I'm looking for recommendations on tax software this evening. TurboTax? TaxCut? Others?

Why? I got a letter this week from the accounting firm that has handled my taxes for 15 years or so. Essentially, it's a Dear John letter -- my sarcastic interpretation of it is, "hey, sorry, the big bank bought us up and we don't need you peons now."

Okay, fine. I'm reasonably smart and my tax situation isn't all that complex. I've got regular earnings, the sale of a few shares of company stock, and a [i]really[/] tiny bit of interest on savings. That seems like a case for the simple version of TurboTax to me. Potential complexity: I have an LLC for some of the "side work" I do. I don't know how that figures in, in terms of entries into tax software, and I wonder if it has bearing on which version of the software to buy. TurboTax offers a version for business owners, but I don't know if that's really right for me as I'm not fully self-employed. And for what it's worth, I don't think revenue on the LLC has ever exceeded $1500 or so. This year is likely at a loss, as we haven't invoiced for work in process -- we invoice after the job is done, so there have been expenses and no real income.

Anyway... I'm looking for advice, and SF is where I usually head first.

Thanks, all.

Have used TurboTax for years and years. Love the "it's deductible online" feature where donations can be valued fairly and without drama. They do ask you to spend money every year for online help, or "insurance" on their return calculations. But, it has been painless, trouble-free, and easy to manage a typical married two income with significant donations situation.

Turbotax in 2018 missed a state limit that ended up costing me money. In other years it has refused to allow forms to be filled out so I ended up printing the actual form and filling it out manually.

Gave up on Turbotax two years ago and went with Freetaxusa.com. Browser based system, no software to buy or download, and cheaper than turbotax.

I use the Block offering, and have generally been happy with it. Filling out the forms via the iterative interview model is the least of the work, assembling the appropriate documentation, and deciding where to take various deductions, etc. is far more onerous. I do a Sched. C, itemize, and have multiple investment accounts which add to the burden.

I have complex taxes. I use TurboTax. It gets it done.

You'll need to buy one version for your own personal taxes. Buy the package that includes what you need (e.g., rental income, personal business expenses, etc).

Your LLC is a separate entity. It will need to file its own business returns, and generate the relevant schedules for you to report as an individual (e.g., a Schedule K-1). Thus, the LLC will need its own version of TurboTax (plus additional fee for state filing, as the business version doesn't include state filings).

My taxes have gone from complex to simple and I've used Turbo Tax for approx 15 years.

I had the world's best accountant for 20 years. He was a former irs agent who opened his tax service. Also loved the stock market and was a wizard trading options. We were pals then bad luck. His wife was terminal with cancer and he closed - referred me to another practice but my business situation was simpler and he had me well trained so I went with TT home & business and filed my own.

EZ enough. I e-file. TT makes it simple by having last years numbers right there to compare. The software is around $60-70, usually discounted, and $20 to file state return.

I've been using TurboTax for years, lately the online version (nothing to install). It's simple to use, and gives you a pdf file at the end with all your forms in it in case you need to reference them later. I MAY go to a professional this year since I just retired and have started pulling money from my 401K; depends on complicated those rules look.

 
I use TurboTax Deluxe and save the installer .dmg that I downloaded. In each past year's folder, I have a PDF with all of the completed forms, including the worksheets. And the .dmg installer for that year. If you need to redo something from 2018, for example, you have to install that year's version to work with the 2018 data. Otherwise, the complete PDF file has all of the information we submitted. I refuse to use any online tax preparation method.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Your LLC is a separate entity. It will need to file its own business returns, and generate the relevant schedules for you to report as an individual (e.g., a Schedule K-1). Thus, the LLC will need its own version of TurboTax (plus additional fee for state filing, as the business version doesn't include state filings).

Not necessarily for tax purposes. If he’s the only member, the IRS will automatically disregard it as a separate entity and he’ll report it on Schedule C. Unless he’s filled out Form 8832 and elected otherwise.

I used Turbo Tax for years but about 5 years ago I switched to HR Block, it was quite a bit cheaper then and works just as well.

