|
Posted by runtwoday on February 21, 2007, 7:07 pm
Please log in for more thread options
I am not an expert tax preparer by any means, but after many
years using each of the tax prep programs you mentioned, I
went to work this year for one of the big store-front tax
prep companies.
If your tax situation is rather simple, W-2's, 1099's etc.
either program will work very well. In fact I recommended
the free program TaxAct to my sons, both married home
owners, and they liked it and used it to prepare and e-file
for free.
You need a professional, and I mean a real pro not a
store-front hack (there are some very competent
professionals among the store-front preparers if you are
lucky enough to get one) if your tax situation is not
straight forward. If you are divorced and have a child
custody situation; if you are supporting a parent in a
nursing home; if you have business income or unreimbursed
business expenses; if you have grown children or
grandchildren living with you; if you have a home office, or
stock sale, or sold a home, or moving expenses, or you or a
dependent have a disability, or income not reported on a W-2
or 1099, or unusual medical expenses, or sizable donations
to charity, or had a spouse die in 2006, etcetera; you need
a real tax professional.
One more thing, if you have other than a straight forward
return and live in a state that has income tax, you need a
pro. The commercial tax prep programs don't do a good job
(in my opinion) with state returns which can be as complex
as federal especially if you have income from multiple
states.
Carl
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
|
Posted by ed on February 21, 2007, 7:07 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> Which of these 2 programs should I use to file my taxes? or
> there other ones that are better? I work fulltime, my wife
> works fulltime, we have kids and we just bought a home. is
> this something the software will able to do and get us the
> best damn returns or should I just go see a human tax
> preparer. Thanks. I will appreciate all your insights.
Either will do the job if you understand your taxes enough
to feed it the right information. Consider TaxAct, which is
free.
ed
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
|
Posted by Bill Brown on February 21, 2007, 7:07 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> Which of these 2 programs should I use to file my taxes? or
> there other ones that are better? I work fulltime, my wife
> works fulltime, we have kids and we just bought a home. is
> this something the software will able to do and get us the
> best damn returns or should I just go see a human tax
> preparer. Thanks. I will appreciate all your insights.
If you don't know enough about federal income taxes to do
your own return by hand, then you should not use either
software package. Instead, you should engage a local tax
professional to do your return.
If you could do your own tax return by hand, then either
software package should meet your needs.
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
|
Posted by Missy on February 21, 2007, 7:07 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> Which of these 2 programs should I use to file my taxes? or
> there other ones that are better? I work fulltime, my wife
> works fulltime, we have kids and we just bought a home. is
> this something the software will able to do and get us the
> best damn returns or should I just go see a human tax
> preparer. Thanks. I will appreciate all your insights.
A human tax preparer usually saves you more money than they
cost you.
Missy Doyle
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
|
Posted by joetaxpayer on February 22, 2007, 2:28 am
Please log in for more thread options Missy wrote:
> A human tax preparer usually saves you more money than they
> cost you.
I've heard from more people that the style of their tax
preparer is to send a 'checklist' of things to bring or fill
in the numbers. This is either mailed in or dropped off to
his office. A finished return is given back, with little or
no discussion or council. If this is not typical, then my
apologies. In any case, it would seem that most of the
dialog occurs after the tax year has ended, in which case
I'd be curious what a human preparer would uncover which the
human tax payer would not have already provided.
In my dealings, I make a strong attempt to have a November
meeting which will uncover moves that can be made before
year end;
The ability in 2006/7 to donate from an IRA and while it
counts towards your RMD, avoids taxes. (this is a benefit
for those who are not exceeding the standard deduction, but
are making good donations)
Conversions from IRA to Roth IRA to fill up the tax bracket
they are in. (Paying tax at 15% and avoiding the increasing
RMDs pushing them into 25% bracket)
Advice on contents of pre-tax accounts vs post tax accounts,
as dividends and cap gains are tax favored in the post tax
accounts.
Even if a tax 'pro' were going to discuss these issues, what
benefit could he provide after the tax year has ended?
JOE
<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>
|
| Similar Threads | Posted | | Taxcut and TurboTax give me different taxes due ..... | March 26, 2008, 4:42 pm |
| TurboTax 2006 | December 25, 2006, 10:14 am |
| 2006 and Turbotax | February 11, 2008, 7:57 pm |
| TurboTax Problems For Some Mac Users | March 13, 2007, 3:47 pm |
| Is there a user group or forum for Turbotax? | March 12, 2007, 6:34 am |
| question on reporting RSU in taxes (turbotax) | March 17, 2008, 12:52 pm |
| TaxCut problem? | January 30, 2007, 12:09 pm |
| TaxCut Question | April 19, 2006, 12:57 am |
| TurboTax Deluxe BUG! Educational Tax Credit (form 8863) | February 27, 2007, 4:14 pm |
| TaxCut new policy or IRS requirement? | February 25, 2007, 5:19 am |
|
|
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap