Author Topic: TurbTax? TaxCut? Tis the season (Read 404 times)

LePaul · « **on:** January 27, 2006, 09:59:41 AM »

What do people like?

I bought the TurboTax Deluxe that includes Fed & State. Just installed it. It wants $$ to do the State part. Way to go Intuit. Advertise one thing, then say another on install. Currrently on hold to figure out how I get it to do what its supposed to.

But I did whiz thru and enter in my W2s, mortgage interest, etc. Everyone told me that once you own a home, you'll see a bigger refund. Umm, really? According to these preliminary numbers...gee, Im up $100 versus from the apartment renting days. Huh?

What changed? Waaah! I wanna huge refund like everyone else seems to get!

Eagler · « **Reply #1 on:** January 27, 2006, 10:07:41 AM »

low interest rates & tax changes killed any refund I would get with the house

I try to go for zero $$ back and $$ dollars owed as I'd rather get the $$ bi-weekly in my paycheck to use/save as I see fit not uncle sam

I use turbo tax just because I have in the past and it imports the info from the previous year and I am lazy that way

state tax? what is that?

Toad · « **Reply #2 on:** January 27, 2006, 10:12:48 AM »

Same, started with Turbo and it's so easy to keep going with it.

Side note: Kansas tax form is short and referenced to numerical lines on US tax form. You can do Kansas online. It's a simple matter to plug in the Turbo numbers and hit send. So, I never pay Turbo to do State.

LePaul · « **Reply #3 on:** January 27, 2006, 10:37:35 AM »

Intuit Support was pretty cool.

They were surprised the box didnt have a keycode or something in it offering free state. The lady zinged me the needed file within minutes. So if you buy TurboTax Deluxe at BestBuy and are prompted to pay for state...call em.

I paid close to $5k in mortgage interest alone.

I think what mauled me is my part time Sears job. On average, its like $90 a pay period...unless I sell a lot of tvs that week, then we see some bigger numbers. But since the overall average is low, the taxes were too. So in the end, I made like $2500 and got taxed $50. In hindsight I shouldve re-done mine deductions to take an extra $10 out per pay period.

Friends of mine always seem to get a few grand...I dunno how they do it. Oh wait...married. Being single dont pay LOL

BigGun · « **Reply #4 on:** January 27, 2006, 10:42:33 AM »

have 5 kids & pay $3k per month in mortgage interest. tax return may be better...but monthly outflow takes a bite.

midnight Target · « **Reply #5 on:** January 27, 2006, 11:05:53 AM »

I got Turbo and was able to do both Fed and State without additional charge. They did want a small fee to file electronically ($14.95), it was worth it. They were even able to import my W2 info from ADP, change to a married/joint filing and auto-deposit the refund. Technology is pretty cool.

DREDIOCK · « **Reply #6 on:** January 27, 2006, 12:13:37 PM »

I like my nephew, the accountant.

Hand him my monthy records and my wifes W2s and say "here you figure it out"

He likes it and hes good at it.
And that kinda watermelon gives me a headache LOL

john9001 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 27, 2006, 01:13:44 PM »

i always used H&R blocks online software, ez and cheap.

CavemanJ · « **Reply #8 on:** January 27, 2006, 02:37:41 PM »

I prefer TaxAct myself

g00b · « **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2006, 04:44:00 PM »

http://www.turbotax.com

Quick, easy, remembers previous years, no need to save local copies, etc... If you file a 1040EZ like me, it's free, though you have to pay for electronic filing.

Ripsnort · « **Reply #10 on:** January 27, 2006, 05:29:23 PM »

Turbo Tax user 4 years now. No problems except I PAY IN every year.

eagl · « **Reply #11 on:** January 27, 2006, 05:56:59 PM »

I switched to taxcut the year turbotax went all wonky with the crippleware copy protection and hidden system files, and I haven't seen ANY reason to switch back. Taxcut is just as easy to use, offers pretty much all the features of turbotax, and costs $10-$30 less depending on which version you get.

This year, for the same price as turbotax "deluxe", I got taxcut "premium" which has better deduction and planning features. And I can install it on 20 computers at once and it doesn't freak out.

Turbotax guys got greedy once... If they did it once they'd do it again, so why should I trust them with my taxes?

g00b · « **Reply #12 on:** January 27, 2006, 06:21:44 PM »

For clarification, I use TurboTax Online. No software to download or install. All browser based.

SOB · « **Reply #13 on:** January 27, 2006, 07:34:11 PM »

http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html

I use H&R Block Online through the above link and do mine for free, except for a ~$10 charge for eFiling my State of Oregon returns. Your AGI has to be $50K or less. Been using it for the last 3 years with no problems.

-edit- looks like the state efile was $19.99 last year, and is up to $24.95 this year.