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FreeTaxUSA

freetaxusa.com

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Re: FreeTaxUSA

#61

Post by TillE »

dkokelley wrote: post #50

Honest question: Why don't more people (especially high earners) go with a CPA firm to take care of their taxes? With the amount of money involved, and the potential legal trouble for getting it wrong, the cost/benefit calculation seems to strongly favor hiring a professional to guide you.

If you're in a typical situation (salary, investments), doing your own taxes isn't particularly hard. If you're a freelancer or business owner or you have a lot of weird sources of income, sure, paying an accountant is probably worth it.

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#62

Post by [deleted] »

dkokelley wrote: post #50

Honest question: Why don't more people (especially high earners) go with a CPA firm to take care of their taxes? With the amount of money involved, and the potential legal trouble for getting it wrong, the cost/benefit calculation seems to strongly favor hiring a professional to guide you.

[deleted]

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#63

Post by returningfory2 »

medler wrote: post #47

The first time I used Freetaxusa, I also filled out TurboTax as usual, and found that with TurboTax I made a mistake that would have cost me well over a thousand dollars in overpayment. I then realized that I had made the same mistake the previous year with TurboTax, so I filed an amended return and was able to get back well over a thousand dollars. Thanks Freetaxusa! The mistake was user error in entering a backdoor…

I had a similar experience! At first I thought freetaxusa was too good to be true so I filled out TurboTax as well. When I finished, my freetaxusa refund was larger! Like you, I had made a mistake when using TurboTax.

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#64

Post by lotsofpulp »

dkokelley wrote: post #50

Honest question: Why don't more people (especially high earners) go with a CPA firm to take care of their taxes? With the amount of money involved, and the potential legal trouble for getting it wrong, the cost/benefit calculation seems to strongly favor hiring a professional to guide you.

If you only have W-2 or 1099 income, taxes are relatively easy if you are comfortable reading forms. It might take 2 hours the first year, but after that it should be a breeze.

For federal income tax, there is also this spreadsheet that is very handy:

https://sites.google.com/view/incometaxspreadsheet/home

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#65

Post by throw7 »

I use these guys since whatever I was using years ago jacked up their prices. Filing state is not free, but it isn't highway robbery.

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#66

Post by notShabu »

Does anyone have a comparison between this and turbotax? I know there are some ethical issues w/ turbotax but the price relative to peace of mind is not that big of an issue and the guide-through UI does provide a lot of time savings relative to say filling out the raw forms.

e.g. part of me believes that due to the lobbying etc, returns that come through turbotax have a lower rate of auditing or sth.

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#67

Post by godelski »

gavinhoward wrote: post #55

I am a (fairly) close relative of an employee and a happy user. Feel free to ask me questions, and I'll pass them onto her! Also, FreeTaxUSA is not only great for users, but they are fantastic to employees. My relative got to go on a cruise this summer, and she claims their pay has more than kept up with inflation.

No question, but can you tell them thanks?

I used TT for years and even as a student it was always a hassle and difficult to just use the free service without ending up on a screen that made me pay or redo everything.

Edit: actually, a question. Can we add better 2FA? I know it is a once a year thing, but I'd prefer something better than email or phone number.

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#68

Post by dang »

It's CPS time again. Related:

IRS to begin trial of its own free tax-filing system - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38892044 - Jan 2024 (323 comments)

13 States join the IRS direct-file test after tax prep firms dropped the ball - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37937894 - Oct 2023 (189 comments)

Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37920633 - Oct 2023 (329 comments)

GOTO https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37921113

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#69

Post by herpdyderp »

gavinhoward wrote: post #55

I am a (fairly) close relative of an employee and a happy user. Feel free to ask me questions, and I'll pass them onto her! Also, FreeTaxUSA is not only great for users, but they are fantastic to employees. My relative got to go on a cruise this summer, and she claims their pay has more than kept up with inflation.

I barely know anything about taxes but I've heard restructuring an LLC into an S corp can help specific tax situations but you have to have a firm handle it so you can pay out taxes every month instead of only once a year. Is that something FTU can do?

Re: FreeTaxUSA

#70

Post by Spivak »

dkokelley wrote: post #50

Honest question: Why don't more people (especially high earners) go with a CPA firm to take care of their taxes? With the amount of money involved, and the potential legal trouble for getting it wrong, the cost/benefit calculation seems to strongly favor hiring a professional to guide you.

Because single/join income W2s with some retirement accounts, other investments here or there, a mortgage interest deduction and some charitable donations is still low complexity. Bigger number on your W2 is still just a W2.
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