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[Beanbox]

Hello fellow Americans,
Seems I can't get around to gaming these days with too much adulting, but as I started looking into filing taxes this year I realized that TurboTax (which I usually use) has upped their price and extortion game.
Anything more complicated than W2 and some basic bank interest, you'd need to pay something like $70-80 to file both federal and state taxes.
Hell nah, homie don't play that.
I recently stumbled into FreeTaxUSA which is fairly robust (I actually filled them out side by side, same numbers for as far as TTfree would let me go). Federal is free and state is like $20 to e-file (you can also mail for free).
There are other options of course, so do explore them and make sure you're not being taken advantage of.
Hope this helps someone, happy refunding (or tax-due-ing).

 

[eddie4]

You can also file your federal and state separately. If someone charges for state but offers free federal, just skip the state part and mail it in separately for free. Some tax software allows you to fill everything for free, then just file by mail.

 

[AJUMP23]

I have used Freetaxusa for years now. It is just as good as turbo tax

Before that I used taxact. But they raised their prices too much.

Turbo tax is just charging for the marketing.

 

[nightmare-slain]

non american here. why do you need to do your own taxes?

my employer does it for me and thank goodness because it seems like too much hassle. the goverment will also gather information from your bank (for income/interest etc) and popular sites like amazon/ebay if you sell on them and monitor your income. so say i started bringing in serious money on ebay then the government would notice that and automatically change how much tax i had to pay through my employer. i wouldn't need to do anything....i suppose there is something i should do but my point is they are watch everything you do very closely and if you owe them even just a single penny they will hunt your sorry ass down. you'll soon know if you owe them anything.

it seems to me it's a way for the government to catch people out for not doing it correctly and then screwing them over or forcing people to spend money to get it done. does the US government not offer a free way to do it or is it all privatised? i wouldn't want the responsiblity of tax put on me and have to pay for services to file it. i am happy to let my employer deal with it and if something goes wrong then i can at least blame them (although i will be to blame too no doubt).

seriously, do you all find it difficult to do? do you need to keep track of every wage you get and count up all the hours you've worked? what's the process? Does your employer help by providing any information?

blows my mind. fuck that shit lol.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I’m looking at buying some rrsps this year. Haven’t before. Anyone have a comment on those? I’ve not bought them before and some people say “it depends” but I don’t actually know. I make good money and have a very generous pension in addition to the government one I pay for.

My wife on the other hand doesn’t make much at her job (which is fine as she doesn’t need to work and only does it because she gets bored and wants to contribute) so I’m not sure if that changes the equation either.

Any comments?

 

[Celcius]

I just used turbo tax like I do every year. Sure the price was a little higher than I'd like but it was fast, easy, and I got my refund already back at the beginning of this month.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I used H&R Block's online service every year since like 2014. They keep my records from previous years, and it's like $100 and super dummy-proof. Might be cheaper options out there, but this is more convenient than handing it over to a human to do for me.

non american here. why do you need to do your own taxes?

my employer does it for me and thank goodness because it seems like too much hassle. the goverment will also gather information from your bank (for income/interest etc) and popular sites like amazon/ebay if you sell on them and monitor your income. so say i started bringing in serious money on ebay then the government would notice that and automatically change how much tax i had to pay through my employer. i wouldn't need to do anything....i suppose there is something i should do but my point is they are watch everything you do very closely and if you owe them even just a single penny they will hunt your sorry ass down.

it seems to me it's a way for the government to catch people out for not doing it correctly and then screwing them over but what do i know? seriously, do you all find it difficult to do? do you need to keep track of every wage you get and count up all the hours you've worked? what's the process? Does your employer help by providing any information?

blows my mind. fuck that shit lol.

My understanding is that in the US, tax service companies (like TurboTax, H&R Block, etc. discussed in this thread) lobbied that if the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) just tells Americans the taxes we owe, then it cuts out on all those American jobs...in tax service companies. So they kept the current system in place.

 

[eddie4]

why do you need to do your own taxes?

Because, money. It's pretty much you paying companies that lobby the government to make you pay these companies that lobby the government. Fun.

