Tax Software (TurboTax, etc)

I've used TurboTax for years. You're not really giving much detail about your situation (being married to someone that works doesn't enable any deductions) but if you (or your spouse) do not own a business, rental property (essentially the same as a business,) or have more complicated assets like incentive stock options, you won't need more than the basic version of whatever tax software that you decide to use. In that regard, I doubt that there is a substantial difference between TurboTax, TaxCut or TaxAct.

Replying to my own post here....

I think I am going to bite the bullet and try TaxCut this year. I'm not at all dissatisfied with TurboTax, but the Premier version of TurboTax ($64.99 and this year it doesn't seem to be available without State (TX has no state tax)) is quite a bit more expensive than the Premium version of TaxCut ($19.95 without state.)

If I don't like TaxCut, I'll have only wasted $19.95.

I have a fairly complicated return (but not complicated enough to warrant a CPA, IMHO,) so I will report back with my experiences.

The online version of Taxcut is pretty similar to the offline version, and cheaper.

Taxact works pretty well for a moderately complicated return.

I'll follow up my earlier posts by saying that I am completely satisfied with TaxCut Premium. I just completed my [fairly complicated] return (1040 with Sched. A, B, C, D, E, and their various associated forms) and had been a longtime satisified TurboTax Premier user. TaxCut Premium (Federal Only -- No state income tax here in TX ) did the job at less than 1/2 the cost of Turbotax

Hmm, I will have to give TaxCut a try. I've used TurboTax for 4 years now, and have been completely satisfied by it, but since everyone is praising TaxCut, it sure would be great to save a nice bundle this year.

Thanks for the suggestions...

Also, here is a list on the IRS's page of companies you can use to file through for free.

http://www.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp?ck

Anyone have experience with TaxSlayer? I've used TurboTax the past several years, but wow ... it's expensive!

I used Turbotax this year, the deluxe I think that maximizes deductions, and it only took me an hour, $500 more in refunds than last year with H&R, and was $140 cheaper than h&r (nothing's changed either, still married-jointly w/ lots of med school loans for me).

yadayadadude said:

Anyone have experience with TaxSlayer? I've used TurboTax the past several years, but wow ... it's expensive!

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Simple and free if you link through the IRS/your state's treasury page if you are under 25 or make less than 10k.

http://www.taxslayer.com/americanpledge/default.aspx?source=ffpacsob&src=MI

I've used TurboTax the past 3 years and thought I was happy with it. Then I decided to try TaxCut with the same inputs. Now I'm concerned because there's a significant difference in refund amounts between the two (TaxCut calculates twice as much between federal & state compared to TurboTax). There's also a problem because TaxCut doesn't yet have the form I need to take the alternative motor vehicle tax credit (pretty significant, $788 for the Prius we bought in April) but there's still a sizable difference in amounts. I can't figure it out. I tried to "ask your tax professional" a question by email but the dumb system screened my question and deleted it and said it was a software question, not a tax question, and to read the FAQs. Ugh. So I haven't filed yet. I might try TaxAct if I have 2 more hours to kill doing nothing....
I did go to Consumer Reports to read the skinny on tax prep software, and article actually stated we should feel free to try them all and see which provides the biggest refund. To me that's a little weird--why shouldn't they all be the same? Oh well. I like the format of TurboTax better but if it's a $3k difference...nothing to sneeze at.

Wow, those kind of anecdotes have me worried. What part of the (presumably) deductions is coming up differently for TaxCut vs. TurboTax? In other words, they both let you see the actual filled-in IRS forms, so what lines/parts are different?

TMP-SMX said:

Simple and free if you link through the IRS/your state's treasury page if you are under 25 or make less than 10K.[/url]

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That's cool, but unfortunately (well, fortunately), I am neither.

yadayadadude said:

That's cool, but unfortunately (well, fortunately), I am neither.

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There are a ton of free options on IRS website if you make under $50k annual. We used TaxCut for free - I guess there's one perk to being a resident - that low salary allows for free tax filing!

Well, they're organized differently, so it's kinda hard to tell. I'm not sure if the programs will let me print the preliminary returns before filing so I could compare line-by-line. It's hard to figure it out. What I *think* I've figured out is that the $8k of student loan interest my husband and I have paid this year (mostly me) is reduced to $380 or so in TurboTax because our AGI exceeds the income limits, but for whatever reason TurboTax doesn't give us any deduction for the $5k or so we paid in VA mortgage insurance premiums this year when we bought our house, whereas Taxcut does, so that reduces the AGI, so we qualify for the full $2500 student loan interest deduction. At least I think this is what's happening.
I even went so far as to clear my TurboTax return and re-enter it all again and I still got the same result (no credit for the VA mortgage insurance). It's a pretty sizable deduction.
I don't get it either.

Sol Rosenberg said:

Wow, those kind of anecdotes have me worried. What part of the (presumably) deductions is coming up differently for TaxCut vs. TurboTax? In other words, they both let you see the actual filled-in IRS forms, so what lines/parts are different?

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primadonna22274 said:

Well, they're organized differently, so it's kinda hard to tell. I'm not sure if the programs will let me print the preliminary returns before filing so I could compare line-by-line. It's hard to figure it out. What I *think* I've figured out is that the $8k of student loan interest my husband and I have paid this year (mostly me) is reduced to $380 or so in TurboTax because our AGI exceeds the income limits, but for whatever reason TurboTax doesn't give us any deduction for the $5k or so we paid in VA mortgage insurance premiums this year when we bought our house, whereas Taxcut does, so that reduces the AGI, so we qualify for the full $2500 student loan interest deduction. At least I think this is what's happening.
I even went so far as to clear my TurboTax return and re-enter it all again and I still got the same result (no credit for the VA mortgage insurance). It's a pretty sizable deduction.
I don't get it either.

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Isn't the PMI deduction a deduction, rather than an above-the-line adjustment to income? Or are VA mortgage insurance premiums different? In other words, based upon my [limited] understanding of the PMI deduction, it seems like TurboTax might be correct.

(But I hope for your sake that it's not!)

Thanks for the clarification!

I don't remember exactly. I'm probably using the wrong terminology. If I were on better terms with my financial wiz ex-husband I would ask him
I did plug in the numbers for the same question, "mortgage insurance premium paid". This is different than the mortgage interest deduction (also sizable) and real estate taxes. In short, I paid a heckuva lot in taxes and interest this year and I'm hoping to recoup some back, then adjust my withholdings this next year. I had sold my home in Oregon the year before and was renting for a year (ick) and didn't really know how it would affect me so I wanted to be sure I didn't have too little withheld.
Newsflash! I figured it out after doing the TaxAct and comparing each (3 different returns). Then I reviewed the IRS publication on home interest deduction. Here's the scoop: home mortgage interest paid (including VA funding premiums, in my case $5800) is all counted together in the TaxCut program and when I plugged it in that way into TurboTax (my preferred program) it worked like a charm. Made a nearly $3k difference in my refund. Read the fine print: home mortgage insurance premiums count as home mortgage interest.
L.

Sol Rosenberg said:

Isn't the PMI deduction a deduction, rather than an above-the-line adjustment to income? Or are VA mortgage insurance premiums different? In other words, based upon my [limited] understanding of the PMI deduction, it seems like TurboTax might be correct.

(But I hope for your sake that it's not!)

Thanks for the clarification!

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