US Tax Return Software

[55Jay]

I was a TurboTax price hike refugee after many years with them.  Been using TaxAct the past 3 years, and this year they increased the price 165% over last year for the version I use.  Not necessarily the money, but like to seek alternatives.

 

Looking at TaxSlayer Classic. Doesn't seem to highlight retirement income and handling investments, but drilling down into forms, looks like they're included.   Anyone use it and can comment? 

[Langsuan Man]

Like you I am also a Turbo Tax and TaxAct refugee

 

My solution for the last two years has been Credit Karma Tax, free and has all the schedules you would ever need

 

Submitted electronically and refund received in one week to my US bank account,   your mileage may vary 

 

https://www.creditkarma.com/tax

[55Jay]

19 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Like you I am also a Turbo Tax and TaxAct refugee

 

My solution for the last two years has been Credit Karma Tax, free and has all the schedules you would ever need

 

Submitted electronically and refund received in one week to my US bank account,   your mileage may vary 

 

https://www.creditkarma.com/tax

I saw that one earlier as well, seems to be a link to signing up for their paid credit monitoring service.  Looks like an up and comer though, will keep my eye on it as future alternative if TaxAct continues to escalate like TT did.  Thanks for responding. 

[Langsuan Man]

20 hours ago, 55Jay said:

I saw that one earlier as well, seems to be a link to signing up for their paid credit monitoring service. 

Can't see why one would think that this was a link for credit monitoring ?

 

[55Jay]

4 hours ago, Langsuan Man said:

Can't see why one would think that this was a link for credit monitoring ?

 

It is mentioned in every review and comparison I read although think I was wrong about the "paid" part.  But thank you again for your input and I did act on it, but I'm looking for a slightly more refined product and this is not it for me, at least not right now.  May become a player in the future though.

[JimGant]

Quote

My solution for the last two years has been Credit Karma Tax, free and has all the schedules you would ever need

What's the catch, if any? My returns are fairly simple, and I no longer have to do state returns. TT, at $40 or so, certainly isn't worth it if there's a freeby out there. Can you save all the forms, and supporting data, in PDF format? Thanx.

[Pib]

I notice to signup for the www.creditkarma.com online tax preparation you have to have a U.S. IP address.   When trying to signup with a Thailand IP it said basically said since I was not in the U.S. I couldn't register.  So, I made a VPN connection to San Francisco and I could register.

 

I didn't follow through with the registration as I really just wanted to put my toes into the water at the creditkarma tax preparation site...I just wanted to see if there were any glitches in reaching this online tax prep website.    Plus I've already file taxes for this year.

 

@LSM, since this is an "online" tax preparation (i.e, must have an internet connection whenever using it) vs just having tax software loaded on your computer not needing an internet connection until you e-file  is its "online response quick versus maybe being slow" while completing a return?    And can you create separate "what-if" returns not meant for e-filing but just to play out different income/tax scenarios.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Pib]

2 hours ago, JimGant said:

What's the catch, if any? My returns are fairly simple, and I no longer have to do state returns. TT, at $40 or so, certainly isn't worth it if there's a freeby out there. Can you save all the forms, and supporting data, in PDF format? Thanx.

Years back I used TurboTax for my desktop tax software...fine program...but they were always pricey.   The they got some competition from TaxAct and others.  So, I switched to TaxAct because I could buy it direct from TaxAct for around $10 which was their deluxe edition which included 5 free Federal returns and one free State return.   

 

But in 2016 it cost $28 and this year/2017 it was $40.  It's like up until 2016 TaxAct was really undercutting TurboTax in price in order to gain market share.  I guess now TaxAct feels they have gained as much market share as possible by significantly undercutting TurboTax's price.

 

I went ahead and paid $40 for TaxAct Plus (a.k.a, Deluxe) for 2017 because I was not in the mood for switching, but now that last year's taxes are done, for the next year's taxes I'm going to seriously consider maybe HR Block desktop software which still seems to be priced at a reasonable/low price on sites like Ebay/Amazon.  Or maybe use a free online service although I really don't like the idea of needing an internet connection whenever I want to work on/play around with my tax return.  My tax returns are not simple due to mutual funds/IRA/TSP income and other stuff, but they are not hard either.  But paying $40 or more for desktop tax software don't turn me on.

