Need opinions: Anyone e-file their taxes without a tax pro.. and if so..

[AzDar]

have you encountered any problems? (i.e. delayed refunds; audits; etc.)I have always gone to H&R block; tax situation is pretty cut and dried, and everyone keeps saying to just go to the I.R.S. website and do it.
Any thoughts?

[Book Lover]

1. The IRS website will direct you to

third-party vendors; you cannot efile directly with the IRS. I hear taxact.com is good, and they will let you file free if your gross adjusted is less than $50k.

[central scrutinizer]

2. I use Turbo-Tax

and have had no problems - refund automatically deposited rather quickly. Some of the screens and little help videos are full of right wing anti-tax propaganda, but you can plug your ears.

[AzDar]

10. They do direct deposit and everything, huh? Yeesh, maybe I should try

this. Do you need a printer? (mine is not hooked up to my laptop), although I can dust it off and do it...

[demosincebirth]

19. You have to have a printer if you want to print them out and send them.

If you e-file you still want a copy for your personel file

[huskerlaw]

3. I have

but I was making very little money and really only had to deal with the lifetime learning credit/Hope credit. Otherwise it was merely a case of plugging in numbers. I had no problems.

I just used H&R Block for the first time (last night, actually) and what they do isn't really much different than the IRS website, but I was dealing with 2 states and more money, so it was worth it to me.

If you really just have normal boring income and zero or very few credits or deductions, you might consider it, but then again, if your taxes are that simple it doesn't cost that much to go to H&R Block and you have that additional peace of mind.

[pdxmom]

4. Turbo-Tax is really good...we've used it for years.

I usually have my refund deposited in my account within 2 weeks, for both federal and state. And ours aren't that cut and dried. They walk you through things pretty well.

[CountAllVotes]

8. I used TurboTax myself this year for the 1st time

Saved me a few hundred $ not having to pay some guy! It was easy enough. My tax return was fairly straight forward, but had some complexities! :D

:kick:

[pdxmom]

25. The amount of time it takes is pretty reasonabble, too. It remembers

what you did the year before and uses that as your starting point. And you can work on it for a while, save what you're doing and go back to it later.

As soon as the tax documents start coming in, we start plugging in numbers. Easy to make sure we have everything and know what we're missing and get it all together in a fairly organized way.

[Beaverhausen]

9. Do you have to buy software to do you go to their website?

:hi:

[CountAllVotes]

12. I bought mine from Office Depot

People on eBay sell it too - make sure you get Deluxe with State for the year 2005.

[MindPilot]

14. you can do it either way

I like to buy the software--that way I have the CD to re-install if I need to get back in there. The other advantage is you have the option in TT to save the forms as a pdf so any time you need those three years of tax forms to qualify for the mortage, just print 'em up.

[pdxmom]

23. We usually get ours at Costco and there's usually a rebate on it

so if you take advantage of the rebate, I think it comes out to about $15.

[MindPilot]

5. I've used turbo tax for the past few years

IIRC this will be my third year e-filing and setting up direct deposit. Haven't had any problems and I'm amazed how fast I get the refund. It's like less than two weeks.

Remember anything you spend on tax software or e-file fees is deductible.

I have in the past had some bad experiences with human tax preparers. Turbo Tax walks you through step-by-step so you really don't have to know anything. The really big advantage over a human is you don't have to do it all at once, you can stop to go find some record. If you are at H&R block and you forgot a particular piece of paper, you're knid of screwed.

[helderheid]

6. used turbo tax for the first time last year. Am doing so again this year.

Very good experience.

[Poiuyt]

7. I have been using Turbotax for several years now. Works great, faster than

mail.

http://www.intuit.com/

I'm not connected with the company. I'm sure other services are good also.

[Warpy]

11. I've used both Turbo Tax and Kiplinger's Tax Cut

and find them to be comparable in ease of use. Oh, and I itemize. I've used whichever has been on sale for the past 9 years.

[rox63]

13. I've been doing H&R Block online

I filed both federal and state taxes a couple of weeks ago, and I've already got my refunds direct-deposited.

[northofdenali]

15. I've used TaxAct for the last 4 years.

It surprised me in '02, because we had been basically breaking even or paying a little, and we got a refund. We've used it ever since. The efile step-by-step is a no-brainer (thank heaven) and our refunds were fast with direct deposit.

[Samurai_Writer]

16. I've used TaxSlayer for the past four years

It's great, and only $9.95 to use their web-based version. I've never had a problem with the filing or getting my refund.

www.taxslayer.com

[NMDemDist2]

17. i did mine, and then hubby's and mine for years until I started a biz

and needed a year round professional

it's a breeze and I think I was one of the first e-filers ever about a decade ago it seems. also my refund always came QUICK (but I usually filed in February which makes a big diff)

go for it, if all you have are W-2's and IRA/401 stuff do it. if you need to itemize though, it may be worth the H&R block route.

you really really don't want to mess with the IRS :rofl:

[jody]

18. Suggest you prepare your tax forms manually after reading proper IRS pubs.

It is very easy and that's the only way you really know the details.

Write your data on the tax forms by pen and submit to IRS. IMO, one does not need to pay someone to do the task unless you are earning over $100K.

[mcscajun]

20. Turbo Tax or "workflow it" -- which is what H&R Block does.

If you're filing the 1040 Long Form, you start entering numbers until it requires entry from a subsidiary form, then you stop and complete the subsidiary form, inserting the numbers and moving down until you hit another 'breakpoint' to another form, and so on.

You can also go to the IRS website, pull up the relevant form as a PDF (*so long as you already have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed*), do all the entry on the spot and print it out for mailing, if you can wait for your refund.

Another good resource is this link from the IRS: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf Look for the "Tax Return Page Reference" They've got every data entry point numbered with the page that explains what goes where. :)

[NightOwwl]

21. Looks like another vote for TurboTax.

I can'timagine doing my taxes any other way.

[Individualist]

22. and another

I've used it for several years and am pleased with it.

[wryter2000]

24. Wow, all

I used TurboTax last year to compute the taxes and filed by mail. I used TT to e-file for the first time day before yesterday. I'm glad to hear such positive stories.

:bounce: