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Taxes

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Mac

Mac

That's a pain in the buns
Its that fun time of the year :lol:

I am looking for some advice from you gurus. Had a lot of big things happen this year, and will have to get away from the EZ tax return for the first time. Thus I was thinking of taking my tax information to a tax place (H&R, etc) to do them for me.

I've heard horror stories of people taking their taxes to these types of companies, as they can cost an arm and a leg. Is it worth taking it to one of these companies, or try it myself (I've done my taxes for a few years now, but with the EZ forms).

Just looking to get the most back and not shell out a few hundred $+ to have someone do it for us.

Any advice?
 
My advice is to first make dummy runs using online entry at TurboTax and TaxACT or similar.

It isn't that hard to do, and you should familiarize yourself with the forms and categories of entry. Taking stuff to H&R Block might give you a warm fuzzy feeling of comfort. But, in the end, it is your 1040.
 
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BuckeyeMac;2100627; said:
Its that fun time of the year :lol:

I am looking for some advice from you gurus. Had a lot of big things happen this year, and will have to get away from the EZ tax return for the first time. Thus I was thinking of taking my tax information to a tax place (H&R, etc) to do them for me.

I've heard horror stories of people taking their taxes to these types of companies, as they can cost an arm and a leg. Is it worth taking it to one of these companies, or try it myself (I've done my taxes for a few years now, but with the EZ forms).

Just looking to get the most back and not shell out a few hundred $+ to have someone do it for us.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Those places can rip you off. Unless you are like a Congressperson who is sheltering large amounts of cash and income in overseas accounts and clandestine corporations, TaxSlayer or Turbo Tax will do everything you need on the cheap.

Years ago when I was first married, had a child, and had just bought a house I took my stuff to H&R Block because I had never done more than a 1040EZ before as well. When they went through everything, took them about 40 mins total, they handed me the "estmate" which was about 5X more than what I thought it should have been. They were charging something like $20 per "form" (which was a mis-nomer, because it was actually per sheet of paper printed). I laughed at the guy, told him to shove the estimate and went home and did my own (This was before the age of tax return software).

Anyway, I have a couple of investments, some of the regular deductions, and a few deductions outside the norm due to the custodial/financial arrangement for my son. It took me about 2 hours last night to file my taxes since I have received all my forms already. I have used TaxSlayer for the past 5 years and it has been a snap.
 
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BuckeyeMac;2100627; said:
Its that fun time of the year :lol:

I am looking for some advice from you gurus. Had a lot of big things happen this year, and will have to get away from the EZ tax return for the first time. Thus I was thinking of taking my tax information to a tax place (H&R, etc) to do them for me.

I've heard horror stories of people taking their taxes to these types of companies, as they can cost an arm and a leg. Is it worth taking it to one of these companies, or try it myself (I've done my taxes for a few years now, but with the EZ forms).

Just looking to get the most back and not shell out a few hundred $+ to have someone do it for us.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

I've been using turbo tax for years. It guides you, asks questions based on what you enter so you don't miss stuff, and you can do federal, state, and electronic file for less than $100, total. If you itemize, the fees are deductible on next year's return.

http://turbotax.intuit.com/
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeMac;2100627; said:
Its that fun time of the year :lol:

I am looking for some advice from you gurus. Had a lot of big things happen this year, and will have to get away from the EZ tax return for the first time. Thus I was thinking of taking my tax information to a tax place (H&R, etc) to do them for me.

I've heard horror stories of people taking their taxes to these types of companies, as they can cost an arm and a leg. Is it worth taking it to one of these companies, or try it myself (I've done my taxes for a few years now, but with the EZ forms).

Just looking to get the most back and not shell out a few hundred $+ to have someone do it for us.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

Don't go to H&R Block, Jackson-Hewitt, etc. They will do a good job, but their fees are embarrassing. Some CPA's will charge just as much. Others are more reasonable.

Turbo Tax et al will do the trick if you at least somewhat know what you are doing. But if you don't know what you are doing, you can get a really, really wrong result out of it.
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeMac;2100627; said:
Its that fun time of the year :lol:

I am looking for some advice from you gurus. Had a lot of big things happen this year, and will have to get away from the EZ tax return for the first time. Thus I was thinking of taking my tax information to a tax place (H&R, etc) to do them for me.

I've heard horror stories of people taking their taxes to these types of companies, as they can cost an arm and a leg. Is it worth taking it to one of these companies, or try it myself (I've done my taxes for a few years now, but with the EZ forms).

Just looking to get the most back and not shell out a few hundred $+ to have someone do it for us.

Any advice?
Click to expand...

I went to Jackson Hugetits one time and the chick who did my taxes fucked them up royally and it cost a lot to get it done.

I do them myself now through Turbo Tax.
 
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BuckeyeMac;2101142; said:
How difficult would it be since got married and bought a house midway through the year?
Click to expand...

Shouldn't be bad. Nothing too exotic there.

Regarding the home purchase, make sure you check the HUD statement for points/RE taxes (you should actually have a credit for RE taxes on there, so if you did actually pay RE taxes in 2011, they may not be deductible) in addition to the 1098 from the mortgage company.

Also, if you & Mrs. Mac are at similar income levels, it may be better to file separately..... but I think TurboTax will do that comparison for you. Ohio's tax on married people is stupid.
 
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GomerBucks;2101169; said:
Turbo Tax will guide you through the whole deal and break things down Barney style. I have been using it for years now and have had some complicated tax stuff that Turbo Tax made easy.
Click to expand...
TurboTax is endorsed by all Secretaries of the Treasury ...

You can trust every number it spits out!

(It's the number you put in that can pose difficulty for you).
 
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I do my taxes by myself...no TurboTax, TaxSlayer, ThumbTax (OK, made that one up). I have a couple itemizations (mortgage interest and property taxes, state income tax paid, charitable deductions) I take, so I have to do a little more work than just the 1040 itself, but it's not rocket science. From start to finish it takes me about an hour. Unless you have a shit-ton of deductions that require different forms, just download the 1040, Schedule A, etc., from the IRS, save to your computer, and fil them out at your leisuire. Pretty simple stuff actually...
 
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I typically do Turbo Tax. I have to figure out the house that we own but rent out in NC. We currently rent a condo right now (for a couple of more months), so I am not sure that I even need to claim it as a rental. Although I am hoping I can claim a loss on it because it is certainly not additional income.
 
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I changed my mind. If you moved from one taxing city to another and you haven't dealt with a city return previously, you don't want to do your own.

Pay somebody to do it, even if just for this year. Part-year cities are a pain in the ass.
 
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