Tax Act
Since 2001 I've been using Tax Act software to do my taxes. They let you download free software that will do all of your forms and then charge you $7.95 to e-file, but you can always print everything out and mail in your forms at no charge. For the first two years I took advantage of the free software and paid for the e-file. The last couple of years I've sprung for the deluxe version for $12.95 that includes a free e-file. The free version of the software constantly bugs you about upgrading to the deluxe version. Also it doesn't pull your information from W-2's, 1098's, and 1099's from the previous year. So for $5 more I get a better product plus I feel like they deserve something for the efforts anyway, though why the IRS doesn't write their own software and give it away I have no idea.
It's nice because I can download the software and file my taxes without going to the store, without rebates, and without having books and CD's to keep up with afterward. They also have an online version that is a couple of dollars cheaper and still includes the e-file, but I would rather have the software on my computer (not that I've ever used it again; I print my forms to Adobe Acrobat files when I'm done). You can pay another $10 and get the state version, but I do the state forms by hand since they just use the federal adjusted income and deductions anyway and are very easy.
I just downloaded it tonight and did a rough draft of my taxes. Looks like I owe a little bit this year.
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Comments (2)
In response to Jeb's post about Turbo Tax:
I think Tax Act can do anything that Turbo Tax can do, but my tax return isn't real complicated other than capital gains, so I don't know what it does for business expenses and supplemental income. As for other features, Tax Act doesn't do a 5-year view, but it compares it with the previous year. It also shows how your return compares to other people in your bracket in terms of deductions, interest income, etc. And it screens your return for things that might trigger an IRS audit. At first I would be caught for having deductions too high, but I had pretty high deductions with my mortgage interest and property taxes. Now that I've had my house for a few years, those things don't look as high.
Posted by UT | January 15, 2005 12:18 PM
Well, I wound up owing the govment a couple of hundred dollars this year. But I got my last statement I needed today and filed electronically anyway. Instead of sending a check, I will have the IRS do an electronic transfer from my bank account and I could pick the date, so it won't be until April 11. That way I can file now and be done with it, but pay later on.
Posted by UT | February 1, 2005 11:00 PM