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Turbotax online

Muse

Muse

Lifer
Is this a good idea? I've done Turbotax on my computer for years. I was just about to order Turbotax Premier from an Ebay seller for $60 or so, but I got an email today from one of my credit card companies (Capital One) saying I'd get a special deal on Turbotax, so I hit the link, it said Turbotax Premier (I bought and sold stocks) would cost ~$41, and started my return. I have some questions:

1. I have my returns saved on my HDs from years back. In the past when I've done Turbotax they've always imported info from the previous year's return. I see no place in this online Turbotax Premier to access my previous year's return.

2. Will it save my return to HD as a PDF and as a .tax2014, California return, etc.? I was able to save several different types of return to my HDs in the past.

3. I haven't been charged yet, I wonder how that works. I had to register, and I can resume entering my return by signing back in. I wonder how I get charged, by my credit card company? Or does Turbotax suddenly ask me to pay? Seems strange.
 
http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/news/companies/turbotax/
TurboTax is just now recovering from a massive fraud scare. I may suggest you look elsewhere this particular year.

I haven't used TurboTax myself, but I have used TaxAct. It charges you when you upgrade (needless if you can deal with annoying "upgrade now" screens) or when you have TaxAct file your state tax form. I just print the TaxAct state form (hidden but it is available if you look hard) with a watermark, and put those numbers into my state's form myself for free.
 
dullard said:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/news/companies/turbotax/
TurboTax is just now recovering from a massive fraud scare. I may suggest you look elsewhere this particular year.

I haven't used TurboTax myself, but I have used TaxAct. It charges you when you upgrade (needless if you can deal with annoying "upgrade now" screens) or when you have TaxAct file your state tax form. I just print the TaxAct state form (hidden but it is available if you look hard) with a watermark, and put those numbers into my state's form myself for free.
Click to expand...
What's crazy is that story does not indicate when it was published online. It could have been 5 years ago, could have been yesterday. It evidently concerns matters concerning filing state tax returns. I never file my state tax returns online. Turbotax always (in my experience) includes free filing of one federal tax return but you get charged if you have them file your state tax return. Why it shakes out like that entirely boggles my mind. Anyway, I always print the state return, stuff it in an envelope and put stamps on it and drop in a mail box. The cost to me, a few stamps, the cost of printing the return and an envelope. It saves me ~$20 or so. I anticipate that's what will happen if I complete my taxes using Turbotax Premier online.

Yes, my SSN could be pilfered and someone submit a fraudulent return and get some money. I don't think that's going to happen. I'll say one thing -- Doing Turbotax is 20x easier than slogging through paper forms for days. I used to do that and it was a drag. My taxes were 5x simpler then, too. Tax software is a terrific thing. I don't know if it will save me anywhere near as much money as having a good tax preparer/attorney (I really really don't know that answer to that, but I'd like to know), but I imagine it is a lot cheaper!
 
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Muse said:
What's crazy is that story does not indicate when it was published online.
I don't know if it will save me anywhere near as much money as having a good tax preparer/attorney (I really really don't know that answer to that, but I'd like to know), but I imagine it is a lot cheaper!
Click to expand...
Look below the related links, but above the sponsored ads and comments:
"CNNMoney (New York) February 6, 2015: 9:09 PM ET"
Or just look at the comments all being a few days ago. CNN's new format does suck though.

A good tax preparer would likely be more expensive. Since you probably have a very simple tax form with just a few pages (1040 and probably Schedules A, B, D, and F8949), it won't be terribly expensive, but I could see them charging $150 to $200 easily.
 
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Muse said:
I don't know if it will save me anywhere near as much money as having a good tax preparer/attorney (I really really don't know that answer to that, but I'd like to know), but I imagine it is a lot cheaper!
Click to expand...

Unless you run a business (and a medium/big one, at that), a paid tax preparer is a waste of money. It's not like there are double-secret deductions that the IRS purposely leaves off of the form.

This is the first year that I've used tax software (got Turbotax for free), and it IS a lot more straightforward than using Fillable Forms. But most years it's not free, so I might have to go back to Fillable Forms. It never takes more than a couple of hours.
 
jagec said:
Unless you run a business (and a medium/big one, at that), a paid tax preparer is a waste of money. It's not like there are double-secret deductions that the IRS purposely leaves off of the form.

This is the first year that I've used tax software (got Turbotax for free), and it IS a lot more straightforward than using Fillable Forms. But most years it's not free, so I might have to go back to Fillable Forms. It never takes more than a couple of hours.
Click to expand...

To some extent you are correct but I do disagree. I have been in outside sales for years and working from home my taxes can get a bit more complex than the normal tax filing. I've been using the same company to prepare my taxes for the past 8 years and they have been worth it.
 
TurboTax is free and files a state return for free as well if you just use the online version. It was for me, I thought this was well known? I have a straightforward return but what I saw with TurboTax included all the typical stuff for filing I have seen in past years.
 
I used FreetaxUSA this year. Saved me ~$80 over what I paid for TurboTax last year, and TurboTax changed their feature set so I'd have had to spend even more this year.
 
