My wife and I are W2 employees and do not have outside income, so our taxes have always been fairly straightforward. I used TurboTax for many years, but a couple of years ago switched to FreeTaxUSA as TurboTax increased its fees. Filing federal and state taxes electronically (with a printed paper copy) sets me back about $15 on FreeTaxUSA and was costing me $80-$110 on TurboTax.
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This is the second year in a row we have done our own taxes using TurboTax. We used an accountant for many years but it got to the point where they were charging so much that it just wasnât worth it. For our situation, I felt there was no advice or tips that I could get from them that I could not get from TurboTax. We have to file in two states (NY and NJ) and my husband has consulting income in addition to his regular job but other than that, our taxes are pretty simple, for now. I also like how you can import your forms into TurboTax and base this yearâs taxes off of last yearâs. Saves a lot of time. I can do the federal and both states in one dedicated day (with all the forms and deduction info to hand and organized).
TurboTaxâs prompts are helpful. It alerted me last year to the fact that we could claim an energy tax credit for replacement windows, for example.
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No way. DH owns incorporated business, has many investments, commercial properties held in LLCs, LLPs, etc. Way way too complicated.
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Hâs major was accounting but he and I still prefer having the CPAs do our taxes. Itâs not crazy complicated, but we do have two rentals (one of which is co-owned), I get some misc income, H receives a pension, 403k and Ira distributions plus I have fractional share of a s small family corporation that makes distributions. We also have a few investments. We are fine with paying the firm for their time and expertise.
When I was single and one year when we were going away together on vacation, I filed without a CPA.
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I did Turbo Tax for many years, and prior to that used pencils, pens, and the forms and tax guides found at the post office. One year I was in a pickle time wise and went to H&R Block, only to learn that contrary to advice from someone (my ex), I should have been filing as head of household during those single parent years even though he took the deductions.
Again, i used a service when my bigger house sold and I had to pay taxes on the profit. In the years since I have gotten lazy. Turbo tax is more expensive than previously and it does reduce anxiety to pay a bit more for a pleasant chat over financial matters yearly.
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Small digression but how much are you folks paying for TurboTax? We paid $49.00 and we think thatâs a bargain compared to what we were paying an accountant (ours are not complicated taxes).
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TurboTax Deluxe, with 1 state and Federal eFile for 5 returns was $49.99 for me at Amazon this year.
Iâve always done my own taxes - hard copies back to 1987 are in my safe. My mom still works part-time at H&R Block during tax season (at age 80) but I never thought to ask her for help.
I spent 25 years at one of the Big 4 (nĂ©e 8, 6) accounting firms. One perk was that the âworld classâ tax department would do my taxes for free. Though it came in a very nice binder, personalized with my name, I had to send it back twice for corrections until it met my TurboTax results. I never tried again. (I suspect that the best professionals were not assigned to free internal customers).
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The standard discount at Fidelity is $20, I believe, but if you have a certain level of assets, they will reimburse you for the full price of TT. You would need to call in order to request the reimbursement.
Yes, brokerage firmsâ data will populate the TT file if you allow it.
I have only used the desktop version, and I donât know how it differs from the online version. The Forms section is very helpful in understanding the moving pieces.
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H&R Block Deluxe with one state was $33 this year, including five free Federal efiles (I do sonâs taxes too). In prior years Iâve paid as low as $18 by catching it at the right day in early January.
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Along the same lines, for those of you who use (or used) an accountant, what range of fees have you paid?
Looks like I will need to do my own gift tax file for 2021. I am exceeding the gift amount and Turbo Tax does not do it.
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You can, though Iâm sure you can do this with any of the packages. I downloaded mine in late November and filled info as it came until late January.
It wonât populate your demographic info - itâs just a discount code for the software.
You may be able to automatically import all brokerage information. This is the reason I switched from TaxCut to TurboTax many years ago. Brokers must have entered into some agreement with TT because after importing my data to TaxCut one year I couldnât the next - only TurboTax had the capability.
I would guess this has changed - it was many years ago - but be sure to check. Especially if you have a lot of purchases/sales with capital gains, foreign tax credits, etc. It can be a huge time saver.
Fwiw, I would recommend the downloaded product, not the web version.
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Hâs old accountant used to charge us like $150-250 per return. He died unexpectedly. The new one charges us under $1000/return but answers all our questions in a timely manner and is pretty accurate at figuring out our estimated taxes, plus deals with IRS when anything comes up (and things have come up). We have a business K-1 he does and also our personal tax return. All together, I believe we pay under $2000/year.
Yes, absolutely we could do it ourselves but are fine happy with our cpa doing it.
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Could you explain why the downloaded version is preferable?
The downloaded version allows you to do multiple returns. I did mine and my moms this year, thatâs not possible on the web version. (I was able to save last years web-based return so that this yearâs download could import the data seamlessly.)
Not sure if there are other differences.
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I paid $49 for TurboTax in January from Amazon. It included a $10 Amazon gift card. Given how much weâve ordered from Amazon in the last year, it was basically TurboTax for $39.
With our version we get 5 federal e-files, and one state. Filing the state taxes electronically requires a fee, so hey, we print it and spend $1.48 mailing the forms. In our state, I am surprised that free e-filing is not encouraged. All the links provided by our Dept. of Revenue for free e-filing involve an income testâtough to get a free option if youâre not low income. I would think the state would prefer e-filing, WAY less work for them, but that may be another discussion for another thread!
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As I noted earlier, the downloaded version also allows for overriding the program where needed and that isnât possible in the online version. However you do need to know which version you want in advance, unlike online where you can upgrade as you go.
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Oh, Iâm pretty sure one can upgrade the desktop version on the fly! I know there were various points during the interview process where I was âofferedâ the opportunity to do so.
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Our landscaper does our taxes. Also washes the windows and clears snow from the driveway.
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If you do your own and have odd questions, the Bogleheads forum is a great place to get answers.
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