As the end
of January nears, my husband gets in a tizzy to get our taxes done so he can plan
ahead. In the past I have bought Turbo Tax every year to do our taxes. After reading your blog for almost a year now, I got to thinking that
there must be some form of less expensive tax preparation software. I hate to
drop $50 on Turbo Tax! It’s a wonderful program, but very
pricey! We make more than $50,000/year so we don't qualify for the free programs that out there. Does anyone have a suggestion for a less-expensive solution than $50 for Turbo Tax? -Amy
Great question, Amy! Since my husband is an attorney and my dad is a CPA, we've never had to pay for tax preparation as they work together on getting our taxes filed. However, I know most people aren't in the same position as us so I'd love to hear what you all do as far as tax preparation goes. Any ideas for Amy and her husband to save money on their tax preparation?
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We used used software for years to do our taxes. It always ended up with an arguement between my husband and I because we weren’t quite sure if something applied to us then making a guess. Last year we didn’t have enough deductions and we were going to owe money. A friend said she had someone do her taxes so we decided to use him. He cost us $80 but he found a deduction we didn’t know we could use. He ended up taking us from owing to getting $2oo back and there were no arguements. I will pay the additional for the peace and it will be done right.
I’m a CPA. I believe the better tax softwares out there are well worth the money. I myself could do my own by hand, but I prefer using turbotax, so I can e-file. (Privacy issues prevent us from e-filing through the firm I work for.)
Don’t forget to look for discounts on the online softwares. My credit union offers members 15% off turbotax online. State Farm Insurance clients also have received a discount in the past, and may be eligible for on this year.
I just realized that my bank (USAA) offers a discount on Turbo Tax. I was so excited as I usually buy the full price edition every year. Also – just remember that the cost of tax preparation (even if it is software) is deductible on your taxes. Save those receipts!
Try Intuit-turbo tax freedom file. If your state is on the list you can file FREE! I am in GA and I filed not only my federal but my state for FREE as well. It is a great service and easy. Give it a try…Your income does not matter, it depends on your residency.
Good luck, hopefully, I can help someone.
Cindy R.
I didn’t take the time to read all the posts so someone may have already mentioned this…My husband made over $50,000 last year and we were able to free file our federal and paid for our state (this year I’ll be searching for a free site). Just go to http://www.irs.gov and they will have information and links there to all the sites that offer free file and you may qualify for one of them. Last year we used H&R block online.
Happy Tax Season!
We’ve used TaxAct.com several times. It’s free, cheap to efile and has been wonderful for us!
My husband does it the old-fashioned way – with his brain and a calculator.
We do use TurboTax but find that it is worth it in the end.
However I did notice that Dollar Tree sells another one of those tax software programs for only $1. I forget what it is called, but I have seen it at other stores too for more.
I use H&R Block’s software to efile my taxes for free (I qualify due to income), but I refuse to pay for them to file state. I figured out last year that I can use their software to prepare the state return and simply use the resulting refund amount to double-check my paper return that I mail in for, yup, FREE. Well, 42 cents.
Thank you for ALL of the great advice. I am a SAHM but my husband brings home 100,000 a year and even though we could spend the 50.00 on Turbo Tax we are trying to save as much money as possible right now to put down on the home we hope to purchase by summer. All of the advice has really helped. My husband is also in the military (Guard), 16 years, and they offer Tax Prep on base. There is still a fee but I think that is the route that we are going.
Many of the websites that allow you to file free under the Tax Freedom Act are listing $56,000 as the cutoff. Not sure if you fall under that or not.
Also, I print my state taxes and mail them. I don’t get enough back to justify paying to e-file and it usually doesn’t take long to receive the check as long as I file early.
I posted a list on my blog of various links to the free file sites and places to buy software at a discount, rebates, etc.
http://ertlnet.blogspot.com/2009/01/its-tax-time.html
-Jen
I have used http://www.taxslayer.com for the last 6 or 7 years. They are around $10 for electronic filing (federal and state) and for military it is FREE! I have never had a problem. I used TurboTax for years and one year tried taxslayer and haven’t used anything else.
As far as I know you shouldn’t have to repurchase turbo tax every year. You should just be able to update it via email. the nice thing about it is that it gives you the most amount of rebate.
As far as I know you shouldn’t have to repurchase turbo tax every year. You should just be able to update it via email. the nice thing about it is that it gives you the most amount of rebate.
I used Tax Act this year and loved it. Go to taxact.com
It cost me $16.95 and literally walked me through everything. I had my checks back in less that 2 weeks from State and Federal…..
We’ve used taxact for several years. I usually receive an email in November or December asking me to start the next year’s return and receive a discount on upgrading to the deluxe version which ends up costing $7.95. We itemize and need the extras in the deluxe version.
I work at an accounting firm and wanted to let everyone know that if the IRS sends you notice of an error in your return, you have every right to dispute that. They make errors, too, and if you aren’t careful you’ll end up giving them money you don’t really owe. Even if you prepare your own taxes and then get a letter stating you owe more, it would be worth it to have a CPA or other tax person take a look just to make sure you really do owe additional money.