Got h&r block from Amazon for $28 including 1 state. I suppose that was a mistake since some are free?
 
I assumed the online versions were the same as desktop versions.
I assumed people who used desktop versions didn't know what the internet was.
 
dullard said:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/06/news/companies/turbotax/
TurboTax is just now recovering from a massive fraud scare. I may suggest you look elsewhere this particular year.

I haven't used TurboTax myself, but I have used TaxAct. It charges you when you upgrade (needless if you can deal with annoying "upgrade now" screens) or when you have TaxAct file your state tax form. I just print the TaxAct state form (hidden but it is available if you look hard) with a watermark, and put those numbers into my state's form myself for free.
Click to expand...

I hate misleading information like this... TurboTax has nothing to do with the fraud other than that's the software the holders of the SS#s decided to use. It's no less secure than any other software. Once people have the information needed they can use any service they want to do the same thing.

That said, I used TaxAct this year because it was cheaper.
 
edro said:
I assumed the online versions were the same as desktop versions.
I assumed people who used desktop versions didn't know what the internet was.
Click to expand...

desktop version lets me split turbotax with a few relatives (it can e-file federal 5 times per copy)

so we each pay like 15$ for like the highest end version
 
Muse said:
What's crazy is that story does not indicate when it was published online. It could have been 5 years ago, could have been yesterday. It evidently concerns matters concerning filing state tax returns. I never file my state tax returns online. Turbotax always (in my experience) includes free filing of one federal tax return but you get charged if you have them file your state tax return. Why it shakes out like that entirely boggles my mind. Anyway, I always print the state return, stuff it in an envelope and put stamps on it and drop in a mail box. The cost to me, a few stamps, the cost of printing the return and an envelope. It saves me ~$20 or so. I anticipate that's what will happen if I complete my taxes using Turbotax Premier online.

Yes, my SSN could be pilfered and someone submit a fraudulent return and get some money. I don't think that's going to happen. I'll say one thing -- Doing Turbotax is 20x easier than slogging through paper forms for days. I used to do that and it was a drag. My taxes were 5x simpler then, too. Tax software is a terrific thing. I don't know if it will save me anywhere near as much money as having a good tax preparer/attorney (I really really don't know that answer to that, but I'd like to know), but I imagine it is a lot cheaper!
Click to expand...
Good to know! I have been paper filing the state with Turbotax as well. I am still nervous... LOLturbohacked. I am trying out TaxAct this year.
 
Humpy said:
TurboTax is free and files a state return for free as well if you just use the online version. It was for me, I thought this was well known? I have a straightforward return but what I saw with TurboTax included all the typical stuff for filing I have seen in past years.
Click to expand...
I don't believe that Turbotax Premier is free online, well they haven't charged me yet but I saw that the price was ~$41, so I assume they'll ding me sooner or later. Weird is that I've seen no mention paying so far as it's taken me by the elbow into the process of working up the forms the way they do (i.e. similar to the versions from CD). I clicked and poked and haven't been able to find a place where they access my past returns. I think they can access up to 4 years of past online returns, or so I gather from something I saw on my screen, however I didn't do Turbotax online in the past, I did it off CD. I have my past returns saved as files going back to at least 2008.
 
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What sucks about turbotax, is the hidden state filing fee they don't show until you're getting ready to file. Saw they had Deluxe for $29.99 through my CU, then they want to charge you another $37 to file state taxes 😱
 
ghost recon88 said:
What sucks about turbotax, is the hidden state filing fee they don't show until you're getting ready to file. Saw they had Deluxe for $29.99 through my CU, then they want to charge you another $37 to file state taxes 😱
Click to expand...

why not just use turbotax's numbers and file state on your state's website?
 
ghost recon88 said:
What sucks about turbotax, is the hidden state filing fee they don't show until you're getting ready to file. Saw they had Deluxe for $29.99 through my CU, then they want to charge you another $37 to file state taxes 😱
Click to expand...

Well it wouldn't have helped you, but TT has a promotion right now where you can file state taxes for free if you are using their free federal edition (which allows 1040EZ/1040A) as long as you file by 2/16.
 
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Merad said:
Well it wouldn't have helped you, but TT has a promotion right now where you can file state taxes for free if you are using their free federal edition (which allows 1040EZ/1040A) as long as you file by 2/16.
Click to expand...

This must have been what I used.

IME TurboTax has always been shady with hiding how much things cost until the very end and what version you need. When I was self employed and actively trading stocks I was always able to use a cheaper version (Deluxe?) than what the box said I needed. There was never an issue.

The free thing I used this year seemed to the same as what I used to pay for. I'm done paying for this shit anyways, it's just not that complicated.
 
Yea I'm gonna fill in all my info on H&R and TaxAct and do a comparison for myself, and then end up actually filing with H&R or TaxAct. Screw paying a combined $80 for online tax services.
 
I've used Turbotax online for years simply because they have all the previous years data. Is there a quick way to get that data imported to others or is that something you have to go gather and do by hand?
 
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