This is why I switched to H&R Block Tax Cut this year. Even when you go right to them to verify something they're just as likely to lie to you as tell the truth. Probably more likely.
Tax prep software
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This is why I switched to H&R Block Tax Cut this year. Even when you go right to them to verify something they're just as likely to lie to you as tell the truth. Probably more likely.
You can trust Intuit or you can trust me... LOL. I really don’t have any interest in Intuit selling you Deluxe in lieu of Premier or vice versa.
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Not exactly. They recommended Premier because you said you sold a share of stock. They have done that for several years. Once they really meant it, but we all raised such a stink about it that they "reconsidered" and put the functionality back in Deluxe.
There are other "helpful" features in Premier regarding Schedule D and other things, but they are really irrelevant to actually doing your taxes.
RunningBum
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Any chance your deductions were limited due to high income? That would be a very clear reason why everything above it added up would not be the same as line 29. Or things like only medical expenses above 10% or 7.5% being eligible. It's really hard to believe that TT isn't simply adding numbers correctly. But short of actually seeing the 1040 and schedule A form TT prepared for you, this isn't going to go anywhere.
bobandsherry
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Honestly, I find it difficult to understand how TT would be doing something wrong in it's calculations given the size of it's customer base. If it is though, spend some time to document and post on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, you'll be an overnight viral sensation.
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That is a down side to using tax software. If you code up what you think the tax laws are in your own sheet, you can ignore bits, plausible deniable bits, that don't help your tax obligation 
retired1
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How much $$ after 30% off ?
bobandsherry
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Here's link from email. -> Tax Act Cyber Monday 30% Off
RunningBum
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Hoping for a Turbo Tax Cyber Monday deal. Amazon has come down $10 on the deluxe CD version, but not the download version. I want to do an early projection for some stuff I want to do with taking a large capital gain and possibly doing a larger Roth conversion this year, and I want to avoid or minimize AMT. I did a quick run from last year's return and see that AMT is in play so I want real numbers for this year. I'm not going to wait until the very end of the year to do all this, so either way I'm buying on Monday.
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Just downloaded H&R Block 2017 Deluxe plus one state for $26.81 on Amazon.
Montecfo
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TT is such a good value, I see no need to consider changing software. Last thing I would do is switch to.cloud-based software.
bobandsherry
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I didn't think there was discussion on using cloud based software. H&R Block and Tax Act are alternative programs to TT, they are run and store data on your local PC.
I do find it interesting how much people are worried about cloud options. I'd guess that most people already share a ton of their personal information "in the cloud" with their e-mail, calendar and contacts. Toss in social media (Facebook, Twitter) along with data breaches of personal information (including credit card, social security, names, addresses) and a person's life story is readily available for hacking. I get the concern, but at the same time we've already succumbed to much of our "lives" floating in the technology clouds.
scrabbler1
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No way. My income is about $44,000 and it is from dividends and cap gain distributions. My taxes are pretty easy. I did itemize in 2016 and those deductions included medical expense, SALT, home mortgage interest, and charity. I have no idea where the TT numbers came from and I gave up a long time ago trying to figure it out. To me, TT is garbage but I recognize that it helps others. I can't figure out why, though.
I have always been an outlier, so the fact that TT seems to work for others and not for me doesn't surprise me.
scrabbler1
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I have no interest in doing any of that. I am not on FB or Twitter and have no means to video myself, not that I would do that for YouTube. To me, TT is garbage but I recognize it works for others. I just can't figure out why and don't really care to.
Depends on your specific tax situation, desire to learn a new software and ability to track and download from year to year.
For this reason I have chosen to stick with TT. I am used to their handling of restricted stick units.
For $50 or 60 it isn't worth it to switch.
For this reason I have chosen to stick with TT. I am used to their handling of restricted stick units.
For $50 or 60 it isn't worth it to switch.
Sunset
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For me, the difference is I don't use Twitter, use FB about 5 times per year to comment upon some friends posting (don't post anything myself), and tax software will detail exactly what and where you have your money, giving a map to follow to the treasure.
I don't need to make it even easier for the bad guys to empty my accounts.
So I use local tax software and encrypt it on my machine and in backups.
I've used TurboTax since it was owned by Chipsoft. While the upsell to Premiere just to cover a few lousy stock sales irritates me, it's still a heck of a lot easier on my temperament than filling in the forms direct from the IRS with a spreadsheet program at hand. Even if nobody's paying me for it anymore, my time is worth money.
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Apples and oranges.
It's one thing to take a picture of your dinner at the BBQ place and post that in FaceBook, and quite another to upload your SSN, DOB, drivers license number and whatever else is in your tax return.
Will your tax prep provider protect your information? Maybe. Maybe not. I just don't see the glamour of having my tax return information housed on a server somewhere. It's not like I can't manage to keep a local copy of my tax return for later review...how hard is that? I've got a CD that's got the tax software install programs, along with the completed tax returns for umpteen years. True, at some point, maybe the very old might not run on my current machine, but so far I have not had that problem. Also on that CD, I have the PDF output, so if all I want to do is look at it, it's there. All that without putting my data in some vendor's database that's got the hackers drooling.
bobandsherry
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Many people share their DOB on FB and without thinking about it. Just consider how many people get "happy birthday" messages on their birthday. Then how many also share their graduation date or some other date than makes it very easy to calculate their DOB. People overshare more than they should on social media.
