@jouest Do they magically appear in the middle of the night like an IRS Santa? Guess I’d better set some milk, cookies and a nice note out so he doesn’t just give me lumps of lead.
(Based on all the reporting from our employers and banks, the IRS already knows how much folks owe. IMHO the fact that they’ve allowed it to get complicated – on purpose – is really BS. Just let folks confirm whether they will still owe or not, or if they want to challenge it by redoing the taxes themselves like how it is now, and move on.)
@narfcake Technically everyone can manually file by filling a form and snail mail it… but the easiest way to do it is online (which companies like Intuit want to monopolize and charge for).
When it’s not, H&R Block usually. We have a decent one.
Not included, year I sold my house, and when my father died. Did you know you have to fill out and close out their IRS account, sorta. And there are different rules for that.
Our “tax person” is my wife (she has an Electrical Engineering degree with minors in math and computer science). She uses tax prep software (H&R Block lately) to do the Fed & State returns and then we both review them to double check for errors. So far, so good…
Once (years ago) we had a question about our Fed return and some arcane tax matter related to our 20 acre timber lot. She called the IRS for clarification and the person she talked to had no clue. We just made our best guess and it was never questioned.
@user84355571 Too true - I’ve used a professional tax preparer exactly twice - each time when I encountered a new situation that I hadn’t seen before and wasn’t sure how to proceed.
In both cases, I used the professionally prepared return the following year as a guide for doing my taxes. Both times, as I worked through the old returns to see how to proceed on my own, I discovered mistakes in the professionally prepared return, and not in my favor (i.e., I had overpaid taxes those years).
So no more tax “professionals” for me, thank you.
Surprised our resident Tax Expert @Felton10 hasn’t chimed in yet. He is, after all, a bona fide CPA Tax aficionado! What do you have to add my dear friend??
@IndifferentDude If you would have looked at the comments rather than wasting your time kissing up to President Musk, you would have seen that 5 hours ago I started my annual tax season question thread,
@Felton10 You’re not in any of the comments here before my post; you must be referring to the FORUM section which I rarely frequent unless the product page is lacking in substance. Also, I’m sure you’re aware there is a thread for political posts so please don’t post them in other threads.
Kitchen table compatible with a furrowed brow and calculator. #2 pencil for working copy, black ink pen for mailed in copy. Mistakes will be made, in the IRS’ favor.
I’m retired, and my taxes are fairly simple - just not simple enough to qualify for free filing. So, I file federal and state online with a tax service around the end of January. They carry the info over from year to year, so all I usually need to do is update numbers because the basic stuff is already filled in, including the crap they ask about the previous year to “verify” that I’m me. 20 minutes and I’m done, tax service paid, amount owed the g’mnt sent from my bank, and I can watch everyone else agonize over it into April. Mine for 2024 have already been filed and accepted.
I did them for years on my own through one of those online companies, but my taxes were simple at the time. Then I got married, bought a house, had interest from random accounts, etc.
I do them myself. When I made more I used tax software, now using the free ones. Have done paper in the past too. My expert is @fenlton10 on here if I have a question. I also, back when they used to answer the phone would call and ask the IRS questions, calling more than once to see if the answers match - which doesn’t always happen unfortunately, but for the last couple of years you can’t even get through to them anyway (and it will just get worse with all the money the government just took away from them so I am not even going to drive myself nuts by trying).
I’ve been using ‘Cash App tax’ for maybe 5 or 6 years, state and fed all filed for free…not had any issues. Fairly simple taxes apart from being retired and still contributing to HSA and used ACA for health insurance for the last 5 years (i turn 65 this year so that HSA will end, ACA for my spouse will continue. The cash app q&a made the HSA & ACA reconciliation easy, albeit they number of extra pages & forms i would not like to do manually.
At age 68, I have always prepared my own Federal and State Forms. I have only purchased Tax Preparation Software once, and that was over 30 years ago. I go to the IRS and State Treasury Website and download the Tax Forms I need based on my W2’s, various 1099s, deductions I have, along with anything else like Tax Credits I’m entitled to, or stock, real estate or other transactions including W2G’s that I need to claim. I fill out these forms manually researching any Tax Questions I have and what fields need to be completed, then I input my data onto the saved forms, print off two sets of hard copies, one for me and one for mailing in my Tax Documents, I also create saved PDF Files of all my Tax Files both Federal and State Tax Forms and save them on my Computer’s hard drive and to the cloud, and I am done. Time consuming, yes. Would it be more efficient for me to purchase On-line Tax Software, or possibly use free on-line tax filing services available, probably! Have I made filing mistakes over the years, yes, just a couple times (which were minor), but I have never been audited, so I would say I’m good in sticking to what works for me.
