|
|
state e-filing with Turbo Tax
02-21-2015, 10:12 AM
|
#1
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 4,455
|
state e-filing with Turbo Tax
TurboTax Charges $20 for MN state e-filing. Why spend $20 for e-filing instead of $1 for postage fee via mail return? The only advantage is that you might be able to receive the refund faster.
__________________
May we live in peace and harmony and be free from all human sufferings.
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
02-21-2015, 11:37 AM
|
#2
|
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,473
|
I wasn't happy with that $20 charge either! Like many here, I upgraded to Premier for the first time. In my case I misunderstood what Premier was giving me, and for some reason thought I'd get to e-file my state taxes for free.
Then after going through the state tax question-and-answer tree, TT told me I had to pay $20 to e-file. I was so tired by that time that I capitulated and spent the $20 rather than going through it all over again on the Louisiana state website. It didn't occur to me to print out the forms and mail them in. Next time I'll know better and won't do anything on my state taxes in TT.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 11:59 AM
|
#3
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,130
|
For me, I e-file and get my taxes done out of they say. Though my state has free state e-filing, I just go with TT too. I know it is easy to bash TT, but remembering back in the dark ages of going to the post office or library to photocopy tax forms and instructions and buying tax guides from the book store, I don't mind indulging on the state e-file for $20 and let Intuit get a little something for that.
Plus, I like having the immediate electronic confirmation. Also, aren't paper filed returns more likely to get audited? Or is that just a myth?
I haven't started my 2014 taxes yet
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 12:12 PM
|
#4
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
|
TaxAct online is just $7 for a State (added to $13 for Fed).
I agree with easysurfer, though I'm a cheap-skate, and you can do a free state file, at tax time, the $7 seems cheap as a bit of de-stressing. A 'luxury' I can afford.
It's also nice that I can either get the refund quicker, or schedule a direct withdrawal for 4/15. Maybe you can do that w/o spending extra though?
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 01:41 PM
|
#5
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: On a hill in the Pine Barrens
Posts: 9,685
|
I have three sets of taxes to do. I e-file the Federal packages, then print the state forms and mail them. Usually there is a small amount owed, so no motivation to e-file.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 01:43 PM
|
#6
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: mpls, mn
Posts: 763
|
with the premier version you get one free state return (not e-filed). What is the cost for a second state return filled out?
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 03:23 PM
|
#7
|
Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,054
|
I do my State tax on TT and then go online and enter the figures using the Louisiana IRS on-line system which is e-filed for free.
Last year, as well saving the e-file cost of $20, it actually saved some more because in TT I had neglected to indicate that the IBond interest was Federal Debt so when I entered the data directly on the LA website I discovered that the taxes owed was over $20 less than what TT had calculated.
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 03:28 PM
|
#8
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Bonita (San Diego)
Posts: 1,795
|
Could be wrong, but I think to even print and mail it's going to charge you for the state prep. I have to do fed +2 states, and I use premier... I get Fed and California for the initial $65, then IL for $35, even though I print and mail IL due to weirdness with the married/military rules and e-filing.
__________________
"So we beat to our own drummer in the sun;
We ask for nobody's permission to run.
I just wanna live in a world like that;
Now I'm gonna live in a world like that!" - World Like That, O.A.R.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 04:22 PM
|
#9
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Kerrville,Tx
Posts: 3,361
|
Have folks noticed that Turbo-Tax now requires that state returns be e-filed at the same time as federal returns. This is an attempt to reduce the fraud that was occuring, it appears that it was partly done by e-filing state only returns.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 04:24 PM
|
#10
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: On a hill in the Pine Barrens
Posts: 9,685
|
I can speak to one product - Turbo Tax Home & Business 2014. I bought the ful product at kingdeals4u for $44.99. This includes 5 Free Federal E-Files and one download of a TurboTax State product. This does not include efile for the state you choose. I printed a PDF just before performing the Fed efile, and then print the state portion to sign and mail.
