Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

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sans souliers
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Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by sans souliers »

I've been doing my returns with TurboTax online every year since 2007, and every year has been a pleasant experience (almost fun) except for this year. It seemed to me this year that the follow-up questions caused me to doubt whether I had entered the correct information and even when I double-checked, I felt I was not quite standing on solid ground. I missed out on the fun aspect of doing my taxes, and it cost me more, too.

When I finished filing, there were offers to help find me unclaimed money that I might be missing out on, and then there was an opportunity to find my credit score and then followed some pitch about the healthcare act -- Am I just being thin-skinned about TurboTax?

Was I just not in the groove this year, or has TurboTax been less fun for anyone else?
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Grandpaboys
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Grandpaboys »

I was concerned because of all the changes made to TT. I choose this year not to download info from Vanguard or elsewhere. That has gotten me messed up in the past.While doing my return and answering all the questions I wasn't sure the forms would come out right. I entered everything manually and in the end after printing and reviewing my return I was quite happy with the result. I think the process was easier but not verifiable until the end, which left you up in the air doing the process.
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poundwise
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by poundwise »

I too had less fun this year due to a mid-year move to a new state. TT was smooth for the Fed component, but was extremely unhelpful for the split state component.

I also noticed that the flow of one Wizard changed after a late March update. The original version was clumsy, but the updated version was fine.

The worst part was all the confusion about what was and was not included in the deluxe/premier/PC/online versions.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by richard »

Fun fact: the IRS could prepare a first draft of your taxes, which you could then check. You wouldn't have to fill in anything reported to the IRS, such as interest, dividends, wages. It would make things much simpler for most people, although obviously some have more complicated situations or would have to correct errors. Turbotax lobbies heavily to prevent this. http://www.propublica.org/article/turbo ... tax-filing
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22twain
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by 22twain »

This is my third year with TurboTax. Overall, it seemed about the same, except in one area which was completely new for me this year. I over-contributed to my Roth IRA last year, so in February I asked the custodian to return the excess contribution and earnings. I had to Google around a bit and read some threads on Intuit's forum to figure out how to report this properly, because I'm not actually going to get a 1099-R for this until next year (although I do have all the necessary numbers on the confirmation form for the transaction).

And it was cheaper this year! I have my taxable accounts at T. Rowe Price, so I go through them. Previously, I got a discount on Premier, and had to pay for the state return on top of that, for a total of around $80. This year, Premier was free, so I had to pay only $40 for the state return.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Aptenodytes »

This is my 2nd year with an HSA, and I had a bad time figuring out how to torque TT to handle the HSA information correctly. It was very unintuitive and confidence-draining. I don't understand how it can be so difficult since all the information is on the W2 which TT downloads from my employer.

My experience this year was even worse. Up until the time I was ready to file TT showed me owing $3k. During the final review I answered the question "do you have a HDHP?" and then the amount owed dropped to $500. It didn't inspire confidence, especially with the confusing way the HSA information is collected and labeled.

Maybe it is just me, but when I googled for help, I didn't get that sense.
chaz
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by chaz »

TurboTax online made it easy for me again.
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ubermax
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by ubermax »

Had a good experience with TT as usual - each year I print and save to computer all the forms and worksheets - this year all the necessary forms and worksheets were available but there were less of them - at first I thought I was losing some back-up but it was all there just in a smaller package - smart move by Intuit , it saved me from printing out superfluous worksheets .
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BTDT
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by BTDT »

I was very disappointed in TT for the state portion. I finally gave up and filled out the state tax form manually :oops:
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pshonore
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by pshonore »

A lot of states have websites where you can enter your data and efile the state for free. Depending on the state, that may entail almost as much data entry as the Federal. On the other hand, Connecticut starts with Federal AGI so its quite easy.
sunspotzsz
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by sunspotzsz »

TT is more expensive but less useful than taxact, why TT?
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mfswatz9
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by mfswatz9 »

I love TT. Until I started getting RMD, I didn't have a problem with our simple returns.....but then I created a taxable account.

