Brat
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
fh2000 is correct, I just looked at my Costco receipt. $39.99 after the $10 discount.
Given the OP's question, I would vote for tax software, but I'm curious, am I in a very small minority that sits down with the blank forms and fills them out manually ? I think I already know the answer !
I have always done mine manually as well. The last couple of years I have used the fillable forms from the IRS website. I save them to my PC, print copies, and mail to the IRS.
Are there any significant differences between Turbo Tax and H&R Block?
I have used H&R Block exclusively for many years, but was wondering if I should change to TT as most folks I know seem to use that and are happy for the most part.
I have a simple return, no salary ( FIRED in 2011 ), no rentals, no self employment, no exotic investments. The biggest section is my Sch D, as I do a fair bit of trading stocks.
However.....this year 2013 I was thinking of investing in MLPs which produce a monster document called a K-1. Which software package does a better job handling K-1s?
We use TT Deluxe online, discounted a few bucks through Fido. Nice feature is the auto-import of taxable data from your Fido acct. Vault is another nice feature, where TT auto-fills personal data from last year's return (also makes the TT product a bit more 'sticky').
We may haz 2 uPgrayd to TT Premier this year to handle a rental property...
I have a different question: Why?Given the OP's question, I would vote for tax software, but I'm curious, am I in a very small minority that sits down with the blank forms and fills them out manually ? I think I already know the answer !
Thanks for the great recommendation! I am a volunteer tax preparer, and work with a great team of volunteers. We tend to ignore the limits, as our team has several retired CPAs (even ignore the income limits as long as we can handle the workload!)
Just downloaded my copy of H&R Block at Home and learned a trick that saved me a little money. If you go directly to the H&R Block website, the "Deluxe" download (which includes one state) costs $44.95. However, if you go to this site H&R Block At Home Coupon codes (1 available) - UltimateCoupons
it costs only $38.21 (a 15% discount). The other H&R Block products are similarly discounted going through this coupon site.
Given the OP's question, I would vote for tax software, but I'm curious, am I in a very small minority that sits down with the blank forms and fills them out manually ? I think I already know the answer !
I have always done mine manually as well. The last couple of years I have used the fillable forms from the IRS website. I save them to my PC, print copies, and mail to the IRS.
13. The IRS Has Failed to Make Free Return Preparation and Free Electronic Filing
Available to All Individual Taxpayers
Problem
The IRS has not developed a comprehensive plan to give all individual taxpayers the option
to prepare and e-file their returns for free, despite the existing array of return filing options
currently available to “eligible” taxpayers.
Recommendations
Develop a government-provided electronic version of the Form 1040 with computational
capability that allows taxpayers to e-file all 1040 series forms and schedules, with links to
forms, instructions, related worksheets, and publications; develop a portal to a governmentcontrolled
database from which taxpayers can import third party data
I've recently switched to the fillable forms on the IRS website.
But, I do all the math in my own Excel spreadsheet. I like understanding exactly how things go together - e.g. if I want to do a Roth conversion, how much room do I have in this tax bracket?
Amazon price for deluxe + state $27.95 pc/mac download or retail box shipped to you. If you wait closer to tax deadline, in past years, they put it on deal of the day or lightning deal as low as $19.
Amazon.com: H&R Block At Home Deluxe + State 2012 [Download]: Software
This year, my eldest went to college. We sold one of her funds with a capital loss. I think I will try to include hers in ours and offset my other capital gains.
I think any official government software for this purpose would be just as "helpful" as the government guides presently published. The commercial companies have every incentive to make the software very user-friendly and they've done a good job. I'm cheap, but happily part with the money for TurboTax.I'm not sure why we should have to pay anyone for tax form completion software. In today's world, that's kind of the equivalent of paying for paper forms.
Well, actually, it's just that the federal government, states and municipalities aren't willing to pay the fees to the credit card companies for customers using their credit, so they charge customers the fees up front.If I was getting a refund I might pay for the efile, but since I have to send in a check, I just send the paper as well. I'd like to pay by CC ( to get the cash back rewards ), but they use a third party that charges a fee for that.
Well, actually, it's just that the federal government, states and municipalities aren't willing to pay the fees to the credit card companies for customers using their credit, so they charge customers the fees up front.
A lot of us use the EFTPS - electronic federal tax payment system - that way you don't have to deal with mailing paper checks either.
Agree. They pass the fee they would normally pay to the CC company to you. The CC takes the fee and rebates it to its customers by giving them points that can be used as cash.My state and county take CC with no fee. The EFTPS is for checks, to pay by CC they charge a fee.
Whew! Mine sure doesn't! They wanted $2.50 per $100 to pay our property taxes with a credit card! (2.5%)My state and county take CC with no fee. The EFTPS is for checks, to pay by CC they charge a fee.
Not quite. The county and state are paying the credit card company a fee - it might be like 3% of the tax receipts - 3% that doesn't make it to the county/state coffers. If it's a rewards credit card, the credit card company rebates part of that fee back to you, so it becomes a discount on your taxes. Definitely a sweet deal - but realize that it's the county and state that are paying you that discount, not the credit card company.Agree. They pass the fee they would normally pay to the CC company to you. The CC takes the fee and rebates it to its customers by giving them points that can be used as cash.
It's kind of a left pocket, right pocket deal.
-- Rita