Have used TaxACT plus several years. When I was working I was a W-2 employee, but SWMBO was self-employed as a tutor. So far it seems to have worked pretty well. Never been audited so that’s a plus. I like the fact that a lot of the detail will carry from one year to the next as well as over to the state forms that year. This year things will change some since I have W2 income as well as social security income so we’ll see how that plays into it. Eventually if she stops tutoring we can probably do free tax forms, but don’t really see that around the corner yet.
Kind of bummed that Office Depot no longer sells TaxACT software. They were my go-to source since I could usually get it for free due to recycling ink cartridges throughout the year. Guess I’ll have to stick with Sam’s.
I’ve used H&R Block tax software for years even before they bought whatever it was called and put their own label on it. A lot of times it turned out not to be necessary, but it was still worth the price to save me time in finding that out. This year, if Elon Musk hasn’t already shut it down, I’m going to try to use the IRS’s direct file.
We used the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program through a local college several times; our local Senior Center is also an AARP Tax-Aide site and we have used that service as well. Technically there are income limits for these programs but they can be flexible. The IRS also offers Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs for free basic tax return preparation.
H&R Block online every year. Takes maybe 30 minutes each year. Owed Fed $2 this year and getting a nice chunk of refund for State.
We’re closing on our new house this morning so I expect that to screw up my meticulous planning with next year’s mortgage tax deduction and solar tax credits (if those still exist).
I use one of the online tax prep sites. I think it’s TaxAct or TaxSlayer. Most of the sites prompt you for all the info and I have a fairly simple return with a W-2 and a couple of 1099’s for investments. The only thing I don’t like is that most companies have the deadline of 01/31 to get the forms to you except for brokerage firms which have the deadline of mid February. So I have to wait until next week for one last 1099 that’s being held hostage.
I thought one of those new hire IRS agents was suppose to come to my house and help with this?
KuoH
@kuoh they do if you wait long enough
@jouest Do they magically appear in the middle of the night like an IRS Santa? Guess I’d better set some milk, cookies and a nice note out so he doesn’t just give me lumps of lead.
KuoH
DIY with tax
hostageprep software.This was over 5 years ago. I don’t think their M.O. has really changed:
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free
(Based on all the reporting from our employers and banks, the IRS already knows how much folks owe. IMHO the fact that they’ve allowed it to get complicated – on purpose – is really BS. Just let folks confirm whether they will still owe or not, or if they want to challenge it by redoing the taxes themselves like how it is now, and move on.)
@narfcake Technically everyone can manually file by filling a form and snail mail it… but the easiest way to do it is online (which companies like Intuit want to monopolize and charge for).
When it’s simple, free fillable forms
When it’s not, H&R Block usually. We have a decent one.
Not included, year I sold my house, and when my father died. Did you know you have to fill out and close out their IRS account, sorta. And there are different rules for that.
Our “tax person” is my wife (she has an Electrical Engineering degree with minors in math and computer science). She uses tax prep software (H&R Block lately) to do the Fed & State returns and then we both review them to double check for errors. So far, so good…
Once (years ago) we had a question about our Fed return and some arcane tax matter related to our 20 acre timber lot. She called the IRS for clarification and the person she talked to had no clue. We just made our best guess and it was never questioned.
@macromeh You better hang on to her, as a good tax preparer is hard to come by!
@user84355571 Too true - I’ve used a professional tax preparer exactly twice - each time when I encountered a new situation that I hadn’t seen before and wasn’t sure how to proceed.
In both cases, I used the professionally prepared return the following year as a guide for doing my taxes. Both times, as I worked through the old returns to see how to proceed on my own, I discovered mistakes in the professionally prepared return, and not in my favor (i.e., I had overpaid taxes those years).
So no more tax “professionals” for me, thank you.
Surprised our resident Tax Expert @Felton10 hasn’t chimed in yet. He is, after all, a bona fide CPA Tax aficionado! What do you have to add my dear friend??
@IndifferentDude If you would have looked at the comments rather than wasting your time kissing up to President Musk, you would have seen that 5 hours ago I started my annual tax season question thread,
@Felton10 You’re not in any of the comments here before my post; you must be referring to the FORUM section which I rarely frequent unless the product page is lacking in substance. Also, I’m sure you’re aware there is a thread for political posts so please don’t post them in other threads.
I know a guy. I have been using him my whole tax career.
Kitchen table compatible with a furrowed brow and calculator. #2 pencil for working copy, black ink pen for mailed in copy. Mistakes will be made, in the IRS’ favor.
