Do you use online tax file programs?

Hello. I have done my own taxes by paper method for 30 years except for 4-5 times when new items warranted a professional. They have forced me out of paper as it now takes weeks or months to get your return back. What tax programs/online filling companies have you used and been successful? Also which level? Deluxe, premium, etc.? Married with both working full time, dependent children, side farm income. Thanks.

Been using Turbo tax for many years to do mine.

Turbo tax here too. We have regular income, investments, two businesses, and royalty income (which is more of a PITA than it's worth for the tiny royalty). I had an accountant handle it for us for 2 years. Maybe I had the wrong guy but he never did any magic to reduce my tax burden. I went to Turbo Tax and have been using it for several years. If my tax situation changes, I may seek guidance again but right now I'm satisfied.

Turbo tax and love it.

I prefer someone to fall back on when the IRS comes knocking. Then again we get back over $10K every year, so I don’t mind paying for someone’s services. Did have a guy one year that scared me when he opened a drawer and said we have receipts for everything from apples to uzi’s, lol!

Been using h&r block. My former tax preparer used it but after covid I had to scramble so ended up doing it myself.

I used Turbo Tax for many years till I ran into a really complicated tax situation in 2014. Went to H&R Block and had them figure it out and also got their "Peace of Mind" for $35. Wound up being the best $35 I ever spent when my taxes got even more complicated by Obama Care that I used for 4 months that year. My local H&R Block person handled the whole thing with care and professional expertise.

Yeah, I pay a little more every year for their service but it is worth every penny in my mind.

Moosetrot

Used Turbo Tax for years but became concerned I may be missing something. Went to local H&R Block and the guy sat in front of his computer and asked me all the same questions Turbo Tax did. Back to doing it myself again.

turbo tax is great

I use turbo tax. Very easy to do, even a technologically illiterate country kid like me can figure it out

I work with a secretary that works for a tax preparer in the evenings during tax season. She uses an online software exactly like TurboTax that asks the same questions. She has used TurboTax for her own taxes and suspects the software is really TurboTax under a different name rebranded for mom and pop accounting offices.

I have used Turbo Tax Premier for 30 some years. I used their small commercial program called Pro Basic when I filed for others. We have been e-filing for 15 years or so. If you have questions they have a very high quality on line help service that one can use for any of the forms etc.

Bryce

Nossir
Wouldn’t trust em to go to bat/court on my behalf.
I needed that badly a few years ago when audited. And our local preparer was amazing.

Hey Wanna be,How many kids you got?

1 at home now. At the most 3 at home.

Free tax usa is just that, a free program for federal and state taxes. Rio ng fee is small and everyone is charging for that. I do taxes for a few friends and I use HR Block or freetaxusa. All are easy if you can read and follow directions.

I have used TurboTax for at least ten years. Over the years my taxes have gotten more complicated but I still trust it. I like it for federal but not too thrilled with how it does state. I always get a different result if I file directly through the state's website, but maybe that's because TurboTax knows more than I do. It might be faster just go to somewhere as it does typically take me a couple to a few hours.

I went to Jackson Hewitt one time and was not impressed at all. The girl who did mine was a seasonal employee who was not an accountant and I felt like I knew more than she did.

Started using Turbo tax a few years ago when my tax guy was going through health problems, they walk you by the hand step by step, in answer to the OP you can buy the extra help options but I never do, last year we had 26 singe side pages of tax return, state and federal.

Stopped using turbo tax years ago. We weren't getting much. my wife used the IRS software before we met she swore by it. We compared the 2 and turbo tax gave us more. After a couple years we decided to compare both of those programs against others like hr block. Hr block won. One year she decided to use a local person and we got the most ever.

Go through the hassel of doing them with a few versions to compare. It costs you time since they don't charge until you file.

My sister inlaw does ours.

I’m happy when I don’t owe too much.

I'm happy when I get a return and don't owe in.

I don't want to make an interest free loan to the government either. I try to manage my withholding to end up owning zero and getting no refund. Some years I've had a surprise though.

I used turbo tax many years, last two years walmart sells h and r block disks,
I have to about 40;pages in my form, small business

I started using Turbo Tax about 35 years ago. Switched a few back to Taxactonline.com. It started getting more complicated. Back to Turbo Tax.

Probably use them again. I'm retired and nothing other than pension and ss.

That should be an easy one to file

Don't use any ... send them to our tax person ... not more expensive than buying a tax program, less work sorting info and data entry. Our person knows taxes, know us, and most importantly knows want questions to ask ... gets us a smaller tax bill since we started using them.

I utilize taxact.com. Price keeps going up - the cost to file federal and state of Missouri was $109 this year. But, my return was 37 pages long. We file 1099s, w-2, schedule F's, self employed forms with it. I also deduct the cost of doing the taxes as it is a deductible cost - so really the price doesn't bother me. I do keep all receipts and info sorted for the year and then figure all my totals and input those into the program. I started it years ago and it works well. I am pretty sure I care more about paying my taxes and getting my withholdings back more than anyone else would. As well - much of the info can be imported year to year and just the figures change. I honestly enjoy doing my own taxes and can enter several scenarios to see how much money I can save. For example to lower ones taxable income - you can put money into a traditional IRA and get more credits and arrive at different taxation levels. By fiddling with the numbers, you have choices that most preparers will not give you.

I should add - everyone needs some type of self employment also. There are just too many tax breaks currently to not have at least one other job doing something for yourself. Section 179 is your friend. I told my wife years ago - I can either buy a tractor or piece of machinery or pay it in taxes......I will never get taxes paid back but always can sell machinery even for scrap.ou

Do you really think the IRS wants you to know how to do your taxes to save you money?