I’m sure doing it manually is the safest, but perhaps there’s a least poison for software/services for filing US taxes. What do you recommend? (or, atleast, what do you recommend steering clear of)
H&R Block forever earned themselves a place on my shit list a few years back when they plastered “free tax returns!” posters all over my area, got me to set an appointment, went into their office and waited over an hour past my appointment time, then brought me in, asked all the questions, established that I had a dead simple return…then informed me that their fee to do my taxes would be like $220.
When I asked what happened to the “free tax blah blah” that was on every bus stop and billboard in the area, I got some convoluted explanation that basically said, “oh it’s free to walk in and sit down and have the consultation you just got, but any actual filing would be a minimum fee of $200”. The guy added that part of the reason he was running so late was having to explain all this to everyone else who came in today as well. Basically admitting it was all just a massive bait and switch.
Walked out of there with my stuff and never looked back.
For anyone who’s basically just working at one job and not planning to itemize, I feel like doing it yourself is really not significantly more difficult than going to an accountant. You still have to answer questions and supply documentation…so if you can read and understand what “enter the value from box 4 here” means, you can do everything the accountant is doing for you.
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If your taxes are simple enough, you should do it yourself.
I only started paying other people to do it as my life got more complicated, marriage, kid, house, stock options, solar panels, etc. etc.
Jackson Hewlitt is terrible, will never use them again.
H&R Block is kind of the industry standard, but that also makes them a target:
https://www.koin.com/news/tax-payer-information-compromised-in-hr-block-break-in/
https://sileo.com/hr-block-identity-theft/
https://kesq.com/news/crime/2020/04/30/several-tax-files-stolen-from-hr-block-in-cathedral-city/
Your best bet would be to hire an independent tax accountant.
H&R Block forever earned themselves a place on my shit list a few years back when they plastered “free tax returns!” posters all over my area, got me to set an appointment, went into their office and waited over an hour past my appointment time, then brought me in, asked all the questions, established that I had a dead simple return…then informed me that their fee to do my taxes would be like $220.
When I asked what happened to the “free tax blah blah” that was on every bus stop and billboard in the area, I got some convoluted explanation that basically said, “oh it’s free to walk in and sit down and have the consultation you just got, but any actual filing would be a minimum fee of $200”. The guy added that part of the reason he was running so late was having to explain all this to everyone else who came in today as well. Basically admitting it was all just a massive bait and switch.
Walked out of there with my stuff and never looked back.
For anyone who’s basically just working at one job and not planning to itemize, I feel like doing it yourself is really not significantly more difficult than going to an accountant. You still have to answer questions and supply documentation…so if you can read and understand what “enter the value from box 4 here” means, you can do everything the accountant is doing for you.