few others said, they don't require payment until you actually go to submit the return, which is always nice, so if you don't like the results you can always try another method.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 10:26pm

Very good! I think I'm going to try it.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 10:46pm

I've used H&R Block online for about 4 years now. Never had a problem. They walk you through the whole thing. Piece of cake for someone who has no aptitude for this kind of stuff.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/24/10 at 11:01pm

But they're not cheap, are they girly?

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 2/25/10 at 12:08am

For the 1099, they walk you through it - but some brokerage houses can upload your info automatically. Usually, they will ask for each 1099, and ask you to report the gains/losses/distributions. If you have sold a stock or mutual fund, they will ask for the basis, the original purchase date, and then the sale date. If you have not sold any stocks or mutual funds, then it is quicker. If you have, you need to get the records to show the purchase price and the basis in the stock/mutual fund first, then provide the sale price and date.

I have one broker who has an electronic feed, which makes things easy, and another that does not - which makes things a pain. Your sales over the year of any stocks or mutual funds should be reported in your 1099 from the brokerage house. You will just need to go back to find the records of the purchase price.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/25/10 at 12:13am

" You will just need to go back to find the records of the purchase price. "

Once I have that info, I can do turbo tax?

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 2/25/10 at 12:32am

You will need that for any service - if you sold stocks or mutual funds in 2009, you will need to show the cost basis as part of reporting any gain or loss.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/25/10 at 12:42am

I have all that info on paper that Fidelity sent me. But there appear to be hundreds of transactions.