2020 tax reporting.

[wdfifteen]

I paid an accountant for years and by 25 years in he became a friend. He charged $850 for the year my tax returns were an inch thick. In the later years he started slipping, making mistakes, copying and pasting from the prior year without asking. In our meetings he would talk about "life" instead of what had changed in my situation, etc. It cost me a lot of money and heartache.
I have a new accountant now. It costs $1500 for our personal and businesses and it's worth it to have a professional who pays attention to our needs.

[thor66]

Originally Posted by MRM

And if you have last year's tax form saved on your desktop the free IRS form can automatically upload that information into this year's form and you're that much farther ahead. It handles dividends and capital gains, too. I was impressed.

Will it download data automatically from the brokerage houses? Or do you have to type it all in?

[Sooner or later]

It will auto download.

I have used TT for over 20 years.

[McLovin]

My taxes are pretty complicated.
Multiple LLCs, S Corp, multiple brokerages and active trading, independent contractor income, W2 income, oil and gas LPs (Enbridge, etc., those are a pain!), Schedule E real estate income, dividends, long and short term capital gains, and more.
I’ve always used TurboTax and it’s fine. It actually gets better every year.
I do have to use one of the more expensive versions, though. I forget which one it is.
The auto download from banks, brokerages, etc is a real time saver and is dead accurate, no chance for input errors.
IMO, it does the same as an accountant. If you have an accountant, once you’ve gathered all your things to give to him, you’ve done 95% of the hard work.

[MBAtarga]

I buy TurboTax with State Return at Costco or on Amazon - been using it for about 20 years - perhaps longer.

[biosurfer1]

BTW, you can try out TurboTax online if you want, for free. You just create an account and start going...you don't pay anything until you actually file.

I do this every year, just to start putting in the forms as they roll in (I'll forget if I wait) and once everything is complete, I use one of the many discount links out there (Costco, Fidelity, etc) and it logs you into the same exact account but you pay less to file.

If having an accountant was a matter of double or so, I might go that route, but the couple times I looked into one they were 5-10x as much...not worth it.

[stevej37]

^^^ Yeah..I was just on their website and saw that...I'll prob start tomorrow am.
I am still waiting for a couple 1099's from Ed Jones to be generated.

Does the turbotax online automatically pick the version you need? Or does one have to specify Deluxe or Premiere themselves. I'm not clear on which one I need.

[jcommin]

Another TT user for the last 10 years. My taxes are easy - however I have used accountants in the past when there is a need.

[MMiller]

TT here as well for the last 15+ years, USAA has a link on their website for a discounted version.

[notmytarga]

I have used Turbo Tax for the past 30 years. Amazon or Costco will be the cheaper route - getting it with OnLine download. I always use the straightforward Deluxe version with State (California). The Intuit options say it is a bargain - not really true. My grown daughters do the free OnLine version - some online programs pull info from their W-2 using their phone camera - I am told.

Some advice - Don't print out all the damn worksheets etc. The programs can be opened later to get anything needed - rare. I print the State 'Forms required for filing' only which prints the Federal for attachment so I have one hard copy of each after eFiling. I also save a PDF version to my Google Drive.

Doing my taxes this way has made me more aware of the consequences of income and deductions, although the married Standard $24,800 Deduction is the foregone conclusion for most nowadays. (Golly I can deduct $300 of the $6500 to charities as a special help because of COVID - Wow.) Occasionally I consult an accountant when a decision needs to be made.

Health Savings Accounts are better than retirement accounts - fund these first. It makes your medical expenses potentially deductible.

My taxes had a lot of changes this year. Two employers and self employment business income/expenses made projecting estimated taxes with many new tax laws/levels etc a bit tricky. I underpaid by- 5% Fed and 10% state - no penalties particularly because I get to pay more than last year.

Now I wait for some investment reports so I can file - I did most of it in a few hours last night and tonight. Don't bother entering charitable contributions (not really deductible) - their interface is maddening, it asks for addresses AFTER you have names and amounts entered! - I know because I couldn't help myself.

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by notmytarga

Health Savings Accounts are better than retirement accounts - fund these first. It makes your medical expenses potentially deductible.

^+100%

We fund our HSA's 100% each year - and our employers kick in another $1000 on top since we both take the High Deductible ($0 our cost) med insurance options.
Then we fund medical expenses out of pocket. The HSA's are both invested in the market. So long term, the HSA funds are pre-tax, and when we do start using the funds (retirement - 5 years or so away), the growth will be non-taxed as well. I project we will have $50k or more in the HSA accounts upon retirement - and won't ever have paid a penny in tax on it. (Unless the executive/legislative powers change the laws.)

[David]

^ this is what we do too. The math seems to make it a no lose option.

Unfortunately I keep f'ing myself up and burning through most of the money by the end of the year.

I've promised not to break anything this year

[stevej37]

Ok..thought I would report on how it went....

Started an account on Turbotax.com friday.
I answered all the starting questions and went on into the interest and dividend portion. I did the Ed Jones first because they handle my single stock bonds and IRA's. I clicked on the auto-download and was amazed at watching all the numbers fill in from my four accounts with them.
Next was the soc sec income and pension. Both went good.
After that...not much because I basically only had the $300 charitable deduction and the stimulus payments to claim.
When I clicked on the final bit...it came back with a refund of 10 times the am't of last year when I went to an H&R Block office....wth?

I backed up and double checked....couldn't find anything out of place.

So I filed it.

Also...half-way through the reporting..the online guru came on and told me that I needed to change to 'Premiere' instead of 'Deluxe'....which I did.

Total charge for the filing was $190

I wonder how long it will be before I get a letter from the IRS that there was a mistake?
Will Turbotax Premiere stand up for interest charges?

[McLovin]

Why would you get a letter saying there was a mistake?
Your return sounds super simple.
Seems like you may have even just used the standard deduction.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by McLovin

Why would you get a letter saying there was a mistake?
Your return sounds super simple.
Seems like you may have even just used the standard deduction.

Because my 2020 financial situation is basically identical to 2019's...and yet my refund is over 10 times the amount of last years.
I have a hard time believing all is correct.

Yes..standard deduction. And I did not change any tax withholdings from SS or pension.

[KFC911]

I agree you probably didn't need the upgrade using the standard deduction. I just did my parents (via a link through my CU which saves a bit), Total was $75 (I think $40 of that was for state).

[Sooner or later]

Pull 2019 and compare line to line with 2020. If you find a huge discrepancy you can file an amended return.

TT will only pay interest or penalty if the error is in the software. They don't pay for an input error on your part.

[KFC911]

Report yer turtle residuals income!

[stevej37]

No...it was the Ed Jones reports that forced the Premiere upgrade...and the $190 included the state return.
I didn't print anything out...I prob still could? My 2019 was done through my local H&R
The weird part is that after I clicked on the final part to finish it....it took 24 hrs before I received an email saying that the IRS accepted my return. Does that mean anything?

The turtles should be an income deduction!

[McLovin]

Highly unlikely TT miscalculated your return.
Far more likely the $10/hr H&R inputter messed something up.
I agree, I’d check your 19 against your 20 return.
It should be very easy to spot the discrepancy. Should be evident on the first page.