2024 Tax Software

FLSUnFIRE

FLSUnFIRE

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Didn't see a thread yet but thought I'd share that as of this morning FreeTaxUSA (I've been very happy with it the last couple years) is now live! I just started my 2024 return with bogeys to plan my year end income realization.
 
I got the email yesterday that TurboTax desktop is now available.
 
FLSUnFIRE said:
Didn't see a thread yet but thought I'd share that as of this morning FreeTaxUSA (I've been very happy with it the last couple years) is now live! I just started my 2024 return with bogeys to plan my year end income realization.
Click to expand...
Are there any income limits for FreeTaxUSA this year?
 
Waiting for a deal. Last year I got both H&R Block tax & Quicken on sale at Newegg in late Nov.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
Are there any income limits for FreeTaxUSA this year?
Click to expand...
FreeTaxUSA has no limit. They're an independent company, not part of the IRS.

If you're thinking of IRS Free File, where the IRS provides links to other 3rd party software, that limit will be $79K.

Direct File, the software that the IRS itself created last year, is being expanded to more states and more situations for 2025. I don't believe there's an income limit for that one either, but it doesn't handle 1099-DIV or 1099-B, so probably most people who hang out here don't qualify to use it.
 
Sunset said:
Let us know if you see it... Right now $10 off for Turbo tax deluxe still seems expensive.
Click to expand...

I agree- I saw that, too. I'm going to wait for a better deal. I used H&R Block last year and they missed something on my state return. The state came back claiming I'd underpaid but I realized that they'd set my deduction to the standard deduction rather than my much larger itemized because I was naughty and didn't send them my schedule of itemized deductions from my Federal return. (I filed on paper-required because of one particular form.) I sent it to them and got a larger-than-expected refund because of some other item where they differed from the H&R Block version. I couldn't figure it out- state isn't very clear about what it was.

What I found frustrating about H&R Block was that the early version just plain didn't have some forms until much later so I had to make do with an estimate based on the 2022 forms. I can't remember- is that true of TurboTax as well?

And yes, the price seems to have jumped a lot. Looks like over $100 for what I need (mostly for investments) and I don't think it's been that high before.
 
I've been tracking for that last few years. It pays to wait.

2014 (Mar. 8) Amazon H&R Block Deluxe Plus State 2013
$32.86

2015 (Mar. 22) Amazon H&R Block Deluxe Plus State 2014
$25.68

2016 (Apr. 5) Amazon H&R Block Deluxe Plus State 2015
$15.99

2019 (Jan. 17) 2020 Amazon
$19.99

2020
$24.99

2021 (1/26)
$22.50

2022 ((11/28 Cyber Monday)
$17.25

2023 (1/2/24) Amazon
$25.00
 
I think I will go with FreeTaxUSA as it covers all of our income. It even handles our Tax Credits. We did use it in 2022 but used TurboTax Desktop in 2023, so they knew all about us.
 
athena53 said:
What I found frustrating about H&R Block was that the early version just plain didn't have some forms until much later so I had to make do with an estimate based on the 2022 forms. I can't remember- is that true of TurboTax as well?
Click to expand...
Yes. The IRS doesn't release some forms until late January, and some don't come out until filing season is well underway.

Some programs will make draft versions of the forms available earlier, so you can start on your return but you would still have to wait to e-file it until the IRS has finalized the form and the software for creating it and e-filing it has been fully tested on both ends. I don't think there's much difference between TTax and HRBlock in this respect.

The good news for this year is that so far the tax laws haven't changed much and it's likely that there will only be small changes to the 2024 forms so software changes should be pretty straightforward.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
I think I will go with FreeTaxUSA as it covers all of our income. It even handles our Tax Credits. We did use it in 2022 but used TurboTax Desktop in 2023, so they knew all about us.
Click to expand...
I am a fan and it has all the forms for free. I'm in FL so they don't even get the revenue from a state return. I might upgrade to deluxe just to throw them a bone and hope they stay free even though I don't need any hand-holding and haven't had to amend a return in years. Really happy they opened it up as I've been itching to do some more accurate calculations as the year winds down.
 
Ive done H&R Block download software the past several years - switched from TurboTax because it's half the price. Most years I've qualifed for the free file options, but I like being able to project my taxes before the end of the year and I usually find a cheap enough deal around black friday. However, this year, I've done so many bank and brokerage bonuses that I'm not even sure all of my income. I registered for freetaxusa. It's pretty slick, but do they not have functionality for importing 1099's? I think avoiding manual data entry of 1099's would justify spending more on software.
 
Last edited:
teej1985 said:
It's pretty slick, but do they not have functionality for importing 1099's? I think avoiding manual data entry of 1099's would justify spending more on software.
Click to expand...
+1. I have used FreetaxUsa in the past but this is probably why I switched. Manual entry is too onerous when there have been a lot of transactions.
 
BOBOT said:
+1. I have used FreetaxUsa in the past but this is probably why I switched. Manual entry is too onerous when there have been a lot of transactions.
Click to expand...

What did you use last year?
 
I know a lot of people get TurboTax for free from Fidelity (usually doesn't appear until around January)
 
I was going to wait until the standard Thanksgiving sale for H&R Block.

As an aside, I pulled up my spreadsheet that has every value that goes into the tax software. I move the actuals from last year to a separate column, and start populating current year values. Many fields I already know exactly, many have "close enough" estimates for planning, and then I iterate on the income from tIRA types of accounts. Anyway, while looking at this sheet, I realized I'd fat-fingered an entry which costed me $187!

So I just sent-in the 1040x. It was a slightly convoluted process, and past the date to eFile the 1040x, but the software guided me through the printing.
 
I got the TT email yesterday. Downloaded it and I have already made my first run at this years taxes.
 
Just found on Amazon

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