 

 

[chubby]

thing is, for anything that is not a 1040EZ, CPAs  in the US are $3-400 /hour , tax preparers  less, but  an average one will miss things that would have saved you money ; so even  $50  on sale once per year from Amazon download (which they match costco's price in January)   is cheap.

 

then you are also less likely to get the costly vague letters from the IRS a few years later, asking you to explain things ..... I value the consistency of the interface of TT , year to year,  though, it seems unable to improve on some fronts, like deducting federal interest on state taxes ( my poor brother  seems to have lost $1000s on that, till I informed him ....he used/uses  Tax Act to save his pennies )  :)

[Langsuan Man]

13 hours ago, Pib said:

@LSM, since this is an "online" tax preparation (i.e, must have an internet connection whenever using it) vs just having tax software loaded on your computer not needing an internet connection until you e-file  is its "online response quick versus maybe being slow" while completing a return?    And can you create separate "what-if" returns not meant for e-filing but just to play out different income/tax scenarios.

 

 

I have never used a stand alone program to do my taxes because of the constant changes in the tax laws.  I understand that you can update stand alone software via the Internet, but it I have to update the software I might as well be doing it online.  My former state (PA) had their own online program so I  had to be done online anyway

 

I have never had a problem with "lag" in using any of the online tax programs, like Turbo Tax and  Tax Act and the VPN requirement with Credit Karma Tax is only for the initial registration, once you are registered then a VPN is no longer required.  My reason for going with Credit Karma was not because it is free but in many cases TT or TA could not be overwritten or forced to conform to my particular tax situation

 

I also never liked the way my Turbo Tax "file copy" looked, it was in Turbo Tax format, not in IRS 1040 format.  Tax Act does give you a file copy of your 1040 but you cannot make line corrections, something that is easy to do with Credit Karma

 

And yes you can run different scenarios with Credit Karma Tax since it is free they are not restricting your "printing" until after you finish and pay, like Turbo Tax and Tax Act does

[Pib]

LSM,  

Thanks. 

 

And regarding update of desktop/standalone software it's all automatic...or at least for TaxAct it is....I expect the same for others like TurboTax. 

 

Like every time I start TaxAct it does a quick online check during the startup process to see if there is an update.  If there is an update a window pops up saying there is an update and asking if you want to install it or not.  I always click Yes....it then begins download and install of the update.  This total update process usually takes approx 30 seconds to include the install portion....then TaxAct automatically restarts and you are using the program again.   I think for the current tax year TaxAct updated itself approx 11 times so far in the process I mentioned above.   You can also do a manual update check in a pull down menu if you think TaxAct might have released a new update since you started upt the program...it checks for an update, if there is one it tells you so and once again ask you if you want to install, if you do it does the download/install...once gain takes about 30 seconds.   It will also ask if you want to check for an update before you do an error review or actually do the e-filing.   I guess they give a person so many options to check for the latest update even if you just started the program a few minutes earlier is because some people will ignore an update notice which occurs on every start of TaxAct.  

 

The automatic or manual update is a fast and painless process.  None of this going to their website outside of the tax software program, checking for an update, downloading some file, and then running a manual install from that downloaded file. 

 

And with TaxAct desktop, or when I used TurboTax desktop, there are no restrictions on printing before or after efiling.  Maybe different for their online versions...can't say...never used their online versions.

 

Thanks again for the creditkarma online tax prep info.   With the various big name tax prep companies like TurboTax, TaxAct, etc., not offering the deep discounts like they use to and the internet speed improvement over the last few years maybe it's time for me to use lower cost/free "online" tax prep.    Most of my banks/financial accounts also usually offer some special discounts for tax software but none of them seemed that good of a discount or the discount only related to using the "online" version.

 

It's almost like folks who want to use the desktop/standalone (non-online) version are now being targeted with higher price....fewer deep discount offers.  Heck I would have thought all the free online tax prep competition like creditkarma would drive "down" the price for off-line/desktop tax prep software but that don't seem to be happening.

 

Cheers,

  Pib