Money Poll #6: Tax Preparation

Written by nickel - 13 Comments

With just three weeks to go until Tax Day, I thought it would be interesting to find out how y’all go about preparing your taxes… Thus, the poll question of the week is “How do you do your taxes?” As usual, I’ll go first. We’ve always done our own taxes, and over the past five or so years we’ve used TurboTax (although the Mac version used to be called MacInTax). While I consider myself to be a fairly tech-savvy guy, I still haven’t taken the plunge with regard to online tax prep… Maybe next year (but probably not). So, how do you guys do it?

How do you do your taxes?

Published on March 27th, 2006 - 13 Comments
Filed under: Polls, Taxes
email this article - digg this - stumble it - save to del.icio.us

Did you find this article useful? If so, please sign up to receive e-mail updates:

Comments (scroll down to add your own):

First I use an online service (usually completed by Feb. 1). Then on Feb. 2 I go to a discount tax prep service to see if they can get me a bigger return. If they can, I go with them. If they can’t, I go home and complete the filing on my own. The whole thing is usually done by Feb. 3.
Comment by MoneyDummy — Mar 27th 2006 @ 7:51 am
I use tax prep software. It makes things so much easier if for nothing else it tells you what forms you need and prints them for you.

And for the detail that might surprise you, I am a CPA! Gives you an idea of how confusing our tax system is when a certified professional prefers to use tax prep software. =)
Comment by Hal — Mar 27th 2006 @ 7:53 am
Ironically enough I volunteer for the IRS doing taxes for the elderly and low income every week from Feb 1 - April 15 yet I use a CPA to do my own. With a home based office and multiple schedules I feel better knowing that everything is being reviewed by a second pair of eyes.
Comment by Chitown — Mar 27th 2006 @ 10:08 am
For the past 8 years or so I’ve used turbotax. Last 2 years used online prep when doing my kids and turbotax for me. But before submitting the kids online returns I ran their info thru my turbotax program as a double check.
This year I didn’t bother buying turbotax but have done all of ours online. Was comfortable with the online last year and figured why spend $40 fo turbotax.
Comment by Patty — Mar 27th 2006 @ 1:16 pm
I use TaxActOnline.com, which is one of the sites that the IRS provides to offer free online tax preparation. I worked for H&R Block, so I feel comfortable with doing my own taxes. I used this software a few years ago and it had a few glitches, but I am pleased to report that I found it quite user-friendly and comprehensive this year. I didn’t find any glitches. And best of all–it’s free! And for those who think they may have tax questions, did you know that you can call any H&R Block office and ask any tax professional your tax questions, and they will answer you whether you are a Block client or not. So–free software–free tax advice. What more could you want?
Comment by Gail — Mar 27th 2006 @ 5:23 pm
We use to do it on our own with TurboTax. But, with my business, a business loss from 2 years ago, and many more deductions than before, we have an accountant that handles them. It’s easier for everybody.
Comment by Emma — Mar 28th 2006 @ 7:16 am
We have been using H & R Block to prepare our taxes for the past few years, and have been quite pleased with their service. But after hearing recently about the little scam they were pulling on low income people, getting them to sign up for some kind of retirement account or something similar, where the undisclosed fees were so high that the participants would lose money, I don’t feel we should do business with a company like that anymore.
Comment by SkyeBlue — Mar 28th 2006 @ 7:23 am
I love TurboTax. I tried doing my State taxes manually after using Turbo for Federal. Man, was that a lot of work! I buy the disk at the store and off I go.
Comment by financialreflections — Mar 28th 2006 @ 11:02 am
I think I’m quite smart and have always done my taxes the hard way, using a pen and calculator. About 5 years ago I used Turbo Tax, I actually got more money doing it manually! A friend recommended an accountant 3 years back. Since the guy came with stellar recommendations, I decided to use him. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. He found deductions I didn’t even know of and I’ve gotten more money than I ever have. I’m self employed with a home office and hiring an accountant is the best thing I’ve done. His services definitely pay for itself.
Comment by Dee — Mar 29th 2006 @ 3:36 pm
OT: but hey, i’d be interested in a dry cleaning poll.. my coworker was just telling me how he went to drop off some shirts and the lady went to charge him some 220 large. confused, he’s like whatdaya mean? she comes back with a fistful of clothes he forgot to ever pick up for an entire month. oops! little did he know i was laughing AT him. doofus
Comment by gt — Mar 29th 2006 @ 5:21 pm
I did mine with pen and paper until it became possible to e-file. Now I use H&R Block Online. (Never been inside their office, nor wanted to.)

If it were possible for individuals to e-file their own taxes, I’d go back to doing it myself…I could actually finish the job quicker by using the forms than by going through those stupid “wizard” tools they’ve got to help ignorant people. But the IRS doesn’t yet allow individuals to e-file directly, so I have to use somebody else’s software.
Comment by Matt — Mar 30th 2006 @ 1:20 am
Turbo Tax it is for us. Tried an accountant last year and owed $6000…pretty sure that we could have figured that out on our own.
Comment by RS — Mar 31st 2006 @ 2:03 pm
I do taxes twice (I’m a glutten for punishment) - once by hand and once with the software. I’ve found more than once that the software misses some deductions as does my pencil method. By doing it twice, I can then merge the data to minimize the tax burden.
Comment by Jeremy — Mar 31st 2006 @ 9:29 pm