Creditkarma offering free fed and state tax filing for 2016 (including e-file)

[Sunset]

They sent me notice it's available for me, but since I already bought taxcut deluxe with State on sale ( $22) I won't be bothering.

[ejman]

I've been playing some more with the Creditkarma tax program and I ran into a problem that doesn't seem to have a workaround. When entering forms 1099-B there doesn't seem to be any way to identify Applicable check boxes (D,E or F) and the program lumps all entries into D. The program has an interview mode but there doesn't seem to be any way to input info directly into the tax forms to override the interview data. I finally gave up and bought Turbotax...

[Tom57]

I am mostly done with my 2016 tax return on Credit Karma. I am having 2 problems that I have not yet received an answer from their support.

1. There is no sales tax calculator to compute the deduction amount for states without income tax, including Nevada where I live. My workaround is to use the tables in IRS Form 526.

2. I can't figure out how to access IRS Form 8606 (Nondeductible IRAs) on Credit Karma and have not discovered a workaround yet. I can use TaxACT free to compute the amount but still don't know how to input that number into Credit Karma.

Credit Karma isn't bad, just newbee challenges.

[Tom57]

Credit Karma answered my question about state sales tax deduction calculator in 5 days. Their answer:

"Credit Karma does not have any state sales tax deduction calculator for 2016 tax returns. Maybe next year."

FYI, the IRS has a sales tax calculator at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/sale...ion-calculator
if you want Credit Karma free tax return prep and live in one of the states with no state income tax so that you can deduct state sales tax if you itemize deductions.

After 10 days, Credit Karma says my question about how to access Form 8606 (Nondeductible IRAs) has been escalated in their support structure and to be patient.

I am in wait and see mode with Credit Karma about Form 8606.

[GTFan]

Ugh, sent them a question about how to classify mutual fund sales with various basis dates into short or long term (using, say, VARIOUS-S or VARIOUS-L as the date) and got a nonsensical answer back about if you put the right dates in it will determine whether it's short or long. Lady ignored my question in other words even though I said the basis date was variable. There's only one cap gains entry sheet and it lets you put VARIOUS there but then everything is classed as short.

Um, yeah - not going to enter a zillion basis dates for mutual funds even if I could. Clueless. I also asked how you enter sales with no basis sent to the IRS (code E) and got no response. CK puts everything as basis provided sales, there's no way to specify otherwise that I can see.

So in other words there probably isn't a good way to handle Sched D and form 8949 without fudging something, their simplified way of entering cap gains/losses doesn't work.

I bailed on my CK return after entering just about everything and went back to H&R Block. Well worth it to pay the $15 for Deluxe+State+full e-file, I've had no issues for 3 years now and it didn't take long to reenter everything with all my old stuff imported.

To be fair this is a free program so you can't expect much, I'll wait and see if it's any better next year.

[Tom57]

I waited a week after Credit Karma emailed me that they had escalated my issue about how to access (if at all) Form 8606 (Nondeductible IRAs).

I filed my return for free using OLT.com on 2/13/17, the IRS accepted the return on 2/14/17 and the IRS (https://www.irs.gov/refunds) says my refund will be in my checking account 2/22/17.

OLT.com was a bit clunky to use compared to Turbo Tax, Tax Act and Credit Karma but is accurate and complete with the state sales tax calculator and Form 8606. The return preparation and federal E file were free. I paid OLT.com exactly $0.00 and exactly $0.00 was deducted from my refund.

For those who live in states with a state income tax there is some charge by OLT.com for the state return and E file.

I have not heard yet from Credit Karma how and if they support Form 8606.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom57 For those who live in states with a state income tax there is some charge by OLT.com for the state return and E file.

OLT.com offers free state efile if your AGI is less than $64K.

[Tom57]

I was using https://www.olt.com/main/home/products.asp as my source that OLT charges for state returns.

This webpage says state returns cost $7.95 to $9.95. I don't know anything else about OLT and state returns since I live in Nevada and we don't have a state income tax.

[zinger1457]

Free fed and state efile:

https://www.olt.com/main/vita/default.asp

[Tom57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 Free fed and state efile: https://www.olt.com/main/vita/default.asp

You are correct and I was wrong.

The OLT State return prep and E file are free if AGI is less than $64,000. I looked in the wrong place on OLT.com.

Do/did you use OLT.com? What did you think about it?

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom57 Do/did you use OLT.com? What did you think about it?

I used it last year for the first time and liked it, will use it again this year. Should note that my returns are fairly straight forward, I don't itemize deductions, so not sure how well it works with more complex returns. Just started my 2016 returns and it seemed to do a good job of pulling any needed information from my 2015 returns.