One important feature missing from this edition is downloading of 1099, etc. from your institution. Intuit has turned tax time into a mine field, where you always seem to be missing something necessary, and it costs you more.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 04:26 PM
|
#11
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 370
|
Hmm. I just e-filed my Pennsylvania state taxes using TT for free. Maybe it varies by state. When it came time to pay, there was a second button that read 'Does Not Apply To Me'. So I clicked it and encountered no payment requirements.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 05:15 PM
|
#12
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,733
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by meierlde
Have folks noticed that Turbo-Tax now requires that state returns be e-filed at the same time as federal returns. This is an attempt to reduce the fraud that was occuring, it appears that it was partly done by e-filing state only returns.
|
I just did my Mom's taxes with turbo tax. They made it really difficult to print and mail the state taxes and efile the federal, but after futzing around a bit I succeeded.
Last year mom just took a standard deduction, this year she had $5K worth of hearing aids, and quite a few other medical deduction so she actually could itemize for an extra $1,000 worth of deduction. I'd have been annoyed, if it went though a years worth of credit card statements and checks, and had just missed qualifying.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 05:37 PM
|
#13
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 4,455
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by clifp
I just did my Mom's taxes with turbo tax. They made it really difficult to print and mail the state taxes and efile the federal, but after futzing around a bit I succeeded.
|
All you have to do is to save it to a PDF file and then print it using Adobe Acrobat Reader or Chrome browser.
__________________
May we live in peace and harmony and be free from all human sufferings.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 07:25 PM
|
#14
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,264
|
I used to print and file my state return rather than pay the $20 e-filing fee but finally I decided to just splurge and have the convenience of e-filing and be over and done with.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 07:34 PM
|
#15
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,733
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spanky
All you have to do is to save it to a PDF file and then print it using Adobe Acrobat Reader or Chrome browser.
|
I did that first but the state tax form was labeled as an efile form, and since I was not sure if there were difference between efile and non....
I went back and selected print and mail forms, skipped the federal and printed the state from
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 07:55 PM
|
#16
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,007
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by meierlde
Have folks noticed that Turbo-Tax now requires that state returns be e-filed at the same time as federal returns. This is an attempt to reduce the fraud that was occuring, it appears that it was partly done by e-filing state only returns.
|
Yes, it was the unlinked state filing where most of the state tax return fraud was coming from. And Turbotax was the only product allowing people to file unlinked returns. Which is why it looked so suspicious for Turbotax.
__________________
Retired since summer 1999.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 08:53 PM
|
#17
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,581
|
Another who saves $19.49 by printing and mailing the state return after e-file the federal with TurboTax. Must do local with pen and paper.
|
|
|
02-21-2015, 10:14 PM
|
#18
|
Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 37
|
My state has announced a minimum 12 week timeframe to get a refund. Not much incentive there to go paperless.
|
|
|
state e-filing with Turbo Tax
02-21-2015, 10:32 PM
|
#19
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Columbus
Posts: 1,118
|
state e-filing with Turbo Tax
Quote:
Originally Posted by meierlde
Have folks noticed that Turbo-Tax now requires that state returns be e-filed at the same time as federal returns. This is an attempt to reduce the fraud that was occuring, it appears that it was partly done by e-filing state only returns.
|
TT Deluxe did not. It suggested you did and defaulted to filing both at the same time, but was easy to just deselect one or the other and it confirmed that it knew you desired to either not exile the one now or would mail the one later.
I chose to just go online to my states website and enter the TT figures in. Last year the same TT Deluxe package I bought from Costco included free Fed AND state efiling. I was a bit miffed this year to discover it asked for a $20 fee to file my state ( which takes 20 mins online). I even discovered the state website uncovered another deduction for me that reduced my payment by $19 more.
Next year I'm just getting TT standard from say Fido or Vanguard.
Another thing that erked me was the online password crap that was added.
Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
__________________
Ohio REFI PE ENG and Investor as of 2016
|
|
|
02-22-2015, 03:15 AM
|
#20
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,240
|
It is the cost of convenience, like paying for a newspaper when you can read news online, or paying a few cents extra per gallon of gasoline so you don't have to get out of your car to fill up on a snowy day.
One thing I wonder about state e-filing: Are the "attach this with that" requirements waived? ... or is the convenience offered such that it is effectively handled for you by TT? If the latter, that alone could be worth the $20 to some folks.
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|