Income Tax Time*****

[kaaskop49]

I had been doing my own income taxes for something like 50 years. The promised simplification of income taxes never happened and I found I was spending a week preparing and then triple checking my tax returns, all to the tune of a lot of stress. It seemed to become a case of by the time I realized I needed an accountant it was too late to get one.

The DIY curse. Anyone can be a brain surgeon, fighter pilot, etc. What kind of taxes are we talking about? A job, mortgage interest and a checking account? Just dug out my 2023 taxes for reference: 3 1099s from the broker: 26, 12, and 36 pages. No way I can go through those. No business background. W-2Gs? Easy enough, but everyone has to be listed. I'm in Vegas, and in casinos weekly. Lotta W-2Gs. The tip of the iceberg. And I'm a little guy.

Spending constantly here like all of us are. COVID and inflation have essentially tripled the prices on most things. The $ I spend on tax prep is simply another expense I have to incur.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[GypsmJim]

Had many issues with TurboTax myself this year.
Kept looping on me.
Would not accept some info.
It finally worked correctly but thats 2 hours of my life I wont get back.
I am done with them myself.

They sent out the downloads before the government had finalized some of the forms. TT said that very clearly in some of the opening pages. Thus, some data could not be entered. But, they even gave you the option of having them email you when the form updates were completed.

It all turned out fine for me because the updates came out even before some of my bank forms were mailed to me.

I can't see how any valid deductions can be missed. If you follow every step and answer the questions they will tell you what you can do.

As far as printing, easy peasy. The print menu gives a bunch of options. And you can even select whet YOU want and pick them yourself.

It's true that TT 2024 had some differences. I figured it all out by reading the directions.

 

[Dave_n]

I doubt they'll believe that!

My major problem is that I have two sources of income for which there is no mechanism to make deductions. This wasn't too much of a problem when I was at work, I just cranked up the deductions from my salary. Now, not only am I about to write a check for what I owe for 2024, but I'll be writing another for my first quarterly payment for this year. Funny thing, but that wipes out the SS back pay I just got.

It is about now that you discover the IRS' form that substitutes for any 1099. Since I still have an UK pension, TT takes everything until you try to skip the "Tax Number". It comes up as a Problem. I simply skip it and insert a series of "1" as I have done for years. The CD version took it, the download does not like it. Dave_n

 

[soFlaNative]

Anybody qualify for and use the Free File from the govmn't?

 

[Onomea]

...The preparer who did my taxes determined that the drive from the main office to my town was a little too much to bear, and the satellite office was closed. However, I was able to find a long practicing Enrolled Agent in the next town and have engaged him ever since...

For a number of years now, I have not met in person with my accountant of 35+ years. We've done video conferences when necessary, but mostly I've just scanned all of our documents with my iPhone, and emailed them to him. He's emailed me with any questions or requests for further data. When he's done, he emails me a form to sign that permits him to e-file on our behalf. He then sends us a paper copy of the filed return.

Above guy had the temerity to retire this year! He introduced a new guy who I hope is gonna work out. Did the same drill with him. Waiting for him to complete the return. Checked last week with him, as we had not heard anything since March, and he said all was well for April 15...

Fingers crossed.

 

[llowry61]

The DIY curse. Anyone can be a brain surgeon, fighter pilot, etc. What kind of taxes are we talking about? A job, mortgage interest and a checking account? Just dug out my 2023 taxes for reference: 3 1099s from the broker: 26, 12, and 36 pages. No way I can go through those. No business background. W-2Gs? Easy enough, but everyone has to be listed. I'm in Vegas, and in casinos weekly. Lotta W-2Gs. The tip of the iceberg. And I'm a little guy.

Spending constantly here like all of us are. COVID and inflation have essentially tripled the prices on most things. The $ I spend on tax prep is simply another expense I have to incur.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

This is where the linking of the account then auto uploading the forms really helps. The truth is that out of all those pages a very small amount of info goes in the filings, but I completely understand having them done. I just kind of grew into it. Wife had a business on the side so had to learn all of that. It is like working on the car, I can do it but I choose not too hassle with it however I don't mind doing the paperwork.

The taxes take a few hours to complete. I did mine, my mom's since dad passed away last year and both my sisters.

 

[mm93]

I used to do our taxes every year, and always got extremely frustrated trying to make sure I got it right. It was something I avoided until maybe a week from the deadline, and then just forged through irritated about doing it.
One day my wife asked why don't you just take everything to a tax person and let them do it? I decided to go to a guy my neighbor used, and he did a good job at reasonable prices. I was happy for about 5 years until he suddenly passed, and his nephew took over. That was a nightmare for several years with him being tough to get hold of, and during covid impossible to deal with! A buddy heard my complaints, and asked why I didn't use his guy who was just a half mile from our house?
I went to him, and was shocked at how good he was! We make an appointment, and hand him our packet of tax paperwork. He goes through it as we're sitting and chatting with him, and 15 minutes later he tells us what we get back, or need to pay. We write him a check, and the next day go back and pickup the completed tax papers. He sends it all in electronically, and it's painless, and so nice we look forward to seeing him and having our taxes done!
We try to break even, and not pay, or get money back, so if we take money from our investments we adjust taxes withdrawn to hopefully get to a zero point. But goofed last year and we got back about $1400 between feds and State. So will have to take out less taxes this year on withdrawals so they don't have our money interest free all year!

