Tax Filing Options & Tips Round-Up
With Tax Season upon us, here’s a round up of a few tax filing options and FREE software programs you want to take advantage of. In addition, I would love for all of you to add to my tips and provide some different alternatives as well.
* Head over here to sign up for a FREE edition of H&R Block At Home.
* Head over here to sign up for a FREE edition of Turbo Tax (you’ll be able to prepare, print and electronically file your federal tax return for free). If you need a more customizable version, consider purchasing Turbo Tax from Costco or an office supply store where there is often a coupon or special promo offer available.
* Consider using FreeTaxUSA.com, TaxSlayer.com, or TaxAct.com (all have been highly recommended by Hip2Save readers in the past!)
More Tax-Filing Tips:
* Head over to IRS.gov to file your federal taxes for free.
* Check the daily deal sites…Groupon has offered up significantly reduced vouchers for online tax preparation products in the past and will likely have similar offers over the next few months.
* Check with your local college. One reader reported that the accounting students at her local college will do her tax returns for free and they are then reviewed by the professor to ensure that they are correct.
* AARP Foundation Tax-Aide offers free help for older taxpayers and people with limited incomes. Find an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide site in your community by clicking here.
* If you are in the military, you can snag a FREE customized version of basic H&R Block at Home electronic tax filing product. This customized product allows for FREE federal filing and FREE state filing (up to three states). In addition, free telephonic tax consultations are available to help with tax- related issues. Check out Military One Source for more information. Active Duty Military can file for free with TaxSlayer.com and with e-Smart Tax by Liberty Tax.
Now it’s your turn! What are your tips?!
Just FYI if you are Military or ex-military it can be free. My husband is military and we do free turbo tax online FREE every year. We just pay for the option if we want to expediate or have a check by regular mail will be free. But we are to anxious and we expediate. Look into it if you can.. It maybe regional. Im sure on the logistics.
You can also use the turbo tax Freedom edition if you meet qualifications. I have met them every year, and it gets me both my federal and my state for free
https://turbotax.intuit.com/taxfreedom/
Hope this helps someone save time:
fine print: Federal Free if any apply: earned $31k or less, Active Duty Military, or qualified for the EIC Earned Income Credit
AL, AR, AZ, GA, IA, ID, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, NC, ND, OK, OR, RI,
SC, VA, VT, WV states qualify for the free state portion.
I live in CA so it does not help me. :/ I’d have to pay $14.95. Where with a little work I believe I can file on the state site for free. $15 is a bit steep when I see other places charging as little as $5-$10..
The “freedom” edition is different from the “free” edition of turbo tax — in the “freedom” edition you get both federal and state for free, in the “free” edition you only get federal for free
You can earn Swagbucks for filing on H&R Block and Tax Cut. I didn’t even actually file but I got my points! It was like 360 points too! It came up as one of those annoying pop up ads in the corner but I think you can also do it through special offers.
I have been a volunteer tax preparer for AARP. You can go to their website I believe to find locations. They basically file your return for free. They are staffed with good people and we have to pass exams to qualify as a preparer.
Most locations require you to have an appointment. You might want to call first and ask if there is an age or income limitation. My location basically takes anyone who comes in.
AARP volunteers only work on VERY simple returns for low income people.
That is not true. I worked on one the other day with capital gains and a capital loss carry over. I have done someone with their own business. And we do schedule As every day. And we take anyone who comes in…regardless of the income. But I think each location varies
Does anyone know how the File At Home programs work if you have both an out of state and in state form to file? Is only 1 free, or both?
I had this problem last year since my husband works in a different state. What I suggest is to call whichever company you are using to ask how you can do it. I used TaxAct, filed federal and state first, tried to file different state, then ouch! I couldn’t do that because I needed to file federal and state together, but I could not file federal twice (if that makes sense). I called TaxAct, and they were very helpful. They even waived my fee (for other state) because it was a honest mistake. Even if you are not paying for their service, they are going to help you!