I had sold some taxable funds and bought others....I at first tried to manually put in all the different transactions but I hit a block with one transaction and couldn't figure out what to put in the various boxes. I decided to do the import from Vanguard for every one and magically all the information was in the correct (?) boxes. I rely on TT to get it right, have used the online through Vanguard for years and never had a problem. If I didn't use TT, I would probably have to hire someone to do our taxes. I used the Premier and it was worth every penny.
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ray.james
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by ray.james »

Taxes in general were never fun. TT was always good for me.
Few more questions on Health insurance(I believe due to new law); Roth Ira excess removal - was painful with confusion and double checking were this years highlights. I still think TT was most friendly until, we learn the tax law basics. Then manually would be better.

Any blame would go to congress and IRS for the complexity and mess.
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MathWizard
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by MathWizard »

I bought my copy ($49 for TT Deluxe which include one state).

They hawked their audit defense, but I don't recall any other ads.

Maybe the online version had more ads.
aude
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by aude »

I liked how it told me that I owed $2, but that if I was having trouble coming up with the cash, the IRS can offer payment plans.
Dave1
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Dave1 »

Another loyal TT user here ... until this year that is. I was not happy with the scaled down functionality in TT this year, but thanks to that, I tried out Tax Act and found that I actually prefer Tax Act to TT.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by forkhorn »

Aptenodytes wrote:This is my 2nd year with an HSA, and I had a bad time figuring out how to torque TT to handle the HSA information correctly. It was very unintuitive and confidence-draining. I don't understand how it can be so difficult since all the information is on the W2 which TT downloads from my employer.

My experience this year was even worse. Up until the time I was ready to file TT showed me owing $3k. During the final review I answered the question "do you have a HDHP?" and then the amount owed dropped to $500. It didn't inspire confidence, especially with the confusing way the HSA information is collected and labeled.

Maybe it is just me, but when I googled for help, I didn't get that sense.
I also have an HSA and I agree that TT does a completely terrible job handling it and makes you think it is not doing it correctly until way after you've entered in the HSA information and gotten frustrated trying to figure out why it won't let you deduct the contribution. I searched around and finally found the portion in the deductions where you tell it you had the HDHP but was in a foul mood by the time I found it. There is no excuse why it would not ask you that right after you enter in the amount you contributed instead of making you think it is not working. Other than that I have no major problems with TT although I would like it to handle K-1s with multiple income types better and I hate the way it makes you recheck boxes when you go through a section again rather than remembering what you checked the first time through.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by rach »

I left Turbotax/Intuit several years ago when they added very intrusive Digital Rights Management that wrote itself on a computer's boot sector. Lately I've also seen articles about Intuit's questionable lobbying tactics. I'm just glad there are other options. I've been using HRBlock (formerly TaxCut) since then and it's worked out fine. This year I had the usual stock dividends/sales, HSA, mortgage interest, energy credits - no problems.
Saving$
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Saving$ »

rach wrote:I left Turbotax/Intuit several years ago when they added very intrusive Digital Rights Management that wrote itself on a computer's boot sector. Lately I've also seen articles about Intuit's questionable lobbying tactics. I'm just glad there are other options. I've been using HRBlock (formerly TaxCut) since then and it's worked out fine. This year I had the usual stock dividends/sales, HSA, mortgage interest, energy credits - no problems.


Yep 10 years ago. I went to TaxAct and have been very happy with it. One price - about $18-$20, download the software to my computer & file Fed & State. Done.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Sophie Spence »

...the follow-up questions caused me to doubt whether I had entered the correct information and even when I double-checked, I felt I was not quite standing on solid ground.
This bothered me, too!

There was something about the ominous tone of the follow-up questions this year that made me wonder for a second, hmmm, that IS my husband's SSN - isn't it? And we've been married for 30 years! I actually triple-checked my PIN for fear that I had entered it wrong.

