Can a dumbass like me do my own taxes?

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: ironwing

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: ironwing

Originally posted by: pontifex
you're still going to have to pay something though right? you either pay for the software and/or the actual filing part.

If you fill out the forms by hand you have to pay postage, that' all.

Ah, so it must be the e-filing that i'm thinking about?

Yeah, that's why I still don't e-file. Either you have to pay a third party vendor for the privilege or you have to give all your financial info to a third party website. If the IRS and states were serious about e-filing they would provide the service themselves instead of turning it into a for-profit scheme to benefit private businesses.

Don't youknow? The most bestest way is to privatize government and make a buck??

(sarcasm meter calibration check.... 100% deflection )

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: loup garou
A W2 and one dependent? You'll be done in an hour, tops.
I've used TaxACT for the past 3 years, entirely online. Simple, cheap, easy. Click on the old lady handing out HJs below this thread.

Would it be more profitable to go to a place like H and R, or is it the same thing essentially. (Just curious, I am almost positive I am going to do it myself this year.)

H&R Block,Hewitt and similar places will charge you $50+ to handle the paperwork that you can do if you have a high school educations and can type in the AT forums.

Use Tax S/W (showing in ads for $20 for Fed) - cheaper than those guys and just as accurate.

A 1040EZ can take 15 minutes
A 1040A can take up to an hour if you have educational costs.

 

[TruePaige]

Curious: I moved exactly half way through the year, do I have to file 2 state returns?

Will TaxAct tell me?

 

[Dunbar]

Originally posted by: TruePaige
Curious: I moved exactly half way through the year, do I have to file 2 state returns?

Will TaxAct tell me?

When I moved from IL to CA I did a partial-year resident tax return for both states. I recommend picking the closest two-week pay period to the date you moved. Report your yearly income up to the that point to the state you left and the rest to the state you moved to. Don't know about software, didn't use any.

 

[TruePaige]

Originally posted by: Dunbar

Originally posted by: TruePaige
Curious: I moved exactly half way through the year, do I have to file 2 state returns?

Will TaxAct tell me?

When I moved from IL to CA I did a partial-year resident tax return for both states. I recommend picking the closest two-week pay period to the date you moved. Report your yearly income up to the that point to the state you left and the rest to the state you moved to. Don't know about software, didn't use any.

Hmm...sounds interesting...might be worth the 100 bucks just to have it done for me, but if software picked it up I'd just use it and do it myself. I don't want anything to look half-assed to the IRS.