<p>If you plan to use Turbotax in the future, use it this year. It will carryover a lot of basic info from one year to the next and do an analysis between prior year and current year (once you have two to compare). This helps ensure nothing is missed. It does a good job of walking non-professionals through multi-state issues. Turbotax will produce a better product than most chain preparers. Buy it on-line as the discs available in stores were produced before the federal extenders were passed and you will have to update on line anyway. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t go with a chain preparer. If Turbotax will carryover and you find it easy enough to use then go with it. I have used the same CPA for 25+ years. He has all of my records. I meet with him for less than half an hour each year and he does the rest. D1 is also using him now. </p>
<p>I don’t think it mattered whether they declared resident or non resident. It mattered where they worked and where the paycheck was written. There’s also some rule that if you are, say, a contractor and are on assignment in another state for som certain length of time (I forget what) You will owe taxes in that state for having earned income in that state.</p>
<p>When I was 23 (long long ago) I moved from NYC to Chicago and filed part-year resident returns for NY city, NY state, and Illinois. By hand, by myself, on paper, with no online assistance. Sometimes with taxes, you just have to accept that the rules are the rules, no matter how illogical or nonsensical they seem to you.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to deduct moving expenses!</p>
<p>I agree with oldfort. Do not use a chain tax preparer. Many of those people have been hired off the street with no tax background. If you need the advice of a tax professional, ask for references. </p>
<p>D had a semester of on campus employment (4 hours a week) in Indiana a few years ago. Trust me, the 14 PAGES for the Indiana tax return was a royal PIA. And she got a whopping $13 back for all that effort. Told her she was not to work in Indiana during college anymore 
Get a pro to do it for you this year…</p>
<p>Well, the largest chains do not “hire of the street” with no training. 100+ hours of tax training and 20+ annual makeup. Also, they are required to do tax updates annually. CPAs and independent preparers are not.
the IRS has a new registry of tax preparers that have passed their registration procedures (including education requirements). You could also ask for an enrolled agent if you go to a chain.
And Indiana’s return is a PITA, for sure. </p>
<p>^^^Maybe H&R Block don’t hire off the street, but Jackson Hewitt and Liberty Tax certainly do. Of those three, I would only trust H&R Block to do taxes correctly. Those other two definitely do not have that much training.</p>
<p>Seems like the OP needs expertise in more than one state tax return and the possible interaction between them more than s/he needs any help with a (probably simple) federal tax return. The expertise in more than one state tax return may be what the OP should look for if s/he wants to find tax preparation help, and which may not be as easy to find.</p>
<p>Enrolled agent information is here: <a href=“Enrolled Agents | Internal Revenue Service”>http://www.irs.gov/Tax-Professionals/Enrolled-Agents</a> . However, that is about federal tax returns, not state tax returns.</p>
<p>OP - I think you can file your own taxes this year, and I would suggest you do, so you can get an idea of the types of questions asked for future info. Last year (2013 tax year) my D (25 at the time) filed her very first income taxes. She used the free tax program the IRS grants for those who earn below a certain figure. I sat on the phone with her as she filled in the online forms, she had questions, and I guided. She was impressed that it “wasn’t that hard” - because she’s not doing the itemized long form. IF you decide to go with HR Block or another firm do not get tricked into paying them for an early return (which comes at a price). If you file electronically, your refund should come within about 2 weeks (my D said hers showed up in 12 days). What’s nice about the online TurboTax is it really guides you through, step by step, and can even “answer” questions as you go along. Maybe give it a try and see how you do. </p>
<p>Thanks all! I think I will try TurboTax when I get my w-2 info, and if I can’t do it will hire someone.</p>
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<p>I am bit surprised that taxes have not come up in the prior years. Chances are that you missed a couple of things during your UG/MS years in terms of reportable income. Most students do unless they are mostly full pay. But that is now in the past. </p>
<p>Getting a handle on your finances in terms of tax should NOT too complicated. I would suggest you to look at the cheap and free versions of TaxAct and TurboTax and start plugging in the various forms you should receive from your school and employer. The basic concept is one of “source of income” and you should check the states for minimum filing requirements. Chance are that your income was below the filing requirements for a couple of states. Your primary one will be Colorado.</p>
<p>If your employer did the correct WH, chances are that you will be entitled to a refund as you will now have larger exemptions on your own return. The refund will be for the income taxes deducted – not the SS and Medicare. </p>
<p>As far as the free or cheap packages, you will find that you can get the return prepared by the software, but might have to pay for the electronic filing, and especially at the state level. I would HIGHLY recommend to pay for this service as you will get proof of filing and even audit protection (doubtful you will ever need it) and you will sleep better for a few dollars well-spent. </p>
<p>Lastly, I do agree that "tax: courses should be mandatory for all college students and even for rising seniors in HS. I also think that it has gotten a LOT worse in the past decade, and that the first years of ACA will (and have) created huge messes for recent graduates. I shudder at the thought of the recent graduates that earn series of 1099 at small jobs or work at companies without insurance. And the bad news is that most affordable CPA are learning as they go! And will do for a while. </p>
<p>xiggi, I’m not sure if I said this already, but my mom has owned her own business since '97, so she took her taxes to a CPA for years. When the time came that my taxes were an issue, she would have me sign the forms and fax them to her and she would take everything to her accountant. </p>
<p>Thank you for the advice!</p>
Or, file the fed electronically for free print out hard copy and mail USPS to the state. (I’m cheap.)
I’m old school: USPS charges what, $3.00, for return receipt? (Not that I recommend even wasting that amount.) And as old school, I like to make a habit of disagreeing with my cyber friend xiggi. 
OP: you should look at your return for last year. Calif allows you to separate your income between that earned while living in California and that from living OOS. Calif tax is only due on California income.
^^I don’t agree.
Consult a tax professional.
Before you pay for TurboTax look at the IRS forms and see if it seems easy to you. If your only income is from W2 forms, no dependents other than yourself and no extraordinary complicating issues like big time out of pocket expenses for health care or other things it should be easy for a college grad.
We never pay for return receipts on checks mailed to the IRS.
Even if you use a program try to do it yourself to see if you agree with the program and haven’t made glaring errors with check off boxes or number inputs. Doing taxes may be fun for tax accountants but for most of us it is a pain but needs to be done.
Blue bayou, you have been overspending. All you need is Form 3817.
https://about.usps.com/forms/ps3817.pdf
You get at least two of them for 3 bucks!
OP, you should check out the VITA program from IRS:
Ideal for multi-states tax returns:
See http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers
Considering that the favored way for politicians to enact special interest spending is to add special interest tax deductions/credits/exemptions/etc., rather than actual spending, it is no surprise that the tax codes keep getting more complicated, resulting in a hugely complex system, with high-looking headline rates that bring in much less revenue due to all of the deductions/credits/exemptions/etc… “Grand bargains” of lowering nominal rates but eliminating most of these deductions/credits/exemptions/etc. are always talked about, but tend not to get very far*, since the beneficiaries of the deductions/credits/exemptions/etc. loudly scream about “raising taxes”. Corporate income tax is even worse in this respect.
*Seems amazing that such a thing actually happened in 1986.
You can’t print out the state returns from TurboTax and just sent them in. You could copy down all the info and transfer it to your own forms. The California partial year resident is several pages and a lot of multiplying of fractions. I felt it was worth the $30.