I love filling out forms.
I remember playing secretary when I was little: it was just so satisfying filling in those perfect little boxes with letters and numbers, marking papers with a decisive thud of the inked stamp, and filing away the data-heavy pages in tidy little slots. If only life was so light and easy to organize!
You’re going to think I’m really weird, but I actually look forward to getting our W-2s in the mail, so I can fill out the tax forms. Being math-averse, this love of filing tax forms surprises even me. Except the refund part. We’ve almost always managed to score a chunky one, and of course, free money is almost as fun as putting things in little boxes.
I should say that I have never claimed itemized deductions for expenses such as moving, giving clothes to charity, donating to the natural history museum or whatever. I tried it a couple of times, but the standard deduction has always been better (and no receipts to collect — that’s almost reason enough).
DIY, Walk-in Service or Software?
When I was single and working as a secretary by day and a poet by night (the best of both worlds!), I would get excited about filling out the 1040-EZ form with a Sharpie, which I did in less than 30 minutes. Then I got married, had children, and continued to move from state to state, making taxes not so EZ.
Our first few years of marriage, I even chickened out and went to H&R Block. Even though I paid around $300 for the service, we still got a huge refund and I kind-of liked the hand-holding.
Now I’m back to doing taxes on my own, but this time having my hand held by the more wallet-friendly tax preparation software.
The first time I bought the boxed version of TaxCut, H&R Block’s home software (now called H&R Block at Home). Then I read an article in the New York Times where a reporter road-tested TaxCut, TurboTax and a high-end tax accountant, and concluded that an accountant was only slightly better than the $59.95 version of TurboTax.
Today we got a W-2 and two other tax forms in the mail today, and I could feel the excitement building. Punching in numbers that magically appear in boxes will once again make life seem sleek and oh-so-streamlined. And we might even cop a refund that would make us feel better about those last hog-wild months in New York City.
Which Software to Choose?
The easy way out would be to go with TurboTax again, since they can copy much of my information from last year, saving me time and hassle (for a total of $66.90 including a state return).
But being a frugal mama, I am of course tempted by the less expensive and even free options mentioned in this article from the Consumer Reports Money Blog: Free Tax Prep and Filing Options Abound This Year.
The IRS offers free electronic filing (FreeFile) for people with an income of $58,000 or less, but many of the tax prep products also offer free federal filing no matter your income. You still have to pay for state returns, and that cost can vary among the products.
In USA Today’s Tax preparation companies offer lots of free filing options, I was reminded that, “tax software companies are in the business of making money. If you use one of the free programs, you’ll probably have to fend off a lot of pitches to upgrade to a paid product.”
Come to think of it, I remember this being the case with TurboTax. I picked the least expensive option and they kept trying to tantalize me, even bully me, into upgrading.
Free Options for Smart People
The same article also points out that, “you can always file your tax return for free by doing it the old-school way: with a pencil and paper.” However for the first time this year, the IRS won’t be mailing paper forms to people who filed manually in the past. You can either download and print them at irs.gov, or try FreeFile Fillable Forms. According to USA Today, “FreeFile Fillable Forms provides electronic versions of tax forms that you can fill out and file for free. The program will do the math but won’t provide guidance.”
If we would stop moving around and have a normal life for once, I might trust myself to fill out our own tax forms again, using the preceding year’s return as a guide. But alas, I think I’ll take the middle road again: the not-free, but relatively cheap tax prep software.
To make an informed decision: Cheapism analyzes the pros and cons of free and cheap tax preparation software, and TopTenReviews compares ten tax prep programs and their prices.
Post-Filing Notes and Advice
I just filed my taxes last night (Jan. 27). I ended up using TurboTax again, the deluxe version for returning customers, to save time and hassle. The total cost was $60 for a federal and state return. (TurboTax offers free tax tools as well.)
Overall the experience was good — I love how they keep reminding you they’ll make sure you get all the money you deserve. In fact, we did get a huge return this year: over $5,000! I’m not sure why it was so big, but I noticed our refund go up significantly when I entered our moving expenses (which were also about $5,000).
However, I did encounter a few glitches with TurboTax. It automatically carried over a form for self-employment from last year that did not apply to this year. It caused all sorts of headaches and I had to call in. The problem was somewhat resolved, but I’m still having issues printing the returns.
Also, the Bank of America 35% discount was not applied (see the comment section about this). As long as you enter the TurboTax site through the bank’s website (which I did), the discount is supposed to be applied automatically. If that does not happen, you can call TurboTax to apply the discount, according to people in the TurboTax forums.
Finally, I’ve heard that you don’t need to be a customer of the bank offering the discount, but it’s worth checking if your bank offers a similar discount since it might be easier to claim the benefit. I am not a B of A customer, but I do have one of their credit cards, so maybe that will help me when I call to ask about my discount.
How will you prepare your taxes this year?
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I LOVE doing my taxes! Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I have used Turbo Tax several times, and it seems to get better every year. It’s so easy working through even complicated tax situations. I usually do my taxes with both Turbo Tax and H&R block to compare both the filing fees and the refund they come up with. One year I tried using a lesser-known website and the refund it came up with was nowhere near what I was due. It definitely helps to double check, and you don’t have to pay until you file.
Every year Bank of America offers 30% off of Turbo Tax, and anyone can use the link whether you have an account with Bank of America or not. If you go to their site and search “Turbo Tax” you should be able to find it.