 

[IFireflyl]

non american here. why do you need to do your own taxes?

my employer does it for me and thank goodness because it seems like too much hassle. the goverment will also gather information from your bank (for income/interest etc) and popular sites like amazon/ebay if you sell on them and monitor your income. so say i started bringing in serious money on ebay then the government would notice that and automatically change how much tax i had to pay through my employer. i wouldn't need to do anything....i suppose there is something i should do but my point is they are watch everything you do very closely and if you owe them even just a single penny they will hunt your sorry ass down. you'll soon know if you owe them anything.

it seems to me it's a way for the government to catch people out for not doing it correctly and then screwing them over or forcing people to spend money to get it done...but what do i know? i wouldn't want the responsiblity of tax put on me and have to pay for services to file it. i am happy to let my employer deal with it and if something goes wrong then i can at least blame them (although i will be to blame too no doubt).

seriously, do you all find it difficult to do? do you need to keep track of every wage you get and count up all the hours you've worked? what's the process? Does your employer help by providing any information?

blows my mind. fuck that shit lol.

It would be nice if employers could do this, but they can't since there are more things taxed than just employment. For example, if you have a mortgage there's a separate tax form for that. If you have student loans there is a separate tax form for that. Taxes aren't difficult so much as time consuming. This is an example of a W-2 tax form that we get from our employer (with all of my info redacted because I'm not a lunatic):

When filing taxes, the tax programs will ask you to state what is in box 1, or 2, or 12a/12b/12c/12d, et cetera. Good software will be able to read your W-2 from a submitted PDF, and then you just have to review it to make sure it didn't miss something or make a mistake.

 

[Ownage]

Already got my refund. Filed day 1.

Pro-tip: file as soon as you can if you know you're getting a refund.

 

[IFireflyl]

Already got my refund. Filed day 1.

Pro-tip: file as soon as you can if you know you're getting a refund.

Ditto. I got a ton of money back since my wife is getting her Master's degree and I went back to school for a certificate I needed for my job. Apparently there were some schooling credits that amounted to over $4,000 between the two of us. I am not going to look that particular gift horse in the mouth.

 

[nightmare-slain]

It would be nice if employers could do this, but they can't since there are more things taxed than just employment. For example, if you have a mortgage there's a separate tax form for that. If you have student loans there is a separate tax form for that. Taxes aren't difficult so much as time consuming. This is an example of a W-2 tax form that we get from our employer (with all of my info redacted because I'm not a lunatic):

When filing taxes, the tax programs will ask you to state what is in box 1, or 2, or 12a/12b/12c/12d, et cetera. Good software will be able to read your W-2 from a submitted PDF, and then you just have to review it to make sure it didn't miss something or make a mistake.

looks like what we call a P60 here in the UK. it's a document you get every tax year which summarises all your tax shit. i guess the difference here is the government/your employer send you it once they work out your tax instead of sending it to you for you to work out your tax lol.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Ahh, my yearly reminder that my government has generously volunteered me to give them an interest free loan all fucking year.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

looks like what we call a P60 here in the UK. it's a document you get every tax year which summarises all your tax shit. i guess the difference here is the government/your employer send you it once they work out your tax instead of sending it to you for you to work out your tax lol.

Yeah, for most people in the US, filing is mostly a formality. If you make below like, $75,000, and you work for an employer, your taxes are practically done for you, you just have to put the right numbers in the box (on Form 1040). Employers send us a form (already filled out of course) called a W-2 that looks like this:

It's pretty much the same as that P60.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Don’t think we are getting anything back this year. Wife is doing taxes this weekend so we will see.

 

[GeekyDad]

Finally handed over all the work to a company to do it. My wife handles the finances, and the past, almost 10 years, we've been paying out taxes. We're blue-collar, so I had no understanding as to why that could be. Long story still a little long, since handing it over to this chick, we're breaking even (after the charge of her services). I can live with that.

Time to bring all this crap in again...even that, though, a bit shitty.