@heartny that’s what’s up
I’m retired, and my taxes are fairly simple - just not simple enough to qualify for free filing. So, I file federal and state online with a tax service around the end of January. They carry the info over from year to year, so all I usually need to do is update numbers because the basic stuff is already filled in, including the crap they ask about the previous year to “verify” that I’m me. 20 minutes and I’m done, tax service paid, amount owed the g’mnt sent from my bank, and I can watch everyone else agonize over it into April. Mine for 2024 have already been filed and accepted.
I did them for years on my own through one of those online companies, but my taxes were simple at the time. Then I got married, bought a house, had interest from random accounts, etc.
I do them myself. When I made more I used tax software, now using the free ones. Have done paper in the past too. My expert is @fenlton10 on here if I have a question. I also, back when they used to answer the phone would call and ask the IRS questions, calling more than once to see if the answers match - which doesn’t always happen unfortunately, but for the last couple of years you can’t even get through to them anyway (and it will just get worse with all the money the government just took away from them so I am not even going to drive myself nuts by trying).
I’ve been using ‘Cash App tax’ for maybe 5 or 6 years, state and fed all filed for free…not had any issues. Fairly simple taxes apart from being retired and still contributing to HSA and used ACA for health insurance for the last 5 years (i turn 65 this year so that HSA will end, ACA for my spouse will continue. The cash app q&a made the HSA & ACA reconciliation easy, albeit they number of extra pages & forms i would not like to do manually.
Kind of a Matthew 25:30 model.
“…There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth”.
And tax software too.
@mehcuda67 yeeeeeeess
At age 68, I have always prepared my own Federal and State Forms. I have only purchased Tax Preparation Software once, and that was over 30 years ago. I go to the IRS and State Treasury Website and download the Tax Forms I need based on my W2’s, various 1099s, deductions I have, along with anything else like Tax Credits I’m entitled to, or stock, real estate or other transactions including W2G’s that I need to claim. I fill out these forms manually researching any Tax Questions I have and what fields need to be completed, then I input my data onto the saved forms, print off two sets of hard copies, one for me and one for mailing in my Tax Documents, I also create saved PDF Files of all my Tax Files both Federal and State Tax Forms and save them on my Computer’s hard drive and to the cloud, and I am done. Time consuming, yes. Would it be more efficient for me to purchase On-line Tax Software, or possibly use free on-line tax filing services available, probably! Have I made filing mistakes over the years, yes, just a couple times (which were minor), but I have never been audited, so I would say I’m good in sticking to what works for me.
Have used TaxACT plus several years. When I was working I was a W-2 employee, but SWMBO was self-employed as a tutor. So far it seems to have worked pretty well. Never been audited so that’s a plus. I like the fact that a lot of the detail will carry from one year to the next as well as over to the state forms that year. This year things will change some since I have W2 income as well as social security income so we’ll see how that plays into it. Eventually if she stops tutoring we can probably do free tax forms, but don’t really see that around the corner yet.
Kind of bummed that Office Depot no longer sells TaxACT software. They were my go-to source since I could usually get it for free due to recycling ink cartridges throughout the year. Guess I’ll have to stick with Sam’s.
@chienfou converting printer ink into tax software is impressively dull
@jouest
But add up all those savings and you pay for a trip to Costa Rica which is where I am now!
I’ve used H&R Block tax software for years even before they bought whatever it was called and put their own label on it. A lot of times it turned out not to be necessary, but it was still worth the price to save me time in finding that out. This year, if Elon Musk hasn’t already shut it down, I’m going to try to use the IRS’s direct file.
We used the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program through a local college several times; our local Senior Center is also an AARP Tax-Aide site and we have used that service as well. Technically there are income limits for these programs but they can be flexible. The IRS also offers Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs for free basic tax return preparation.
Those are free tax-help services.
H&R Block online every year. Takes maybe 30 minutes each year. Owed Fed $2 this year and getting a nice chunk of refund for State.
We’re closing on our new house this morning so I expect that to screw up my meticulous planning with next year’s mortgage tax deduction and solar tax credits (if those still exist).
My wife is an expert in taxes (and all other subjects) as such, I let her do the taxes.
/She works with payrolls and taxes in her daily job
@OnionSoup smart
I use one of the online tax prep sites. I think it’s TaxAct or TaxSlayer. Most of the sites prompt you for all the info and I have a fairly simple return with a W-2 and a couple of 1099’s for investments. The only thing I don’t like is that most companies have the deadline of 01/31 to get the forms to you except for brokerage firms which have the deadline of mid February. So I have to wait until next week for one last 1099 that’s being held hostage.