When I first decided to use tax software 20 some years ago, I think there were only two available- TaxCut & TurboTax. I picked TaxCut, which H&R Block bought out sometime along the way, and have been using it ever since.

I gave up on Turbotax years ago and found a smaller local CPA. I just hand them a few files of receipts and they do the rest.

Turobtax kept raising the price and charged all sorts of extras and by the time it was all done the difference in cost was minimal. This is another program to learn to operate, always with glitches, and they spammed my heavily and I suspect sell your info too (more spam).

Another aspect is that the CPA can answer questions and steer me in the right direction where needed.
They can also represent me if the IRS ever knocked on my door and their signature is on the form too.

Congress has removed so many deductions and raised the standard deduction ($25,900 for a couple in 2022 + more if 65+) so high now that many people don't need to keep track of many of the items, so they have a very simple form. If you don't have a large mortgage interest deduction you may not need more than one piece of paper.

I'd argue that tax software is like fire, a useful tool if you know how to use it, but possible to get into trouble with.

Reason being IRS/Tax code is counterintuitive, and it changes. If you have business activity I'd suggest finding a different tax accountant.

Personally, in your shoes (and I hope I never am - I hope my tax guy keeps active till well past my need to file) I'd pursue getting a new pro to make sure I'm taking advantage of everything I can, while not inadvertently falling afoul of some arcane requirements.

Maybe ask your contact at the old place for a couple recommendations? (Or ask your lawyer, banker, etc.)

I keep things in Quickbooks and Excel, hand it off to my pro, and I'm confident that I'm not overpaying while following the rules. Also, I can get knowledgeable and up-to-date advice when considering alternatives. Can't get that confidence doing it myself - life's too short to track IRS regs, Congressional nonsense, court rulings, etc.

You need TurboTax Premier since you have stocks involved. The cheaper versions don't have the forms for that.

I have used a CPA for several decades. One died, another went on disability and I fired the third. I am happy with my current CPA. I run a business. They have saved me a lot of money over the years and kept me out of trouble. He was there when the IRS audited my one person retirement plan. Nothing was amiss but I could not have done it alone.
If you do some side work I would get a new CPA. He helps me with tax planning as well. I have hired professionals over the years and do not regret spending the money.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
You need TurboTax Premier since you have stocks involved. The cheaper versions don't have the forms for that.

I have sold stocks and mutual funds for years and have been using TurboTax Deluxe for my taxes. The forms are there. Maybe the step-by-step instructions for the more complicated situations are not in the Deluxe version.

Another happy Turbo-Tax user. I've used it most years since the 1990's. Prior to that I did it using the paper packets from the IRS.

My (new) sister-in-law is a CPA and has done our taxes the last 2 years. I will be doing them starting again this year. Turbo-Tax has always done a good job for me even with complicated investments. It asks a lot of questions which cover all kinds of obscure situations. I am not convinced a CPA does better than Turbo Tax unless there are judgment questions, like how to categorize a particular item, which the CPA has experience in.

You should be able to use your last few years of returns as the template for this year, especially since you have a simple situation that hasn't changed.

The CPA comes in handy when you goof. For example fail to sign a check, and numerous other problems over the course of many years. Another example is when you receive a demand letter for twenty grand which is of course in error. It is worse if you run a business.

CPA always seems to save me more money than TurboTax… even after professional services fees. All the time.

I've used the H&R Block software for several years straight. Prior to that it was a Big 5 accounting firm because I was an expat (i.e. crazy complex tax situation) for 2 years. Prior to being an expat, I had used TurboTax for 10 years straight.

TurboTax lost my trust the last year that I was living in Alaska. I used it and did my taxes mid-February that year since I was expecting a refund. I had to delay filing because I hadn't received the receipt for the largest charitable deduction (I had input my other charitable deductions and was already doing the itemized deduction). Once the receipt finally comes in I jump back in TurboTax, it does an automatic update, my refund decreases, I input the 5 figure charitable deduction, and my refund is still smaller than when I had left off weeks earlier. In other words, had I not delayed filing I would've submitted an erroneous tax return because TurboTax had a programming error they fixed part way through tax season.