Considering doing our taxes myself this year

[Disneyfan1977]

Just curious what everyone thinks. In the previous years, we have gone to H & R Block and had taxes done. Every year the fee gets higher and higher. I don't want to pay much this year to have them done. Does anyone here have any suggestions for doing my taxes myself. We itemize and have plenty to itemize this year...

ANy help would be appreciated.

 

[albertamommyof4]

i always do hubbies and i's taxes as they are pretty straight forward here and i don't have to claim any medical or anything, we got the tax package now just waiting for our T4's

 

[Disneyfan1977]

We will be itemizing things such as mortgage interest, prepayment penalty from refinancing house, student loan interest, child care, some charity donations, etc.... Still a good idea???

 

[here757]

here is the link to the site i have been using for years..
this year i have to find another one because i got married
http://www.freetaxusa.com/

 

[DawnM]

If you get something like Turbo Tax, isn't all that stuff pretty straitforward? I would do it myself if I weren't married to a CPA.

Dawn

 

[kathie859]

If you have an uncomplicated return (i.e., we itemize and I have some business related deductions) AND have a basic grasp of what your tax return should look like (do you have your itemized deductions, W2'w, 1099's, etc ready and you UNDERSTAND them) and have basic computer skills, I would do it myself.

I started a few years ago with taxactdotcom; but there are several other sites available. I'd give it a try before I'd pay H & R Block any more of their exorbitant fees. These tax preparation sites tend to be very user friendly and you are walked thru the process and prodded with questions along the way to make sure you don't miss any deductions.

Now, on the other hand, if you are clueless (and some people are when it come to taxes--my DH for one ) and just hate the idea of doing it--then I'd find someone to do it for me.

 

[Artist]

I second taxactdotcom. We itemize lots of stuff (mortgage, daycare, student loan interest, etc) and both my and DH also have "business" filings (as artists).
It is easy and cheap, walks you through every scenario.

 

[luvmy3]

If you get something like Turbo Tax, isn't all that stuff pretty straitforward? I would do it myself if I weren't married to a CPA.

Dawn

Yes, we use TurboTax and its pretty easy. There is a version for itemizing I think its the Deluxe, or Premier I can't remember.
We usd to go to H&R Block until they screwed up and had no idea how to fix it. The scary thing is I tried to tell them they were doing something wrong but they wouldn't listen. Luckily I was right, was refunded my fees and they were done over for free at another H&R Block office. haven't used them since.

 

[Mickeyherewecome123]

I just did mine on Turbotax deluxe. We itemize our mtg interest, property taxes, chuch, donations. and it workds great, it walks you right through it.

If you have Statefarm Insurnace it gives you a discount on the purchase of Turbotax. And if you bank with statefarm I think Turbo tax is free. Checkout Statefarm.com for more details.

 

[Disneyfan1977]

We do use statefarm for insurance. Is there a code I should use if I purchase that?

My coworker also uses taxactdotcom

Thanks for the great info....I think I can handle filing them myself...(hopefully)

 

[jorem1]

Just curious what everyone thinks. In the previous years, we have gone to H & R Block and had taxes done. Every year the fee gets higher and higher. I don't want to pay much this year to have them done. Does anyone here have any suggestions for doing my taxes myself. We itemize and have plenty to itemize this year...

ANy help would be appreciated.

I have done our family's tax return for the past 15 years. My father-in-law is a CPA and I sat down with him once to go over the forms. Our return is pretty straightforward, but we do itemize.

I love not having to pay anyone. (I guess my father-in-law would probably do it for free, but he's so busy this time of year!)

I say go for it!

 

[Mickeyherewecome123]

We do use statefarm for insurance. Is there a code I should use if I purchase that?

My coworker also uses taxactdotcom

Thanks for the great info....I think I can handle filing them myself...(hopefully)

no code, there is a link on their website

 

[jmac323]

I think Turbo Tax and things like that make it really easy to do your own taxes. I've always done ours. Except last year I had my business and some really funky things so I went through a CPA and he saved us a ton. I had that I would be paying $10k in taxes last year and after his help, we paid $1200. WHEW! I wasn't going to write off my business stuff but he said I must or else we'd have to pay big time. This year, everything is "normal" again, so I plan to do ours. GL! here's to a big return haha.

 

[meriface11]

i have used H&R Block's online service for the last few years. they have an option where you fill out all of the questions yourself and then a tax professional reviews it for mistakes that is very reasonable price-wise. I never have a problem with the federal filing, but always seem to make a mistake on the state filings that they correct for me, but I have a somewhat complicated state filing as I live in CT, work in NY, and my husband lives (obviously) and works in CT. we itemize mortgage interest, property taxes, state taxes, and charitable deductions. you just fill in the blanks--it's very easy.

 

[T. Lynn]

We do use statefarm for insurance. Is there a code I should use if I purchase that?

My coworker also uses taxactdotcom

Thanks for the great info....I think I can handle filing them myself...(hopefully)

Just log onto: statefarm.com

There is a link to get Turbo Tax at a discount just for visiting their website.

 

[LovePug]

I've used Turbo Tax for the past several years and it's pretty idiot proof. I even had a bit more complicated return last year due to an adoption and it walked me right through it.

 

[StephMK]

We used to get ours done by a guy that would come to our house. Now that we've moved, I decided to try them on my own. I have used taxact for the last 2 years with no problems (that I know of!) We itemize mortgage interest, charity donations and will have some investment stuff this year.

The first year, I compared his past returns for us to see if I was pulling the figures from the correct spots. So far, so good though what I don't know... I'm not one to leave money or pay more than needed so I feel fairly comfortable I'm claiming what I can at this point.

 

[T. Lynn]

Keep in mind that most accountants I know use Turbo Tax as well when doing the return for you.

 

[Pigeon]

I've used TurboTax for years and I love it. We had H&R Schlock screw up our taxes completely one year. The people who do your taxes there are not accountants, and really have fairly minimal training.

 

[Skatermom23]

Also, TurboTax is on sale at Costco right now! Ten dollars off! I've used them for years and we have a fairly complicated return. It is pretty much idiot proof and walks you through everything.