And the "opportunity" to get one's refund plus 10% in the form of an Amazon gift card annoyed me, too, for some reason that I can't quite put into words.
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sans souliers
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by sans souliers »

Augh! Sophie! I forgot about the Amazon offer! And the offer to get me my refund -- now -- for a fee.
Through the looking glass -- how would it look to go to a payday lender to get my taxes done?
There's something that doesn't sit right with me, when, after performing my solemn civic duty, I get "pitched".
Sometimes pessimism leaves me pretty well prepared for when things don't go my way, and pleasantly surprised when they do.
jasc15
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by jasc15 »

richard wrote:Fun fact: the IRS could prepare a first draft of your taxes, which you could then check. You wouldn't have to fill in anything reported to the IRS, such as interest, dividends, wages. It would make things much simpler for most people, although obviously some have more complicated situations or would have to correct errors. Turbotax lobbies heavily to prevent this. http://www.propublica.org/article/turbo ... tax-filing
With all this lobbying, I'm surprised my state (NJ) has free online e-file. Another poster says this is available in several states. As I was filling it out, I was wondering why it wasn't available for the fed, and my suspicion was lobbying efforts.
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FrogPrince
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Intuit has been lobbying to make tax filing more complicated

Post by FrogPrince »

[Thread merged into here, see below. --admin LadyGeek]

If you are frustrated with the process of tax filing, you might be interested to know that Intuit is actually spending millions of dollars to keep it so.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/27/turbot ... x-returns/
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Re: Intuit has been lobbying to make tax filing more complic

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lululu
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by lululu »

richard wrote:Fun fact: the IRS could prepare a first draft of your taxes, which you could then check. You wouldn't have to fill in anything reported to the IRS, such as interest, dividends, wages. It would make things much simpler for most people, although obviously some have more complicated situations or would have to correct errors. Turbotax lobbies heavily to prevent this. http://www.propublica.org/article/turbo ... tax-filing
Yet another reason to do your taxes by hand.
Old Guy
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Old Guy »

I owed over $2,000 this year so I wasn't happy tho it had nothing to do with TT.
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Frugal Al
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Frugal Al »

richard wrote:Fun fact: the IRS could prepare a first draft of your taxes, which you could then check. You wouldn't have to fill in anything reported to the IRS
I don't think we need the IRS preparing a first draft of anyone's taxes, because the next step will be refuting their numbers, instead of them verifying ours. They can't even tell if the right people are claiming refunds or how much the refunds should be. They need to get their house in order before biting off more. They've already got their hands full, and the incompetence and confusion is staggering. I don't necessarily blame them for what they are--congress has fed this mutated monster on a regular basis. There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that requires hours of frustration, a computer program, and/or a professional accountant to determine one's tax liability. And even then, five competent accountants can come up with five different tax liabilities.

Can you tell I did not have fun doing my taxes this year?
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by jebmke »

Frugal Al wrote:I don't think we need the IRS preparing a first draft of anyone's taxes, because the next step will be refuting their numbers, instead of them verifying ours.
A bit of a semantic difference. Their matching is less about verifying your data than it is about imposing their data if yours doesn't agree.

I'm not sure I'd be a fan of pre-populating anyway. I don't like downloading from institutions. If I can't type a few numbers into the forms, my life is probably too complicated.

I also think that the software should only be a tool. If you can't sit down and prepare a return with paper forms and instructions, you probably shouldn't be using tax software. The tax software shouldn't be doing the thinking for you. For that reason, I am not a big fan of interview modes.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum (taxes). I also merged another thread into here.

Several posts refer to TurboTax's lobbying effort. Please refrain from discussing the politics side (OK so far).
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Frugal Al
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Frugal Al »

jebmke wrote:A bit of a semantic difference. Their matching is less about verifying your data than it is about imposing their data if yours doesn't agree.
I understand your point. However, in my "pleasant" experiences in dealing with them, I'm always amazed at what they don't know, and what they think they know, that's wrong
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by P&C actuary »

I had a small refund which I chose to apply to 2014.

A message appeared that I had no refund and did not owe any taxes. It went on to say this was an unusual situation and I may have to file anyway. Of course I have to file.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by amitb00 »

I did not like that I needed yo buy premium version as I had stock sales. Earlier i Gould manage with basic. I made great use of Amazon gift card option.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Hug401k »

More than once I swear I entered information, and when I cam back to check it later, it was gone. That gave me very little confidence this year. Also, I almost made a mistake by claiming my son's Full Day Kindergarten bill as a child care deduction, and TT didn't stop me. I had it all entered and I decided to do a bit of research in their help area. That's where I found the one thing you can't claim as part of child care is full day Kindergarten bills (which makes no sense to me still and it $3200 where I live).
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by pshonore »

