Most Overlooked Tax Deductions

elmegil says on January 18th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

I was a regular turbotaxer until a couple years ago when they put some ridiculous invasive DRM type stuff into the program. At which point I switched to Kiplinger’s Tax Cut, which is now H&R Block’s Tax Cut. They’re really equivalent, political preferences aside, and I’ve never had any complaint with either from a tax standpoint.

Some people I know use web based tools (they’re cheaper or free), but I don’t trust those kinds of details out there in web space.

I’ve never had a single problem. The few times I’ve had *really* complicated returns (usually a case of moving from one state to another, or the first time I bought a house) I’ve gone to H&R Block directly and not messed with the software, but they rarely found me enough extra deductions that I wouldn’t have already thought of (with some prompting from the program) to make it worth spending that money for a routine return.

I’d also recommend not waiting until April unless you are positive you’re going to be paying instead of getting a check. Every year, I buy the software as soon as I can in January, do an estimated return based on my last December stubs and data in quicken, and get some idea whether I’m paying in or getting a refund. Since I got a house, it’s always been a refund, so I wait no longer than til the W2 and assorted other statements arrive before doing an e-File and getting my money back.

If I have to pay, then it will wait for April, but then I have enough lead time that I don’t get any nasty surprises (any more; one year I had to come up with $2000 at the last minute and let me tell you it was a big shock).

Krishna Kumar says on January 20th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

The online Turbotax version is easy to use and it also pulls necessary information from banks and other institutions. I suppose the H&R version also does the same.

Gordon L says on January 21st, 2007 at 10:39 am

I’ve used TurboTax in the past with good results. It’s usually about $30. I have my investments with a large mutual fund co, and they provide TurboTax for free…you do your taxes online, but it is very secure I believe.
I still complete my taxes, print them out, and mail the forms to the Feds using certified mail.
You can send the completed taxes electronically from the website you did your taxes, but I had problems with this once….it never got there, and I forgot about checking, so ended up paying a late fee.
SEND IT BY CERT MAIL!

Phillip Ingham says on January 22nd, 2007 at 12:38 pm

A great selection of tips. Set off by one of my lovely photographs. To use this under creative commons licencing you should really attribute the work. I’ll let you off this time though!!!

Leon says on January 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm

@Philip: Apologies on the editorial! We will add a link to attribute on the image.

Anon says on February 12th, 2007 at 10:45 pm

I’ve been using TaxCut for many years with nary a problem. The program always points out a deduction that I would not have thought about.