Thank you for your advice! 🙂
I think the most foolish thing many folks do, year after year, is floating the federal government an interest-free loan of THEIR money by getting that refund in April.
Folks need to educate themselves and contact their employers to adjust their withholding so this doesn’t continue to occur. Why not have that money in your own pocket each and every month, where it should be in the first place?
You can contact any licensed tax professional for further information.
The best solution is to adjust withholding to as close to zero as possible, but lots of us still file taxes for the refunds we get from other things. If you pay no tax or have very little taken out (I think we paid $250) you still can get money back for EIC, educational expenses etc.
Gil, You are absolutely right. I get so tired of hearing people brag about their big tax refund. They are too incompetent to set their own money aside, but rely on the IRS to be their big bonus (savings acct) for the year and these are grown mature people that you’d think would have enough sense to figure it out.
BINGO! Carol.
You are spot on, girl 🙂
I wholeheartedly agree Gil. There are lots of online payroll withholding calculators that let you accurately predict how withholding adjustments will effect your net pay. I wish more people would use these tools and invest in themselves.
I like getting back my refund each year. Sure, I could have made some interest on the money if I had kept it in the first place, but I know I wouldn’t. And I’d rather get a refund than change my withholding and risk owing some money. I agree it’s probably best for financially responsible people, but I’m not always the most financially responsible person.
Oops, that was suposed to be in response to Gil 🙂
Consider investing difference in a Roth IRA. You’ll get the interest and no penalty if you really need the $$ for an emergency.
If you are military, you can go through Military One Source. There is a place to choose H & R Block to do your federal and state taxes for FREE! We have already done ours and got a nice return back. Deployments are good for something! 🙂
Another free option (also does state for free if your state is supported which the other ones don’t always offer) is The Benefit Bank: https://www.thebenefitbank.org/Self-Serve. SO easy and I got $200 more dollars in my refund than Turbo Tax calculated!
I prepare taxes at a Liberty Tax Franchise. Yes it does cost some money to have your taxes done professionally, but some people actually have pretty complicated tax returns. Others just like the peace of mind and yet others just don’t understand or care to understand the process. I tell my kids that they need to learn to do their own taxes while they are young, and than later if they choose to pay for preparation it’s fine. Everything holds a value, and different things are more valuable or less valuable to different people. Some people see value in paying for someone to mow their grass or clean their house. But they know the process and could do it themselves. They just don’t care to do it. Some people see value in having their taxes professionally prepared.
TurboTax is a great program. There are also many free options online. Liberty even has a free option. But these are not meant for people with complicated situations. Many people miss claiming something they should have, or claiming something in error. And many people don’t get everything they are entitled to because they don’t look far enough into the tax laws. If I charged you $200 to do your taxes, but I got you back $500 extra that you didn’t know you could get (legally), would it be worth it?
But if your an EZ filer, or have uncomplicated tax situations, you should be doing it yourself.
Last year my CPA charged my son $100 to do a simple 1040EZ form. This year I thought I would help him out and prepare it for him on H&R Block Home. Just for your info, I struggled through this free program because I don’t know that much about tax forms and then I finally got to the end and they wanted $85.00 before I could even see my return they filled out. Big waste of my time!
VITA offers free tax preparation almost anywhere in the U.S.
In New Orleans there are several organizations that offer VITA service. The Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is just one of several places offering the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA). The volunteers are very knowledgeable and the process is pretty darn quick.
Loyola offers e-filing for federal and state tax returns.
These are a great option. I actually have been a tax prepareer volunteer in Rochester, NY for the past 9 years. This is a great program, you get your taxes done by trained volunteers for free, as long as you meet the income requirements. For us it is a max of $45,000 gross income. Plus after the volunteer completes your return, a site manager comes over and double checks the review to makes sure it is done correctly before they e-file it for you. So definately check to see if you have such a program in your community.
