How hard is filing taxes?

[abcdefghi]

I have never filed my own taxes before, for the last couple years we paid someone to do it. After looking over the forms last year, it looks like it is actually pretty simple to do. So, how easy is it really to do?

Thanks.

[timbo83]

ive always done my own taxes and had no problem. i think were all the problems come in with all the deductions.

[Sploke]

That can depend. If all you're dealing with is a few W-2 statements, then its a piece of cake. If you have all sorts of business expenses, different 1099 statements, itemized deductions...it can get a little more complex. I've been using H&R Block's online tax service for the past few years, and I really like it, its walked me through some of the more difficult areas.

[Mgamer20o0]

i think turbo tax is offering free feds online.....

[Damodred]

It's pretty easy/simple if you don't have any deductions.

[abcdefghi]

I think the only deductions I have is for mortgage interest (I got a 1098 form in the mail) other than that its basically whats on the W2.

[Sploke]

That shouldn't be too hard then, especially if you use one of the electronic deals like turbotax or h&r block.

[abcdefghi]

That shouldn't be too hard then, especially if you use one of the electronic deals like turbotax or h&r block.

Great, thanks. I had planned to use either TurboTax or H&R Block. After reading through the forms last year, I decided I did not want to waste a couple hundred dollars again on having someone else do it.

[J double R]

yeah... i've used H&R's taxcut.. you can use the program online, and since i've been with them for the past 6 years, i dont ever have to pull up old files (sometimes they want old info, like past deductions etc) to look it up... payment options (if any) are cheap and pretty diverse.

[Sploke]

yeah... i've used H&R's taxcut.. you can use the program online, and since i've been with them for the past 6 years, i dont ever have to pull up old files (sometimes they want old info, like past deductions etc) to look it up... payment options (if any) are cheap and pretty diverse.

:werd:

[severum mama]

I'd advise skipping Turbo Tax's online program this year. I've never had any issues with it in the past (I have very simple taxes), but this year I went through the whole process, got to the Print and File part, printed out the documents, and went ahead with the E-file. It said I was done and would get a confirmation email from Turbo Tax as well as from the IRS when they accepted/rejected my return. I waited a few days and got no confirmation from either party, so I looked at the online Q and A (kinda like a message board, I think that's new this year) and saw a bunch of people that had the same problem. When I logged back in to Turbo Tax, it said that I still needed to E-file even though it told me I had already done it. I got sick of messing with it and went to Jackson Hewitt instead so I could get the refund anticipation loan. Frankly, I wasn't impressed with them either. The rep spelled my name wrong on my tax forms after reading it off my driver's license, and E-filed it before she realized the mistake. I waited an extra 20 minutes while she made phone calls to the district office to see if I needed an amended return. Finally, it was determined that I didn't, and I was told to expect the refund anticipation loan the next day. When it didn't show up, I called them back to complain and found out that my return was held up at the processing center... STILL. Assuming that it was the misspelling of my name that was the issue, I complained about that and was told I would get a call back after they investigated what was going on. When I got the call back, I was informed that it had nothing to do with how my name was spelled... oh no, they just do that to some people as a quality control measure (not that the customer is informed of that possibility when shelling out the extra money for the next-day refund loan). It took another 2 days for my NEXT DAY loan to show up. Pretty crappy service IMO for something that cost nearly $200.

[Bethany1979]

I've been using Turbotax for years and never had a problem, it was pretty simple. This year we filed at H&R Block because we have some circumstances that we weren't sure about how to file. But yeah, doing the taxes yourself is fairly easy and much less expensive.

[petluvr]

I use tax act and have never had a problem. Money has always been in my checking within 10 days.

[wataugachicken]

i've used turbo tax three or four times, never had an issue at all. every time it was a quick, easy, and completely painless process. the last two times i got my refund direct-deposited and it came right on time, a little more than a week.

[kj5kb]

Been using Taxcut for 4-5 years now...saved a lot of $$ vs doing paper...money well spent!
I've been happy with the state version of Taxcut too.

One year we had an accountant do them, we were dealing with my dad's estate...the accountant came up less than a dollar different from Taxcut; probably due to rounding.

It's "idiot simple" to use once you have it installed...just answer the questions.

IMHO, whatever s/w you use...DO NOT save your tax records on the hard drive permanently. Once filed, copy them to a flash drive, CD or floppy and put in a safe place, then delete the files from your hard drive (OK to leave Taxcut installed).

Why? if your PC is hacked, your data is not there + you can't lose your data if your hard drive crashes.