There is also OpenTaxSolver: http://opentaxsolver.sourceforge.net/
Which, if it works for you, is both free and open source.
TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
171–180 of 319 posts
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
The real wtf is: if the IRS already knew what you owed why did you have to go through the rigamarole to begin with?
not all taxable income is reported to the IRS
No, but the vast majority is. Which means for the vast majority of people the IRS could easily send you your taxes already filled out.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#173Are there other services that allow for such easy import of other account data? I have a handful of investment accounts scattered like Wealthfront and Robinhood and the one-click imports from each service feel really seamless. I don't like coughing up the few hundred dollars every year but I'm also lucky enough to not have to think about it much other than on whatever weekend afternoon I choose to slog through the en…
Yes. I use tax act which imports my data from most banks and my w-2s from my job. I believe this is a IRS standard protocol to get the data, they don't import from wealthfront, they tell the IRS to give you the wealthfront import data.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort That’s so cute how everyone is afraid of the IRS boogeyman Everyone believes whichever way they first became comfortable with is saving them money and their freedom I know people that would say the exact same thing except they are referring to their table full of printed out forms Literally everyone with a super wrong and very huma…
Having lived through my parents being audited multiple times I am definitely afraid of the IRS boogey man. Merely dealing with an audit (even if everything you id was correct and above board) can be extremely stressful and time consuming. My parents also thought their CPA was really good an knew what they were doing. Turns out that even CPAs screw up sometimes. :-)
I've dealt with the IRS. It was a major pain. Ridiculous pain. They were contesting some education credits some years after graduation. Showed proof of payments to the university, but they responded with "Well how do we know you were paying for education - you could have been paying for things like parking?"
They kept saying "Send us this doc and you'll be good." We'd get the doc, send it to them, and they'd say it's not enough.
Called the university. They said they'd never heard the IRS contest the form that universities provide (1098 or whatever it is). I had to beg them to find my actual bill for that year, so I could show them that what I paid match what was billed. Finally the IRS relented.
Jokes on them, though. I found some unused deductions, amended my tax form, and got back an additional $400.
Having said all that, I still do all my taxes myself. Neither Turbotax nor a CPA would have spared me this headache - they would have filed it exactly as I did - just slap on the form the university provides. My wife used to use a CPA in the past - relatively cheap ($150 for both federal and state). I found issues with his work - he didn't take as many deductions as he could. I amended and got back extra money. He also messed something up which the IRS (rightly) contested. We contacted the CPA so he could fix it and he went AWOL. We had to deal with it.
If your financial situation doesn't change from year to year, I suggest paying a CPA once to do your taxes, figure out everything he/she did, and just do it yourself next year.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#175For all Canadians reading this, try WealthSimple Tax (previously SimpleTax). It's pay what you want, and it's a solid product. Nonetheless, tax software should be provided for free by the tax organization (IRS, CRA, etc), it's so stupid to pay for doing your taxes, unless you really need an accountant...
The idea of giving all of my financial info to a 3rd party online service just strikes me as a terribly bad idea.
I've been using Studiotax free for years... this year they've introduced a fee to use it... so now I'm reconsidering my (off-line) options again.
Perhaps if this year we revolted and submitted paper tax forms then maybe the CRA/IRS would re-consider providing their own online system!!
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#176Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort That’s so cute how everyone is afraid of the IRS boogeyman Everyone believes whichever way they first became comfortable with is saving them money and their freedom I know people that would say the exact same thing except they are referring to their table full of printed out forms Literally everyone with a super wrong and very huma…
> That’s so cute how everyone is afraid of the IRS boogeyman Its so cute how everyone is afraid of a government agency that is opaque and can charge you fines or jail time for not correctly filling out their documents :)
Source for jail time for not correctly filling out documents?
I imagine it’s jail time for fraud, which is not the same as not correctly filling out documents.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#177I used to say turbo tax wasn't that bad, and that free filing was easy if you just ignored their promises to save you money if you upgraded. Last year however I got all the way to the end of the process where they revealed I made too much and had to pay. That felt extremely unethical, as the information required to come to that conclusion was available far earlier in the process. And yet what am I going to do but use…
>And yet what am I going to do but use turbo tax again. The perceived risk and effort of using a non-automated system to fill them out doesn't seem worth the cost. I'd suggest FreeTaxUSA.com as an alternative. Federal is always free, and state taxes are ~12/state. I don't have anything obscure about my taxes, and their forms indicate they can handle much more complicated situations than I have. I've used them for 3 y…
Another recommendation for FreeTaxUsa. Used it last year for filing and for an amended return. I am happy to pay the small cost (about $7) for unlimited support (didn't need any). Using it again this year.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not use the official IRS free file forms?
Based on this site[0], it looks like you have to use a 'partner' to file the forms if you make under $72,000 a year, is that right? 0: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...
The wording is confusing (I think this is an IRS requirement having read the documentation for many years now) but what it is saying is that if you make under $72,000/year there are a ton of free options available. If you make more than $72,000 this is supposedly the only free e-file option available.
The whole thing is a mess because TurboTax and H&R Block and the like want to stay in business. If the process is too easy then the middlemen won't survive.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#179Use can use this tool to find a provider that offers free file for your situation.
Re: TurboTax Tricked You into Paying to File Your Taxes (2019)
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question, how is lobbying different from bribery? Lobbyists go to Washington, spend fortunes on taking lawmakers to fancy dinners and then get away with what they want. Maybe I don't understand the process and am oversimplifying it, but that's how I see it.
I'll flip the question around... How is lobbying different than random voter talking to their representative in person? It isn't really - a lobbyist is just exercising the free speech available to all individuals - they just happen to be doing it on behalf of a group of individuals. I'm purposefully ignoring the whole "corporations are people" aspect because that's a different discussion. But, what you seem to be arg…
the problem has been is the lobbying in Washington and even at state and city levels has become a friends and family thing and even a parking place for politicians who are down and out.
hence the amount of wealth that politicians, their family which usually means children, gain while they are in office is phenomenal and can lead to positions at state and city levels. the real one percent are these upper end politicians and bureaucrats who just operate with near impunity because its basically impossible to follow all the trails or because much of it has been made legal; usually by making laws that say one thing and do another.