Hug401k wrote:More than once I swear I entered information, and when I cam back to check it later, it was gone. That gave me very little confidence this year. Also, I almost made a mistake by claiming my son's Full Day Kindergarten bill as a child care deduction, and TT didn't stop me. I had it all entered and I decided to do a bit of research in their help area. That's where I found the one thing you can't claim as part of child care is full day Kindergarten bills (which makes no sense to me still and it $3200 where I live).
Not sure how TT could have stopped you. You probably input $3200 as child care expense and TT asked for name, address, EIN, etc which you supplied. Thats about all they can do with that one.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by yukonjack »

This was my first year with TT after 6 years with Tax Act. I was quite pleased with the experience. I always felt that there were several questions on TA that were a bit confusing. I never got that feeling with TT. I used the Premier version via Vanguard and plan on using it again next year.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by donall »

I'm generally pleased with TT at the federal level. At the state level not so much. This year was the first time I wanted to file the state form electronically through TT. Since it was the first time they wanted my license number, then my weight listed on my license, then more and more information. It was creepy, so I went to the state site directly where all they wanted was my state license number and did not want $25 to file electronically.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Kircheis »

My taxes were the most complicated it has been (had capital gains in taxable account, backdoor Roth, consultant income in addition to my usual salary), but TT handled it all fine. I used the premier desktop edition (which is what I have used in the past).
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by yukonjack »

donall wrote:I'm generally pleased with TT at the federal level. At the state level not so much. This year was the first time I wanted to file the state form electronically through TT. Since it was the first time they wanted my license number, then my weight listed on my license, then more and more information. It was creepy, so I went to the state site directly where all they wanted was my state license number and did not want $25 to file electronically.
This was also my first time filing a state return with TT and all went well. I didn't have to enter any of the extra info. I wonder if it wasn't your state requiring it.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by grok87 »

I agree. I'm getting increasingly worried about TurboTax. Next year I think I will do my taxes both in TurboTax and TaxCut and then switch to Taxcut the following year.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by friar1610 »

poundwise wrote:I too had less fun this year due to a mid-year move to a new state. TT was smooth for the Fed component, but was extremely unhelpful for the split state component.
+1
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by lululu »

Hug401k wrote:That's where I found the one thing you can't claim as part of child care is full day Kindergarten bills (which makes no sense to me still and it $3200 where I live).
Kindergarten is school, I don't see why it should be considered child care. On the other hand, if they're not teaching the kids anything, they should rename their business to show that it's child care.
Hug401k
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by Hug401k »

lululu wrote:Hug401k wrote:
That's where I found the one thing you can't claim as part of child care is full day Kindergarten bills (which makes no sense to me still and it $3200 where I live).


Kindergarten is school, I don't see why it should be considered child care. On the other hand, if they're not teaching the kids anything, they should rename their business to show that it's child care.
I guess you and the IRS are in agreement. However, my town does offer free half day Kindergarten. Most people who work send their kids to the full day for the additional $3200, so it's both school and childcare to me. If it was just public school education, it shouldn't have tuition. And you can claim the after school programs (from 4pm-6pm) or the before school programs as child care expense. You can also claim day care, pre-school and any form of summer camp including summer school.
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Re: Did not have fun this year doing my taxes- TT

Post by KyleAAA »

richard wrote:Fun fact: the IRS could prepare a first draft of your taxes, which you could then check. You wouldn't have to fill in anything reported to the IRS, such as interest, dividends, wages. It would make things much simpler for most people, although obviously some have more complicated situations or would have to correct errors. Turbotax lobbies heavily to prevent this. http://www.propublica.org/article/turbo ... tax-filing
I actually mostly agree with Intuit's argument on this one. The IRS effort would be, by design, woefully inadequate for anyone not just taking the standard deduction or, at most, deducting mortgage interest. Anything that fell outside of the mainstream would probably result in people not taking all the deductions they're entitled to. So the mainstream consumer would be fine, but those with more complex returns would not. How exactly does that differ from the current situation? In my estimation, it doesn't. There are already plentiful free options for help filing a 1040 (not just 1040EZ) if you aren't itemizing. What would be the advantages of the IRS's offering on top of this? Seems a solution in search of a problem. I also agree this would be a textbook conflict of interest, even if the IRS starts off with the best of intentions.
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