Help- question about income tax refund

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Help- question about income tax refund
8
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 12:37pm

I know it might be a tad bit early yet, but I am wondering what you all think would be the fastest way to get my refund this tax season. I usually make an appointment with my regular tax lady the first week of February and we receive our refund around the second week of March (she uses snail mail.)

The reason we're in a hurry is because in order to qualify for a decent mortgage for a new home we must pay off our SUV. We would like to have that paid off asap (income tax refund plus savings should do it) so we can put our current house up for sale. We want to sell it before we buy another one so we don't get stuck. Actually, my boss is interested so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. (He is 41 and lives with his mother, or stays in the so-called "apartment" in the restaurant attic!) But we want to buy in the Spring--we hate this house sooo bad!!! (TOOO Small!!)

Is it worth it to go to H&R Block and pay for the rapid refund? How about Turbo Tax? We always paid $55 for our tax lady to prepare them. What do you think?

Thanks, Nicki

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-29-2003
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 12:57pm

There are several free sites to electronically file your own taxes online. Go to the irs site and link up from there. It is free, and you get your refund back in a couple of weeks.

shels

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-23-2005
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 3:00pm

Personally, we didn't have a very good experience with H&R Block considering we paid them WAY more than $50 for their service. We had used them for several years and never had a problem, so I can't say that they're completely bad. Last year we used a personal accountant who filed online, paid him the same amount of money and had MUCH better service. He provided much more personalized service & advice than we had ever received through H&R (& we still got our refund within 10 days or so). They might be super duper fast, but they charge you super duper high for that service.

If you just have a simple filing, I would even consider doing it yourself online. Many people are going that route and saving tons of money on top of it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 3:10pm
We always use Turbotax or kiplingers TaxCut, and choose to have the money deposited into our checking account, and usually it takes less than two weeks. I like using the software rather than doing it by hand because it flags potential problems for you. For 15 bucks, i really feel it is worth it. Good luck!! Heather
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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 4:57pm

Hello,

I have used Turbotax in the past and loved having the ability to access my previous tax returns online from the Turbotax website. Yes, I do keep a paper file with printed tax returns, etc.. but sometimes if I need to check something quickly, it's nice to have it available online when I need it.

This year, I'm using a tax service, because my home business requires more stringent tax reporting than my usual 1040ez. =)

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

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Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2006
Fri, 01-06-2006 - 10:20pm
I think you should try doing your taxes yourself online or with a tax software. You can always go traditional route (tax preparer) if it doesn't work out for you. I have done my taxes and those of my kid brothers for years both by hand and with software/online. Statistics show most people take the standard deductions rather than itemize and the standard deduction is a pretty straight forward tax return. Good luck!

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Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 01-07-2006 - 9:28am

I agree with the others depends on how complicated your taxes are.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Sat, 01-07-2006 - 1:19pm

Thanks all!!~ I called my tax preparer and she said we could give them my bank info and have it direct deposited in about 2 weeks(appointment is Feb 1st). That's good enough for me. I think I could do the local myself, but I get confused on state and federal~ so I'm not taking any chances. Plus I don't have ink in my computer to print out if I did it online or turbo tax. (And I'm not paying $30+ for ink when we never use it anyway~ our computer shuts down without warning and is sooo slow.)

Thanks again, Nicki

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Sat, 01-07-2006 - 2:02pm

Looks as though you already decided. But wanted to let you know we go to Jackson Hewitt and pay the fee for the rapid refund thing. We've had great experiences with them.

Kelly

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