I've always done my own taxes & for the past several years I've done them online @ taxact.com.

you buy a new version every year.  VERY worth it!  They even warn you at the end of things that might cause audits!  Wonderful little product that also was prefered over h&R block software in some recent paper i read.

 

Sara

I'm using Turbo Tax premier online.  I would recommend premier because I'm finding that it gives more guidance on the business deductions over what Deluxe does, which I used last year. 

 

I'm doing it for $19.95 I guess because I have an IRA with Vanguard so check the websites of all your financial companies, credit unions, banks, investments.  A lot of them offer Turbo Tax online at a discount. 

Turbo Tax Deluxe for me -- been doing my own taxes for all my 8+ years with it.

I'm a TaxCut person here.  Been using it for years and love it.  It's just like TurboTax - totally walks you through everything.

bump for Micah!!

Have you ever asked WHY you end up paying so much each year?  Do you work another job besides PC?  Are you taking the right exemptions on your W-4?  If you claim 0, you get more taken out, so you get more back.  If you claim more than that, you get less taken out, but may end up owing.  Thing is...you aren't paying more either way.  It's just that either you control your money all year long or the government does.  Unless of course, your tax guy just isn't giving you all the deductions you are allowed....then you may want to try something different this year and see what the difference is. 

 

I don't know anything about the software...I have had someone do mine the last 9 years because we owned another business.  If you happen to be near Lansing, Michigan I can give you my accts. name.  She is awesome!

 

Julie 

Hubby does my taxes and he uses Taxcut.  We are all done with our taxes, we are just waiting on all of the statements to come in.

 

In a nice world, we could all have the set up my hubby does for me.  He has built me a spread sheet for me to enter in all of my expenses for the year.  All I have to do is go in and enter all of my expenses.  If I could just get into the habit of taking care of that as soon as the expense happens, I would be so organized.  Anyway, he had me take care of all of the tax stuff before I went to Leadership.

 

good luck

VA

Julie,

 

The first question out of my mouth to my "tax guy" was WHY  ?? !!!  I claim married and 0 and so does hubby !!!  He told me that my "real" job didn't take out enough....then the second year he said that hubby's air force retirement check wasn't being taxed right....so now, I have $100 a month more taken out of my check and $150 more a month EXTRA taken out of hubby's retirement check !!! And I am still paying off the tax debt from last year at $100 a month !!!! 

 

Yep.....I'm doing Turbo Tax this year for sure !!!  I checked and can do it online (premiere version) for $39.95 !!!!

All I can say, if you have had someone do your taxes in the past, make sure you do them the same. We tried Turbo Tax, last year, our refund was only $300??. (it left alot out, that my lady did)I then didn't trust it, went to my accountant, and got back around $2000.00.  My husbands W2 was wrong, and only my tax lady caught it! All the employees at the businees had their taxes done( at a various places, that's know all around USA)they did not catch the mistake All the other employees had to have their taxes done again! It was worth paying extra, to get more $ back! I think you have to have a good Tax person! That's just like a Dr, shop around! I found mine by word of mouth, and I wouldn't give her up for anything!!!

I have to tell you that I too would say Turbo Tax, and I have been doing Pamp. Chef  for almost 7 years.  The first like 4 years I took my taxes to a guy who supposedly "specialized" in home based businesses, which I have to say he handed me sheets I still hand to my new girls, but I found lots of things he wasn't telling me, but more important I found out that if a tax business like his, has more than 5 clients audited, then their business is audited, and so I then found out, even though I took all of my deductions in to him, he wasn't taking them because he was trying not to red flag my return.  So I totally quit that.

to make an expense spread sheet is very easy I do one every year.  Thats how I take my expenses to my accountant I do one spread sheet with is itemized like Postage (every reciept amount )  and then I add the postage amount together and put that on one line in my next spread sheet.

 

When you do a spread sheet it will walk you right through how to ad rows and colums. 

 

My husband prefers to take our taxes to an accountant not because of PC, but because of our mortgage and tax stuff.  Our accountant keeps a regular file on us, and you pay an accountant for what they do, so I have everything on an expense sheet so he does not have to add anything and just puts in the numbers.

 

I have used turbo tax and I loved it!  What turbo tax does not tell you is who the IRS is auditing and so on. 

 

It really is  a personal choice, if you don't make a lot of money in PC turbo tax will work just fine, but when you start making more $$$ an accountant is the way to go, our director was able to deduct part of the expense of putting in  a pool! 

 

The key is to make money but on paper break even

Another Turbo Tax user here!  Love it!

I have been using H&R Block every year and doing them myself.  I started using them this year again but I really couldn't find a place for all my tax deductions.  I read everyones advice and went to Turbo Tax (actually, I took someone elses advice and went to my banks website~Wachovia~and they have a link to use TurboTax and receive 15% off their fee) and it was self-explanatory.  I finished it within a couple of hours last night and I am so relieved!  It was my first year doing taxes with PC and yes, it made it a little more difficult but worth it! 
Thanks everyone!  I LOVE THIS SITE!!