<p>So, yeah. I’ve decided to take the plunge and do the taxes myself–love my accountant, but the price is getting too steep, and our taxes aren’t that complicated (I’ve been studying what he did last year on my return and reading up it, so dont talk me out of it! :)</p>
<p>Here’s my question–I’m considering using the “free fillable forms” feature on the IRS site. However, when you click on it, it says you’ll be going to a private site with its own privacy rules and collection of information.</p>
<p>This makes me nervous. I am extremely hesitant to put all that info in a private company’s hands. OTOH, it’s refered by the IRS, and would simplify the process (otherwise I’ll be filling out by hand and mailing them…I may just do that–and have typable Adobe at work I could use on my lunch hour.)</p>
<p>So, anyone use these Fillable Forms? Any accountants or others know anything about them? All info welcome (yes, I know it’s April 12…) Procrastinators R Us!</p>
<p>Are you talking about the “Free File Forms”? I can’t find a Free Fillable forms anywhere. I have used the Free File Forms for people I’ve helped to do taxes and it’s safe. It’s a company like Turbo Tax or Tax Cut (among many others) offering to let you use their program. Have you looked to see if you qualify? They all have different criteria for who can use them. And if you qualify, before you do it, look to see what they charge to file your state. Each one is different.</p>
<p>I think you’d be better off buying Turbo tax and using it. If you pay for Turbo tax, it lets you file the Federal for free. It does charge for the State, but then you can print it out and mail it. The advantage is that when you use it again next year, it carries over your information from the year before. Saves time and improves accuracy. It remembers things like whether you paid your state or got a refund, etc. </p>
<p>A lot of stores would have Turbo tax on sale right now :)</p>
<p>No, I don’t qualify for that. They have a new service for all income levels for forms you fill out yourself, then file–it doesn’t do the work for you, but you don’t have to qualifiy by income. this is it:</p>
<p>[TaxACT</a> Online taxes: FREE online tax filing, IRS efile & income tax preparation](<a href=“http://www.taxactonline.com%5DTaxACT”>http://www.taxactonline.com) very user friendly, deluxe package is less than $20 for state and federal efiling (no income restrictions)</p>
<p>I’ve used it for over 5 years, no problem whatsoever. I don’t use the downloadable version. I use the online version</p>
<p>I get an email from them in October and if I go and ‘start’ my return (really just visiting website and putting in userid/password) I get the early discount of $13 for the deluxe package. Can’t get much cheaper than that. They have all the forms, interactive, very easy and cheaper than turbotax.</p>
<p>thanks folks. But I would really rather pay no one and do it myself. I can figure out the forms, but I’m interested in if anyone knows anything about this IRS program. I don’t need the free software (and don’t qualify for it either) but I would like to try the free fill-it-out-yourself forms. Just wondering if anyone here knows anything about them.</p>
<p>I use turbotax online and pay a fee each year. The advantage is that it imports the previous years’ information. I suppose you can do that if you buy the software and install it on your computer, but this way I know I’m getting the ‘freshest’ information. It’s a snap to do the state tax, too, because it transfers the information over to the state form. </p>
<p>I looked at using the free file on the IRS website for one of my kids, but it wasn’t appropriate for her situation. I would trust them; I just think they are bare bones and nothing is stored for the next year.</p>
<p>[Federal</a> Income Tax Form 1040 (Excel 5.0 Spreadsheet) Income Tax Calculator - Free! (<a href=“http://www.excel1040.com)%5B/url%5D”>www.excel1040.com)](<a href=“http://home.mchsi.com/~taxcalculator/]Federal”>http://home.mchsi.com/~taxcalculator/)</a> is free to use. I always do my own taxes (usually by hand) but this is fantastic. It has a lot of extra forms but not the college tuition ones (for a credit or income deduction) so you would have to download those forms from irs.gov.</p>
<p>I have used the free version of taxactonline and it produced similar results to my paid accountant. The free version is fairly complete and really free - you only have to put up with their constant offers of upgrades.</p>
<p>I used the Free Fillable Forms when helping my son do his federal taxes. Keeping in mind it was relatively simple (no itemized deductions), we went through the process. After setting up the initial account with user id and password, S & I both went online from our separate locations and together walked through it. This is the first return that S “took over” handling, but I wanted to guide him. It’s like speaking a whole new language if you’re not familiar with the lingo. You also are prompted to fill in all the data from your W2. S had it in his possession, but just needed a little instruction on what it all means.</p>
<p>I did do some preliminary reserach to confirm it was a valid site. After pressing the final “send” button, we received a confirmation that the federal return was accepted within 48 hours. S received his refund by direct deposit within about 2weeks.</p>
<p>H & I have a more complicated return and need some help so I have been using Turbo Tax for the past few years and did so again. But for someone needing only to fill out the forms and send in with a simple return, this worked fine, at least as far as I know.</p>
<p>It was a little confusing to navigate the site and always follow the prompts, but we figured it out. Again, this is only useful for someone who doesn’t need the assistance of a software package asking the right questions and determining deductions, etc. The Free Fillable Forms system only calculates simple arithmetic, ie adding all income, etc.</p>
<p>I believe this is the first year the IRS used this new online system linked directly to IRS.gov.</p>
<p>NJres–you and Sue may have talked me into taxact. I might start myself, then run to them if necessary.</p>
<p>I also told S I’d help him with his. Unfortunately, (kindof) now that he has some gambling winnings to declare, he can’t do the EZ that both my kids have always done. We’re researching more into that, but I may have to charge him to be his accountant. :)</p>
<p>Thanks, curiouser. Good info. Though we do have deductions, none are different from what our accountant would have done last year, so I think I could handle them (she says, with much bravado…)</p>
It works the same if you buy the software and install it. After installation, it “updates” with the newest information. I do it that way because Costco sells it in February with a coupon. It’s cheaper than downloading.</p>
<p>Garland: your son may qualify for the free version through the IRS website. Unless the Taxcut lets you do more than one return. </p>
<p>Some things to remember for this year if you’re going from what an accountant did last year:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you didn’t qualify for the stimulus check based on 2007 or only part of it, but your circumstances changed this year, you would get it on your 2008 return.</p></li>
<li><p>If you take the standard deduction, it is higher if you pay property taxes. MFJ let’s you add $1,000 of taxes, and Single $500. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Those are the main two things that people who do their own have been missing.</p>
<p>If you are worried about privacy and want to do your own taxes for free, I would just download the PDFs (allows full data entry of info - the only fields to be handwritten are your signature and date of signature) from the IRS website </p>
<p>Every form and its corresponding instruction book is available here. You do have to do your own math, but once you download the form the information is yours and only yours electronically. You print and mail paper. </p>
<p>BTW, this has been my method of filing for the last 5 years. I’m a cheapskate too who is willing to do the math myself to save a few bucks. </p>
<p>And quite frankly if you let a piece of software ask you questions that you misinterpret because you didn’t read the official instructions, who is responsible for the penalties? The filer, of course.</p>
<p>So I go to check your reply and in the “Sponsors” sidebar (underneath the menu items on the left), and I see an ad for TaxACT software. The irony of it…</p>
<p>G-dad–funny! I used your method–had no idea you could type on their pdf’s! Federal is done!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, everyone–now, on to state.</p>
<p>Justamom–maybe I should go online now and file–I thought I’d be paying, but for various reasons that are unrelated to me doing the math (LOL), it looks like we are getting refund. Glory be!</p>