 

[Lasha]

non american here. why do you need to do your own taxes?

my employer does it for me and thank goodness because it seems like too much hassle. the goverment will also gather information from your bank (for income/interest etc) and popular sites like amazon/ebay if you sell on them and monitor your income. so say i started bringing in serious money on ebay then the government would notice that and automatically change how much tax i had to pay through my employer. i wouldn't need to do anything....i suppose there is something i should do but my point is they are watch everything you do very closely and if you owe them even just a single penny they will hunt your sorry ass down. you'll soon know if you owe them anything.

it seems to me it's a way for the government to catch people out for not doing it correctly and then screwing them over or forcing people to spend money to get it done. does the US government not offer a free way to do it or is it all privatised? i wouldn't want the responsiblity of tax put on me and have to pay for services to file it. i am happy to let my employer deal with it and if something goes wrong then i can at least blame them (although i will be to blame too no doubt).

seriously, do you all find it difficult to do? do you need to keep track of every wage you get and count up all the hours you've worked? what's the process? Does your employer help by providing any information?

blows my mind. fuck that shit lol.

Other countries separate revenue generation from wealth redistribution. The US system combines the two into a byzantine mess that means the amount withheld is never what you actually owed. A brave individual who files their federal taxes by hand has to then do it again for state level taxes.

 

[RJMacready73]

Why does everything in America revolve around fucking up the average Joe so the man can make more money? Y'all do everything ass backwards, taxes, healthcare, education, food additives.. all of it designed to fuck you up and make someone rich

 

[Beanbox]

Why does everything in America revolve around fucking up the average Joe so the man can make more money? Y'all do everything ass backwards, taxes, healthcare, education, food additives.. all of it designed to fuck you up and make someone rich

Crony capitalism. Human greed.

 

[jshackles]

non american here. why do you need to do your own taxes?

my employer does it for me and thank goodness because it seems like too much hassle. the goverment will also gather information from your bank (for income/interest etc) and popular sites like amazon/ebay if you sell on them and monitor your income. so say i started bringing in serious money on ebay then the government would notice that and automatically change how much tax i had to pay through my employer. i wouldn't need to do anything....i suppose there is something i should do but my point is they are watch everything you do very closely and if you owe them even just a single penny they will hunt your sorry ass down. you'll soon know if you owe them anything.

it seems to me it's a way for the government to catch people out for not doing it correctly and then screwing them over or forcing people to spend money to get it done. does the US government not offer a free way to do it or is it all privatised? i wouldn't want the responsiblity of tax put on me and have to pay for services to file it. i am happy to let my employer deal with it and if something goes wrong then i can at least blame them (although i will be to blame too no doubt).

seriously, do you all find it difficult to do? do you need to keep track of every wage you get and count up all the hours you've worked? what's the process? Does your employer help by providing any information?

blows my mind. fuck that shit lol.

The tax system in America is based on two things: your income (which they know), and your deductions/exemptions (which they don't know). So - similarly to your example above, let's say I sell a bunch of stuff on eBay. At the end of the year, eBay files what's called a 1099 with the IRS saying they paid me $10,000. That $10,000 is taxable income, and the IRS knows I made that amount. However, seemingly different from your system, in the US you're allowed to take deductions against that which are essentially "the cost of doing business".

Let's say I made $10,000 selling hand knitted scarves. The IRS allows you to deduct things like the cost of yarn, the purchase of knitting needles, shipping costs, packaging costs, etc. That's because only your profit on the $10,000 is taxable, not the whole amount. If your business grows, you can even start deducting things like payroll costs (if you hire employees to knit for you) and things like vehicle costs (if your vehicle is registered for business use, has your business name or logo on it, etc.). That's why in America you hear tax professionals all the time give out the advice of "save every receipt ever", because you have to use those receipts to prove to the IRS that you had those expenses.

For the average schmuck like me who only ever works for the man, you'll never do any of this and just take what's called the "standard deduction". But, if you're a business owner, these deductions add up quick and can mean the difference between running a successful business in America or failing. And since the IRS doesn't have a clue how much you spent on that custom knitting machine you just bought to expand your business, you have to reconcile with them annually to make sure you aren't getting gouged by them and having to pay the full tax on your business's revenue.

It's also how you see headlines in America all the time like "Amazon paid $0 in federal taxes in 2020" and the like, because they successfully convinced (conned) the IRS that their expenses exceeded their revenues and that they should therefore owe nothing.

