Turbo-Tax?

Avatar for colomom99
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Turbo-Tax?
6
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 4:13pm

Good afternoon: Has anyone used Turbo-Tax and how hard is it? I have to admit I am a bit scared to try to tackle our taxes on my own -- look at how well I have done our finances :) Still, we have been paying $325 to this very nice older woman accountant for probably six years and while she always supposedly finds us a refund, she also has made mistakes for the last couple of years. Last year because of mistakes our "refund" shrunk from about $600 to $35. Obviously it would have been worse if we had owed taxes, but it is such a dissapointment to expect to get money back every year and then every year have that amount shrink because of mistakes. I hestiate to find another accountant because I'm afraid they would charge even more.

Jenny

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2003
In reply to: colomom99
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 5:34pm

In my opinion, Turbo Tax is very user friendly and I have never had a problem with it. It leads you through the forms, step by step. It asks questions to determine which forms will pertain to you and your situation. There are many free versions on the web that you can try before you buy. Go to irs.gov and they will link you to many sites, some that also have free e-file.

Windy

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-18-2004
In reply to: colomom99
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 5:39pm

I have used Turbo Tax every year since 1998. I love, love, love, love, it. Can you tell I love it? ;-) It is extremely easy to use. Have all of your documents with you while you are filling out the information and it will go quickly. It asks questions and takes you through the tax return line by line. It asks you questions so that the program can figure out if a situation applies to you or not. It also gives you a running tally of your refund (or what you owe) so you won't be shocked in the end. It also gives you audit alerts.

Turbotax.com even has a quick five question survey to determine which version is right for you. If you decide to use turbo tax (or any of the other ones) I would suggest you go to irs.gov first to see if you qualify to file your taxes for free. If not, check with any websites of different groups you may belong to. For example, my bank is giving a 20% discount on the cost of turbo tax (that's how good it is--my bank recommends it). I just have to go through my bank's website everytime (at least start it) to get the discount.

Yes, I highly recommend it. And, no I can't speak of any other tax software. I have never used it. And, no I am not getting paid by turbo tax. LOL.

HTH,
Kellie

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-01-2006
In reply to: colomom99
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 6:57pm
I love TurboTax! I think it would be very difficult to make a mistake while using it. We use to pay someone a great deal of money to do our taxes. TurboTax is less expensive and very user friendly!
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
In reply to: colomom99
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 6:59pm

We have used Turbo Tax for the past two years (this year will be our third). We always used to use H&R Block, but we found out they were disclosing our personal information to third parties, and we went ballistic. We started getting phonecalls from area home improvement companies asking if we wanted work done on our house, and when we declined, they said, "Well, it's only going to cost you $$XX.XX amount of money, and that's only a tiny percentage of the $2323.45 you're getting from taxes this year!" They knew the exact amount of our combined federal/state refund. We contacted H&R Block, and they admitted to giving out information, but swore they would never do it again, and they sent us a coupon for free tax filing the following year. We never went back. We used an independent tax preparer (accountant) for one year following the H&R Block mess, and when we went to pay him his $200 fee and sign our tax returns so he could file them for us, I looked over to his computer and saw he had a copy of Turbo Tax open! He was charging us $200 for using Turbo Tax! LOL!! We could have done that ourselves for much much less.

I know you can file with Turbo Tax online for less than buying the boxed program at the store, but I still like to buy the actual box. LOL! I got the Turbo Tax Deluxe program (includes federal and state) for $34.99 at BJ's Wholesale Club.

I love how they ask you questions, and how most of the time they can input my information for me. For example, they ask me for my DH's Social Security Number and his employer number, and suddenly, "Poof!", they've got all of his W-2 already entered into the program, and I didn't have to do all the typing. Same with our mortgage interest. The program can download the information for me. :-D And I like how it checks for errors or additional ways that I could have deducted more or saved more. It's just a lot of fun to use.

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-27-2005
In reply to: colomom99
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 7:07pm

I also LOVE Turbo Tax, I've used it since 1998. I never had any problems with it plus you can get your tax return within a couple of weeks of filing.

Cristin

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: colomom99
Tue, 01-10-2006 - 7:15pm
I LOVE Turbo Tax! It is really easy! If I can do it anyone can do it! HA!