 

[fiasconva]

GypsmJim, I seemed to have gotten a version with a few glitches. The print menu was easy to decipher but my TT just wouldn't print what it was told to do, only parts of it.

 

[Rustyt1953]

When I first met Ruthie she was working in the City Treasurers Office.

Haven't done my own taxes since.

Bless her heart.

 

[Denverd0n]

I figured it all out by reading the directions.

Amazing, isn't it, how often RTFM will solve your problems!

 

[GypsmJim]

GypsmJim, I seemed to have gotten a version with a few glitches. The print menu was easy to decipher but my TT just wouldn't print what it was told to do, only parts of it.

I know how that goes. When I wrote puter code back in the 1960's it was quite a pita. Dos was quite an improvement, but windows I'm not quite sure of.

My motto now with all of this is: "Reboot or Reinstall".

 

[pharmer]

Fact is, if I have all the necessary income documents that a professional will require, do I need to pay a few hundred dollars for someone to enter the data into a "TurboTax like" software program? Took less than an hour, only because the info is so small on the forms. Yeah, no business, work expenses, mortgage, student loans, mileage, etc. Joe

 

[GypsmJim]

Fact is, if I have all the necessary income documents that a professional will require, do I need to pay a few hundred dollars for someone to enter the data into a "TurboTax like" software program? Took less than an hour, only because the info is so small on the forms. Yeah, no business, work expenses, mortgage, student loans, mileage, etc. Joe

Or local TV Tax Lady starts at 80 bucks. But no, you don't need it.

I DO have a business, mileage, and some complicated investments, but it still only took me an hour.

Those that need it maybe are ones that are simply not confident to do it themselves. Of course, the Tax Lady scares you in her ads.

 

[LVSteve]

It is about now that you discover the IRS' form that substitutes for any 1099. Since I still have an UK pension, TT takes everything until you try to skip the "Tax Number". It comes up as a Problem. I simply skip it and insert a series of "1" as I have done for years. The CD version took it, the download does not like it. Dave_n

I wonder if TT suddenly got smart and now recognizes UK tax IDs with their alpha-numeric format. With all the linkage to cut down on money laundering it would not surprise me if the US and UK "know" each other's systems.

The software my guy is using just sees my UK retirement as a foreign income. He works some magic by hand to ensure that I am not taxed twice, because he doesn't seem to have a way of doing a foreign tax credit in the software.

 

[Jack Flash]

I've used TT for 4 years now. The first 3 it was reasonably easy, not great but not terrible either.

This year was a cluster. I paid for the download, then tried to download and install TT on my machine and I just could not get it to work. As in, I would double click on the icon, TT would flash an initial screen, then vanish. No error message, nothing.

Lots of wasted time spent on the phone with TT help. Finally just did my taxes online. Then TT wanted to bill me a second time! I was told the download and the online versions are two separate things! To file my taxes, I had to pay again!

Getting a refund for the download was like pulling teeth. Supposedly, I will see it in a couple of weeks.

That's it. I will look into doing it all myself or finding a better tax program, or hiring a CPA to just do it.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Pay a professional.
Three years from now you don't wanna get a phone call from the IRS about this years tax return and you've got to drop everything in a panic and go looking for all this years **** which by then is tucked away in some forgotten place to try to figure out what the problem is. Or you're dead and it's someone else's problem.
Trust me on this one!

 

[blackdeuce]

I use H and R Block tax software. It sometimes does stupid things that stump me, but I get through it. When I retire and my taxes get more complicated, I'll probably pay someone to do it.

My son runs a small business from home. He bought Quickbooks and said it was a friggin nightmare. He ended up filing for an extension.

 

[Mr. Vito]

I've used Turbo Tax for many, many years and did so again this year. I always used to get the disc and would load it myself so I was not too happy with having to do the download, but it worked out easily. Having some capital gains I have to use the Premium addition, which I think cost me $85 at Costco. TT gets the data from Schwab directly, and about the only specific info I had to dig up, other than the data from the 1099-R's, was the RMD for 2024.

Ever since the Trump tax changes, with the higher standard deduction, doing taxes has been very easy. I no longer even enter the possible deductions since I know it will never be enough to be better for me than using the standard deduction. I always owe the IRS money mainly because Social Security does not do withholding from my monthly SS check.

 

[hemiram]

I was lucky this year. I got about $1000 back between the feds and state, and I had most of my fed refund put onto my estimate payments so I don't have any estimates this year. Only negative was the $400 it cost me to get them done. It was filed on 4/15, and I already have both refunds. Nice.

 

[Denverd0n]

I always owe the IRS money mainly because Social Security does not do withholding from my monthly SS check.

You do know that they WILL withhold if you want them to, don't you?