 

[Lasha]

The tax system in America is based on two things: your income (which they know), and your deductions/exemptions (which they don't know). So - similarly to your example above, let's say I sell a bunch of stuff on eBay. At the end of the year, eBay files what's called a 1099 with the IRS saying they paid me $10,000. That $10,000 is taxable income, and the IRS knows I made that amount. However, seemingly different from your system, in the US you're allowed to take deductions against that which are essentially "the cost of doing business".

Let's say I made $10,000 selling hand knitted scarves. The IRS allows you to deduct things like the cost of yarn, the purchase of knitting needles, shipping costs, packaging costs, etc. That's because only your profit on the $10,000 is taxable, not the whole amount. If your business grows, you can even start deducting things like payroll costs (if you hire employees to knit for you) and things like vehicle costs (if your vehicle is registered for business use, has your business name or logo on it, etc.). That's why in America you hear tax professionals all the time give out the advice of "save every receipt ever", because you have to use those receipts to prove to the IRS that you had those expenses.

For the average schmuck like me who only ever works for the man, you'll never do any of this and just take what's called the "standard deduction". But, if you're a business owner, these deductions add up quick and can mean the difference between running a successful business in America or failing. And since the IRS doesn't have a clue how much you spent on that custom knitting machine you just bought to expand your business, you have to reconcile with them annually to make sure you aren't getting gouged by them and having to pay the full tax on your business's revenue.

It's also how you see headlines in America all the time like "Amazon paid $0 in federal taxes in 2020" and the like, because they successfully convinced (conned) the IRS that their expenses exceeded their revenues and that they should therefore owe nothing.

You have confused financial accounting with income tax. Any money spent towards the production or maintenance of a product gets deducted from revenue everywhere in the world. It's a universal concept. The US gets weird because it allows you to do weird stuff like deduct mortgage interest or other non-productive things from personal income taxes. You can also get more back than you paid in because of the redistributive aspect.

 

[AJUMP23]

I have done most of mine. I still have a few deductions to get too. And I don’t know if my bank has reported my annual .23 cents of interest.

 

[Nitty_Grimes]

What kind of a third world country is this where you have to submit your own taxes?

You'll be telling me next that fanny packs are a thing.

/s

 

[Mihos]

We have to file for an extension every year since we rarely have all our documents by April

 

[Cohetedor]

Used TurboTax and filed for free in 26 minutes start to finish, got my return already which payed for my psvr2 and then some.

 

[dave_d]

It's also how you see headlines in America all the time like "Amazon paid $0 in federal taxes in 2020" and the like, because they successfully convinced (conned) the IRS that their expenses exceeded their revenues and that they should therefore owe nothing.

Wait, I thought part of the Amazon stuff was tax incentives. I mean the deal I heard was that if a company makes a profit (the difference between what they take in and the money that they spent) they can do pretty much 2 things. Once is to pay it out as a dividend and if they do that the company will definitely pay tax. (Plus the share holder getting it will also pay tax.) On the other hand if they decide to invest the profit back into the company then there can be tax incentives that can trigger to get rid of that profit. So for example maybe the government tells say Amazon if they open a distribution center in say NYC there's a tax break. It could be that the politicians figured the increase economic benefit will end up meaning the same or more tax plus a happier public because of good jobs. Or maybe they just got a really big bribe. Amazon might be cool with it because maybe opening that center is a little risky and the tax incentive reduces the bite there. Finally shareholders could be ok with it because instead of a dividend they see an increase price per share with less risk on opening that center. (But yeah, tax incentives to encourage companies to do stuff the government wants.)

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Already got my refund. Thanks to my HSA I actually get a refund.