I’ve used Taxslayer.com for years and love it. Handles everything the bigger guys do and it’s cheaper (9.95 for my federal AND state). Good luck!
I am a tax accountant, so obviously, I am biased here. I would be cautious with trying to save $20 or $30 by buying the cheapest software available. Also, keep your eyes open for rebates on TurboTax. It is often available for free with rebate.
I don’t have alot of experience with consumer tax software b/c I work with professional software, but I have seen TurboTax and I think it is pretty good. And it has a good company behind it (Intuit makes Quickbooks and the professional software I use in my practice). TurboTax might cost a few bucks more, but for good reason. It is well written software, and it is more user friendly. It makes it more likely that your self-prepared tax return will be done correctly. In the scheme of things, a little extra cost for better written software might actually be netting you hundreds of dollars to which you are legally entitled.
I am all about saving money, believe me. If I can do something myself, I find the thought of paying someone else a bit painful. But there are some areas where it does not pay to cut corners in an extreme way. When it comes to certain matters, it is not extravagant to ask for an expert’s help or pay for better software when the do-it-yourself approach could end up costing you money.
Good luck!
Our local library hosts the AARP tax preparers, and they do it for free with, it seems, no income limit, though I think it is supposed to, they do it for anyone who comes in anyway. You never know.
As a CPA, I still recommend http://www.taxact.com to anyone looking to save on tax preparation fees. I strongly disagree with the franchised tax operations, as they overcharge for returns prepared by (mostly) underqualified preparers. Last month, I posted a very helpful tool on my blog that will help save on all aspects of tax preparation, and also to help maximize your refund. You can check the post out here:http://gatewaytosaving.blogspot.com/2009/01/income-taxes-free-filing-and-money.html
irs.gov really is a well done site, with pdf’s of all the info you need, and many faq’s that are very helpful. if your taxes are pretty simple, even with itemized deductions, or school credits/deductions … filing yourself really isn’t that difficult.
i found it very helpful to sit down and just read through the 1040 instruction booklet, line by line, entering the info I had, and making note of things that were confusing or papers i needed to find. it took me about 5 hours total (maybe 1 hour per evening, spaced throughout a week) to complete our federal and state taxes. the more you read the instructions, the easier it is to figure out which credits or deductions help the most, which is good to keep in mind for this new year.
it is only february now, so if you take a chance on doing it yourself, and you get too stumped or overwhelmed, there’s plenty of time left to go buy a product to help you.
don’t believe the hype that you ‘need’ a certain product to do things for you – at least be willing to get your mind churning a little, before asking for help.
I have used Tax Act online for at least 10 years! It’s great!
Check with any organizations you are a part of, any clubs, unions, etc.
Also check with your creditors – like Statefarm, they offer Turbo Tax Deluxe free.
Also check on the IRS website, they have a huge list of free companies & agencies.
Also check locally. I know I live in Cleveland there are organizations in local towns that do free tax prep on certain days or hours.
Also, you can go to any local IRS office.
I’m only adding my two cents since my husband is a CPA and does personal taxes. He thinks TurboTax and other do it yourself software is fine, as long as you realize “garbage in, garbage out”. In other words, take your time and carefully go through your return. I know that paying someone to do your taxes seems like an unreasonable expense, but they do have expertise and knowledge that could help you out (and they can even give you tips on how to save on taxes in the future). So if you have an even remotely “complicated” return, I think it might be worth the investment to make sure it’s done right.
We do our taxes every year at our local library. The AARP come to the library and it is all free and you can have them direct deposit it into your checking. Check around you never know!
Taxfreedom.com is a turbotax sponsored website that is free if you meet certain qualifications (income, active duty military, or qualify for EIC). Check it out!
WOW. I love you ladies. I just did taxact.com after reading all these comments. $13.95 for the whole shebang! I can’t believe I spent $200 last year!
Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but I see many people paying to file their state taxes. MOST states offer a FREE filing option on their website. NJ offers a web-based e-file option that is completely free. I intend on using TaxAct to file my federal taxes for free and my state web-file to file my state taxes for free. You just can’t beat free!
We used the free turbo tax software online, without any problems. Our income is over $50K and we have mortgage deductions and charitable deductions…and it worked fine. Last year we couldn’t use the free programs, but this year worked great. We even efiled our state return for free too (in VA).
Thanks so much to everyone for the info on TaxAct.com. I had already entered my tax info online at TurboTax and was prepared to e-file and pay $19.95. I input my info into TaxAct.com just for the heck of it, mostly to see if the refund amount came to the same as TurboTax. TaxAct was more! TurboTax missed a tax credit for saving into my 401k! So, I got an additional $308 refund and didn’t have to pay the $19.95 fee I would’ve paid with TurboTax.
A note about state taxes – I was originally planning to pay a little more to file our state taxes through the same software we used for our federal, but just before filing I decided to check out the state government web page for tax information. (We live in Maryland.) The government website offered free e-filing of our state taxes ANNNNND… when I did it that way it turned out there was a BIG deduction that the software missed! I was about to pay for the state tax filing PLUS extra tax without that deduction! So I would definitely check your state’s government web page first.
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