Using online tax software

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Padlin
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Using online tax software

Post by Padlin »

How do you folks feel about using online tax software that they store on their server? I'm a bit leery of it.
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mhc
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by mhc »

I prefer it. I don't like installing software on my computer. I also don't like keeping up with data files when I get a new computer. I have been very happy with TT online.
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ubermax
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by ubermax »

mhc wrote:I prefer it. I don't like installing software on my computer. I also don't like keeping up with data files when I get a new computer. I have been very happy with TT online.
+1 Couldn't have said it better !!
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Sammy_M
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by Sammy_M »

I'm generally very comfortable with online transactions but simply will not store my tax info in the cloud. Regardless of the likelihood of breach, the severity is too high.

Everything is there: SSNs and DOBs for the entire family, all financial institutions we use, sometimes even account numbers.
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Toons
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by Toons »

No problem @ all so far for quite a number of years using Tax Act. :happy
Matter of fact just received email that one of my investment firms has made available my 1099-Div.
Soon as I finish this post I will long log into TaxAct and enter the data,,,takes a minute.Then back to Bogleheads :happy
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The Wizard
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by The Wizard »

Sammy_M wrote:I'm generally very comfortable with online transactions but simply will not store my tax info in the cloud. Regardless of the likelihood of breach, the severity is too high.

Everything is there: SSNs and DOBs for the entire family, all financial institutions we use, sometimes even account numbers.
I wonder about this.
Even though I downloaded Taxact to my PC, I'm sure they have a copy of my completed 1040 "in the cloud" since I e-filed to the IRS...
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House Blend
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by House Blend »

From yesterday's WSJ:
FBI to Probe Fraudulent Tax Filings:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a probe to determine whether a computer data breach led to the filing of false tax returns through TurboTax software, according to a person familiar with the case.
FBI investigators are still working to determine exactly how personal information was obtained to file bogus returns in about 19 states and whether that information may have been stolen from TurboTax or somewhere else, the person said.
Here's the link, but you might need Google to find a non paywall version:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fbi-to-prob ... 1423614826
JW-Retired
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by JW-Retired »

I store nothing important on anybody else's hard drives if I can avoid it. Massive amounts of stuff gets stolen, or just lost.
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Sammy_M
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by Sammy_M »

The Wizard wrote:
Sammy_M wrote:I'm generally very comfortable with online transactions but simply will not store my tax info in the cloud. Regardless of the likelihood of breach, the severity is too high.

Everything is there: SSNs and DOBs for the entire family, all financial institutions we use, sometimes even account numbers.
I wonder about this.
Even though I downloaded Taxact to my PC, I'm sure they have a copy of my completed 1040 "in the cloud" since I e-filed to the IRS...
If they stored it after the e-file was completed, it would be a poor business decision. First rule of cyber security for businesses: don't retain on your network what you don't have a need for.
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dodecahedron
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by dodecahedron »

Sammy_M wrote:
The Wizard wrote:
Sammy_M wrote:I'm generally very comfortable with online transactions but simply will not store my tax info in the cloud. Regardless of the likelihood of breach, the severity is too high.

Everything is there: SSNs and DOBs for the entire family, all financial institutions we use, sometimes even account numbers.
I wonder about this.
Even though I downloaded Taxact to my PC, I'm sure they have a copy of my completed 1040 "in the cloud" since I e-filed to the IRS...
If they stored it after the e-file was completed, it would be a poor business decision. First rule of cyber security for businesses: don't retain on your network what you don't have a need for.
I used to think otherwise, but based on my experiences with another software provider, efiled return data from a downloaded program *was* retained by the software transmitter.

Years ago, our VITA site used a downloaded version of a software program called TaxWise to prepare and efile our taxpayers' returns. (And boy, was that a pain! Every day, I had to download updates to the software and install the updates on every single computer used at our site. And there were other headaches.)

A few years later, in 2008 or so, we switched to the online version of the same software (TaxWise Online). The online version software was able to access prior year carryforward data for our returning clients, so evidently the software publisher HAD retained the prior years' efiled return data from the returns we had prepared on downloaded software.
donaldfair71
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by donaldfair71 »

I used desktop versions up until this year. This year, I went online because the information from your 1040 and other forms will be on their servers anyways. May as well just complete it online.

As others have stated, I will not put sensitive tax information like SS numbers on my own personal cloud storage. I keep a copy in PDF form locally.

In reality, locally, personal cloud, and company-server storage are all susceptible to being stolen. Just comes down to which risk you wish to take with it, and I don't think anyone is wrong because it comes down to personal preference.
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Sheepdog
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by Sheepdog »

Well, I have been using online tax software for myself and several friends since the 2005 tax year (10 years) just fine.
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lightheir
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by lightheir »

Sammy_M wrote:I'm generally very comfortable with online transactions but simply will not store my tax info in the cloud. Regardless of the likelihood of breach, the severity is too high.

Everything is there: SSNs and DOBs for the entire family, all financial institutions we use, sometimes even account numbers.

Yes this is true.

Unfortunately, you should also not forget all the banks, lenders (home mortgage lenders), and other commercial enterprises that also have your SS#, DOB, and likely even more information about you.

While I still think you have to be very careful with transmission of such sensitive data, I think you do have to also put things in perspective. In reality, the damage done by a breach of any of your already-existing bank or retirement accounts will far outstrip a breach of your .pdf tax records - the work to impersonate you off a tax return is simply too high, whereas the work of stealing numerous account passwords, is what the hackers are after.
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joe8d
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by joe8d »

ubermax wrote:
mhc wrote:I prefer it. I don't like installing software on my computer. I also don't like keeping up with data files when I get a new computer. I have been very happy with TT online.
+1 Couldn't have said it better !!
+2
All the Best, | Joe
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DonCamillo
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Re: Using online tax software

Post by DonCamillo »

Sammy_M wrote:I'm generally very comfortable with online transactions but simply will not store my tax info in the cloud. Regardless of the likelihood of breach, the severity is too high.
Everything is there: SSNs and DOBs for the entire family, all financial institutions we use, sometimes even account numbers.
A data breach at a tax provider is a severe problem, but not very likely. A more likely and greater problem is if someone gets your user name and password, they can access your account, create an imaginary return based on your last years data, and have a phony refund deposited to an untraceable debit card. If you control the data, and do not have it stored on the cloud, that is much more difficult. Apparently, so many accounts have been compromised that usernames and passwords for people's tax records sell cheaply in bulk on the Dark Web. (Underground Web sites for criminal activity like selling stolen credit card data and selling drugs.)

One of many ways that these usernames and passwords are collected is by rogue software that installs keyloggers on your system and collects passwords. You can pick up a virus with a keylogger like this by visiting the wrong Website.

All you need for Turbo Tax or H & R Block is a PDF file with your previous year's tax forms. This is fairly simple to store off-line. I create a CD and put it in the drawer with my tax records. Each can read the other program's data.
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