Another DIY Tax Topic (I swear mine's complicated...)

[jdot]

Hi all,

This is my first post in the forums, and I'm still very early in my MMM education, so bear with me... :)

In the past I used tax prep software to file my taxes. I was happy with the results, and I always found a deal on the software. At some point my parents talked me into working with a close family friend that is a CPA, and I was never unhappy with the results. He made it easy, and that seemed nice.

Now I'm hit with a double whammy: I no longer can justify the cost of having someone prepare them for me, and this last year has seen a lot of developments that make taxes complicated to the extent that I want to see if anyone has fears of TurboTax handling them all. Namely:

• I moved from Minneapolis to the Phoenix area for work
• As part of moving I began renting out my home, but that was only in effect for December
• I have been a pretty active investor, trading both stocks and options
• I bought a car (would have made a different choice if I'd discovered MMM sooner, but there are tax impacts...)
• I've itemized deductions for awhile due to home ownership and donations I make throughout the year

I know there are messier situations, but I want to make sure I do things right and really, really don't want to miss out on anything if I don't go to a pro. As someone employed in the software development industry, I am skeptical that products focused on covering the masses will handle nuances such as applying depreciation for the rental while making sure it accounts for the fact that it was only a rental for one month this past year.

I'd suck it up and take the time to research and prepare myself, except that the move for work is because I'm part of a seed team to start up a new office for the company, and there are definitely better places for me to spend that time at the moment.

I very much appreciate any thoughts on the matter!

[zolotiyeruki]

I dunno--it doesn't sound like anything you've done should be too complicated for TT to handle.  The only thing I can see being an issue is the one-month rental, but even that is common enough that I'd be shocked if TT didn't handle it gracefully.

How does the car purchase affect your income tax?

[jdot]

@zolotiyeruki

Thanks for the thoughts. I was hoping that would be the case, but I wanted to put something out on the forum to see if anyone could offer any insights.

The tax on the car purchase may be claimed as a deduction, and so who- (what-?) ever does my taxes needs to figure out if it's worth the deduction.

[MDM]

You'll need at least TT Premier for Federal and State, plus 1 State (in addition to the 1 State that comes with the original purchase).  Might compare pricing with, e.g., TaxAct.

To your main question: your financial situation should be handled easily by any decent tax prep program, because it is not all that complicated.

[ImCheap]

Does not sound to bad to me, if you have used Turbo Tax in the past I would stick with that being you know what it looks like and you are a little unsure. You will need the Premier Version.

I think the pricing is getting out of hand for Turbo Tax, this will be my last year using it. I needed to update Quicken so I bought the bundle this year. 

[waffle]

I prepared my taxes on turbo tax this week but didn't file with them. When I got to the end and they wanted almost $100 I switched to HR Block. Their online program got me the same return and only cost $20.

Turbo tax was expensive because they forced me to upgrade to get the deductions for my high deductible health plan and then two state returns. HR Block was free federal and $10 per state.

[jmusic]

I suppose if you want to get crazy you could do your taxes in TurboTax, download the forms straight from the IRS, copy all the information from the "review" section to the forms, then send via snail mail.

Total cost: 1 stamp, 1 envelope, and some printer paper.

[Sibley]

Jdot - I'm an accountant. I've made some notes below, but if you're unsure, get help from a CPA or EA (enrolled agent). No shame in hiring someone to help.

Hi all,

This is my first post in the forums, and I'm still very early in my MMM education, so bear with me... :)

In the past I used tax prep software to file my taxes. I was happy with the results, and I always found a deal on the software. At some point my parents talked me into working with a close family friend that is a CPA, and I was never unhappy with the results. He made it easy, and that seemed nice.

Now I'm hit with a double whammy: I no longer can justify the cost of having someone prepare them for me, and this last year has seen a lot of developments that make taxes complicated to the extent that I want to see if anyone has fears of TurboTax handling them all. Namely:

• I moved from Minneapolis to the Phoenix area for work

You'll have 2 state returns, both partial year. software can handle this.

• As part of moving I began renting out my home, but that was only in effect for December

you'll have a schedule E rental for Federal, even though it's only December

• I have been a pretty active investor, trading both stocks and options

you should have 1099s, and will likely have a schedule B on Federal

• I bought a car (would have made a different choice if I'd discovered MMM sooner, but there are tax impacts...)

the cost of the car has no impact on your taxes. the sales tax may be deductible on Schedule A itemized deductions, but I'm not 100% sure on that. software can help with that.

• I've itemized deductions for awhile due to home ownership and donations I make throughout the year

software can handle, no problem.
[/list]

I know there are messier situations, but I want to make sure I do things right and really, really don't want to miss out on anything if I don't go to a pro. As someone employed in the software development industry, I am skeptical that products focused on covering the masses will handle nuances such as applying depreciation for the rental while making sure it accounts for the fact that it was only a rental for one month this past year.

I'd suck it up and take the time to research and prepare myself, except that the move for work is because I'm part of a seed team to start up a new office for the company, and there are definitely better places for me to spend that time at the moment.

I very much appreciate any thoughts on the matter!

In addition, look into the moving expenses deduction. Not sure if you'd qualify, but it's nice if you do.

TurboTax would work for you, though you may want to research some of the other options. They may be lower cost. I use H&R Block, mostly because there's no way in hell I'm moving my parent's return to different software unless I have to. The irs website has a list somewhere, make sure you don't stray from their list.