To find a find a VITA site near you call 1-800-906-9887, or go to the IRS page that lists “Free Tax Return Preparation for You by Volunteers” http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=107626,00.html.
This year’s cap is approximately $50,000 – it may be higher in some areas. There’s also a program for elderly tax payers called Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE). To find an AARP Tax-Aide site near you call 1-888-227-7669 for more information on TCE.
Be very careful about the non-professional free services (such as AARP). My dad is a CPA and he frequently finds that free assistance not completed by a CPA either contains errors or does not maximize on possible deductions. If you don’t have a professional complete your taxes, at least use a trusted program, such as Turbo Tax.
Even CPA’s can make mistakes, since they are not required to take their continuing education classes in tax law.
Please, please, please, if you do your taxes through a free or do-it-yourself service, take that return to H&R Block anyway to get a FREE 2nd Look review. I’m sure you’ve seen those commercials on TV where people are getting back lots of money that they missed. I have personally saved one client this year over $20,000 with a 2nd Look Review. Why not take advantage of a free professional review?
How does that work? Do I just prepare my taxes, but don’t file them, then take them into an H&R Block? If they do find a larger refund for me, do I have to then pay them to file it?
This is a good question. I would like to know also.
If your total income is less than $57,000, you can use https://myfreetaxes.thebeehive.org/. Federal and state are both filed for free. There is no age restriction. This is sponsored by the Walmart Foundation, One Economy Corporation’s-thebeehive.org, National Disability Institute’s Real Economy Impact Tour and United way Worldwide. It uses H&R Block at Home edition. Quick and easy.
Definitely true about the college students. I prepare tax returns for my school’s VITA site. Look for VITA sites near you! The preparers are happy to help!
I work for Jackson Hewitt, and if you go to the locations inside Walmart, you can get a free federal return if you only have one or 2 W-2s and no dependents or other income. I have done several free returns for young people (mostly teenagers), which gives me great joy. I have also done one for a 45 year old making good money, who didn’t own a home and didn’t have children. The offer is good through the end of this tax season. The state form costs $42 in KY, but if someone is getting back less than that amount, they can opt not to file it as long as they don’t owe. I even tell them how to file their state return on paper to get the small amount back for free, since they already have the numbers from their federal return.
I am a tax professional. I see a lot of clients who receive letter audits after filing with self prep software. In particular, you need to stay away from Tax Slayer. I became a tax professional after my own nightmarish experience following mistakes on a Tax Slayer return.
I’m not saying that no one can file their own taxes. But, if you are unfamiliar with tax law, and have anything more complicated than a W-2 with no dependents, you might need professional help.
If you make a mistake on Earned Income Credit, expect a letter audit. The IRS is trying to make up a 853 billion dollar deficit in that area. If you make a mistake, you’d be required to pay it ALL back with penalties. Depending on the nature of the mistake, you could be ineligible to receive EIC in the future. For some filers, that could be THOUSANDS of dollars.
In the industry we have a little joke about tax prep software, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
At some tax prep offices they offer free consultations or take a look at your return for a little bit of money. Just be up front about the fact that you need someone to review your return, not that you want them to prepare your return.
Good luck!
I literally spent all day entering my info into the TaxfreeUSA, TurboTax, TaxAct, and H&R Block free editions to compute the info before I filed via H&R. I have never checked with multiple programs before, but due to a 1099 Misc form, half the programs insisted I own a business or an self employed (I am neither, even by tax code standards), so I wanted to be sure! TaxAct wanted me to pay almost twice the amount of federal taxes, Taxfree tried to give me an extra $150 in education credit, but TurboTax and H&R Block got it just right… talking with friends, those are the most recommended software programs as well.
For those filing for multiple states in the future – you can get H&R federal and up to 3 states free here (sponsored by Walmart): https://taxes.hrblock.com/hrblock/Login/LoginRegistration.hrbx?&PS=Y&taxtype=OPP&TaxYear=2011&PartnerId=5795&FV=F&HT=F