 

[Lasha]

Wait, I thought part of the Amazon stuff was tax incentives. I mean the deal I heard was that if a company makes a profit (the difference between what they take in and the money that they spent) they can do pretty much 2 things. Once is to pay it out as a dividend and if they do that the company will definitely pay tax. (Plus the share holder getting it will also pay tax.) On the other hand if they decide to invest the profit back into the company then there can be tax incentives that can trigger to get rid of that profit. So for example maybe the government tells say Amazon if they open a distribution center in say NYC there's a tax break. It could be that the politicians figured the increase economic benefit will end up meaning the same or more tax plus a happier public because of good jobs. Or maybe they just got a really big bribe. Amazon might be cool with it because maybe opening that center is a little risky and the tax incentive reduces the bite there. Finally shareholders could be ok with it because instead of a dividend they see an increase price per share with less risk on opening that center. (But yeah, tax incentives to encourage companies to do stuff the government wants.)

Really complicated to explain but basically correct. It's not just incentives though. Amazon builds a data center fully using profit. It depreciates the data center building according to a regulated schedule and deducts a bit of the cost every year until the building is "worthless". The idea is to reward reinvestment of capital since it's a productive use of money compared to sitting on it or paying out shareholders.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

J

Because, money. It's pretty much you paying companies that lobby the government to make you pay these companies that lobby the government. Fun.

Jesus fecking christ. I'm glad to not be an American.

My employer does that shit for me. Is it a hassle to do taxes on your own if you don't get a 3rd party to do it for you?

Why does everything in America revolve around fucking up the average Joe so the man can make more money? Y'all do everything ass backwards, taxes, healthcare, education, food additives.. all of it designed to fuck you up and make someone rich

A question for the ages my man.

 

[Mistake]

 

[Paltheos]

I recently stumbled into FreeTaxUSA which is fairly robust (I actually filled them out side by side, same numbers for as far as TTfree would let me go). Federal is free and state is like $20 to e-file (you can also mail for free).

Seconding FreeTaxUSA. I used them in 2021 and 2022 while I was in job limbo and studying for my professional certification exam. As my AGI was below $41k for both years, I was able to file free federal and state returns. UI is good too; got downloadable copies of my returns for my records. I don't plan on using H&R Block or Turbotax going forward since they seem like a ripoff comparatively. I mean, tax services for basic 1040s in the US are ripoffs in general but the big label services in particular.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

non american here. why do you need to do your own taxes?

my employer does it for me and thank goodness because it seems like too much hassle. the goverment will also gather information from your bank (for income/interest etc) and popular sites like amazon/ebay if you sell on them and monitor your income. so say i started bringing in serious money on ebay then the government would notice that and automatically change how much tax i had to pay through my employer. i wouldn't need to do anything....i suppose there is something i should do but my point is they are watch everything you do very closely and if you owe them even just a single penny they will hunt your sorry ass down. you'll soon know if you owe them anything.

it seems to me it's a way for the government to catch people out for not doing it correctly and then screwing them over or forcing people to spend money to get it done. does the US government not offer a free way to do it or is it all privatised? i wouldn't want the responsiblity of tax put on me and have to pay for services to file it. i am happy to let my employer deal with it and if something goes wrong then i can at least blame them (although i will be to blame too no doubt).

seriously, do you all find it difficult to do? do you need to keep track of every wage you get and count up all the hours you've worked? what's the process? Does your employer help by providing any information?

blows my mind. fuck that shit lol.

Ya.

In Canada, I use Studio Tax (which is now $20. It used to be free). When I boot up the program, I can have it read my Revenue Canada profile and it auto-loads all the T4 data my employer states on the T4. 90% of my job is done.

I forget if the program auto-loads any T5 info. But if it doesn't I just type those in manually.

 

[Sub_Level]

As someone working in tax accounting, its been tax time since January, bitch. 55 hour weeks and its only February…

 

[AJUMP23]

I think I finished mine today. I will file tomorrow. Owning rental property helps during tax time.

 

[Sub_Level]

I think I finished mine today. I will file tomorrow. Owning rental property helps during tax time.

Not if you’re making a lot of profit off it lol it absolutely doesn’t. Congrats on finishing the taxes tho lol

 

[PuppetMaster]

I used H&R Block's online service every year since like 2014. They keep my records from previous years, and it's like $100 and super dummy-proof. Might be cheaper options out there, but this is more convenient than handing it over to a human to do for me.

This year I paid H&R block to do mine as well.

Because I have overseas income/assets which make my taxes more complicated. Plus I got married, had a child, also bought a house in the same tax year. Also I had a bunch of FBARs to report/catch up on.