But let's be clear, with Equifax hacked 143 million Americans already have their personal data floating around. Add to that all the other various hacks that have occurred literally everything about everyone is available on the dark web.
I have a related question. Rather than start a new topic I'll try asking it here.
My son is 30 and self employed. I always helped him do his Sched C and 1040 and related forms for Obamacre subsidy, etc. and up until now it's all been fairly straightforward. In 2017 it's gotten very complicated. None of this is related to his self employment, we're good on that.
In April he married a Chinese woman. They married in China and he returned. She spent 2.5 months here in the summer (no income) then she returned to China to work for a few months. Her work is slow in the winter so she is coming back here for Dec - Feb.
In preparation for tax season I'm doing some reading about aliens. In Sept my son submitted a petition for her to apply for a green card. They know this will take a while. Her residence is still Beijing, she just visits here (and he visits there).
So I assume he files MFJ. He needs to be MFJ for his Obamacare subsidy for 2017. I think she will be a non resident alien but when married to a US citizen they can file as a resident alien.
Anyways......I worked for H&R Block for a few seasons in 2009 and 2010. I'm feeling like this new world of married to an alien is way over my head! I was fine with his Sched C, self employment taxes, etc. when I read about taxpayers married to an alien (Pub 519) I'm wondering if one of the bigger software packages could handle this or if he needs to pay a tax preparer. My main concerns are his Obamacare PTC subsidy and getting the right status for his wife. I've told him about getting an ITIN for her if she does not get a SSN in time.
Is there a tax prep software that can help him specific to an alien spouse? Or should he see a tax preparer? I would love to learn enough to do this for them, I just don't want to screw it up.
My son is 30 and self employed. I always helped him do his Sched C and 1040 and related forms for Obamacre subsidy, etc. and up until now it's all been fairly straightforward. In 2017 it's gotten very complicated. None of this is related to his self employment, we're good on that.
In April he married a Chinese woman. They married in China and he returned. She spent 2.5 months here in the summer (no income) then she returned to China to work for a few months. Her work is slow in the winter so she is coming back here for Dec - Feb.
In preparation for tax season I'm doing some reading about aliens. In Sept my son submitted a petition for her to apply for a green card. They know this will take a while. Her residence is still Beijing, she just visits here (and he visits there).
So I assume he files MFJ. He needs to be MFJ for his Obamacare subsidy for 2017. I think she will be a non resident alien but when married to a US citizen they can file as a resident alien.
Anyways......I worked for H&R Block for a few seasons in 2009 and 2010. I'm feeling like this new world of married to an alien is way over my head! I was fine with his Sched C, self employment taxes, etc. when I read about taxpayers married to an alien (Pub 519) I'm wondering if one of the bigger software packages could handle this or if he needs to pay a tax preparer. My main concerns are his Obamacare PTC subsidy and getting the right status for his wife. I've told him about getting an ITIN for her if she does not get a SSN in time.
Is there a tax prep software that can help him specific to an alien spouse? Or should he see a tax preparer? I would love to learn enough to do this for them, I just don't want to screw it up.
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TurboTax should be able to do this. If they're filing MFJ and reporting all income earned in China, that's really no different than a U.S. citizen or resident alien working in China for all or part of the year. She'd be eligible for the foreign earned income exclusion and/or foreign tax credit, and TTax can handle both of those. It asks the appropriate questions about what country each spouse lived in and where the income was earned and it walks you through the various options and makes recommendations as to which one will give you the most benefit. I didn't look at pub 519, so in your reading of it, is there some form other than 2555 or 1116 that they would have to file for some reason? If there is, let me know the number and I'll check last year's copy of TTax for you to see if it's included.
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True, DOB is often willingly offered, or, more often, a birthday which would allow a determined hacker to calculate a birth date. This isn't quite the same thing as getting your birth date as a field in a table.
The Equifax breach crossed my mind as I was posting, but I didn't want to go too far off track, as we were talking about whether to place one's trust in an instance of online tax preparation provider.
I'm sure there is some "bad guy" that has my Equifax data, but AFAIK, the data hasn't surfaced en masse; I don't think a bad actor can go out and buy that data on "the dark web" at the moment. Knowing that some of my personal information has escaped through Equifax's idiocy doesn't cause me to throw up my hands and say "I might as well give-up"!
You've got to imagine that hackers salivate over tax prep sites because it's full of fresh, accurate, SSN, DOB, DL#, etc. There's just no value proposition there for me to put my sensitive data into some juicy target for a hacker. It just isn't worth the risk.
Amazon Deal of the day (11/29/17), with 5% refund bonus offer
H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State 2017 $19.99
H&R Block Tax Software Premium & Business 2017 $36.99
H&R Block Tax Software Premium 2017 $29.99
H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe 2017 (PC Download) $13.99
Lowest price so far in this season.
Linky https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...7&sprefix=h&r,software,157&crid=3JUXE75FFESLW
H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe + State 2017 $19.99
H&R Block Tax Software Premium & Business 2017 $36.99
H&R Block Tax Software Premium 2017 $29.99
H&R Block Tax Software Deluxe 2017 (PC Download) $13.99
Lowest price so far in this season.
Linky https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...7&sprefix=h&r,software,157&crid=3JUXE75FFESLW
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Is the "5% refund bonus" taxable income?
(Even if not, it's debatable whether $1.05 Amazon gift card is worth $1 in the hand.)
REWahoo
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Moot point. I don't think any of us are purchasing the software package based on this incentive.
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