I don't know if I will use them every year. Because it cost me almost $1000 USD this year. But I was concerned I would have owed a hell of a lot more if I didn't get this right. The service I got this year was decent. And their web based forms are well designed and easy to use.

Assuming I get all the deductions I filled for and everything goes smoothly with no stress, then the cost is absolutely worth it.

 

[AJUMP23]

Not if you’re making a lot of profit off it lol it absolutely doesn’t. Congrats on finishing the taxes tho lol

There are a lot of rental property deductions. So it helps.

 

[Sub_Level]

There are a lot of rental property deductions. So it helps.

Oh I know. Especially depreciation. But thats why I specified profit loooool

 

[Lasha]

I actually used HR block for the first time. Expat taxpayers with AGI above 70k have never been able to e-file easily. I had a CPA teach me how to do it and compiled everything manually. It's a pain in the ass when you are dealing with income streams from multiple sources which are in different denominatons. 100$ is a bargain to have everything files correctly with the IRS exchange rates and limits calculated properly.

 

[dave_d]

Well it's either that or hire a bunch of accountants and tax attorneys. It's amazing how close those guys can get first shot.

 

[AJUMP23]

Oh I know. Especially depreciation. But thats why I specified profit loooool

I wonder what I will do when I run out of Depreciation. I guess sell and buy a new house.

 

[Lasha]

I wonder what I will do when I run out of Depreciation. I guess sell and buy a new house.

Depends on how much of your value is land and how much of your value is the house itself. You can probably just renovate or rebuild if the land is valuable.

 

[Yamisan]

Got both my refunds back over a week or 2 ago. But I was lucky enough to be able to use the free version of Turbo Tax still.

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[SafeOrAlone]

I owe every year. It's better that way.

Always hated waiting anxiously for the government to give me my money back. I like to hold onto my own money throughout the year, possibly invest it, etc.

 

[dave_d]

I owe every year. It's better that way.

Always hated waiting anxiously for the government to give me my money back. I like to hold onto my own money throughout the year, possibly invest it, etc.

I always wonder what percentage of people that get a refund understand the government isn't paying them, the refund is their change.(IE if you go to McDonalds and your food cost $15 and you give them $20 McDonalds isn't paying you $5 to eat their food.)

 

[Dural]

The ridiculously complicated mess that is the US tax system is why many have advocated for a "fair tax", or consumption tax, that would get rid of the IRS completely and there'd only be one tax, a large national sales tax. I'm all for it, getting rid of the IRS would be one of the best things this country could do.

I always wonder what percentage of people that get a refund understand the government isn't paying them, the refund is their change.(IE if you go to McDonalds and your food cost $15 and you give them $20 McDonalds isn't paying you $5 to eat their food.)

A lot don't of course, but I would also bet that those that don't are likely the ones getting more back than they actually paid in. I remember when my sister was young and poor and going to college with two young kids she would get $10k+ back at tax return time when she was making less than $20k all year.

 

[TheUsual]

I always wonder what percentage of people that get a refund understand the government isn't paying them, the refund is their change.(IE if you go to McDonalds and your food cost $15 and you give them $20 McDonalds isn't paying you $5 to eat their food.)

I've always set my taxes to have the State and Feds to take the maximum out and have 0 exemptions. Idiot me in college took too many one year and had to pay heavily when tax time came. Guess it's a fear of a repeat.

I'm able to budget and live comfortably as well. Not something everyone can do. And I treat the refund like how you describe.

Definitely will review again once (if ever) my tax situation gets more complicated.

 

[Azzurri]

I always owe money and a lot of it too.

Fucking stupid taxes.

 

[jshackles]

I owe every year. It's better that way.

Always hated waiting anxiously for the government to give me my money back. I like to hold onto my own money throughout the year, possibly invest it, etc.

Same here. When my kids were smaller, and I got tax credits and stuff for them being dependents, I got a refund every year. I've worked the same job for a few decades now, and I just never bothered updating my W4 on file with them - so my work doesn't take out enough taxes to cover my bill. That's fine though, I usually end up owing a couple hundred bucks every year, but I prefer that over them owing me.