Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: K Frame on February 08, 2019, 07:49:09 AM
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I looked into using CreditKarma's tax prep service two years ago but ended up sticking with TaxAct because TA did a much better job at handling my rather complex tax situation.
Now, however, my taxes are a lot simpler since I ditched the investments that were complicating the hell out of my taxes.
Plus, TaxAct's prices have really gone up the last couple of years, so I'm really thinking that this is the year I'm going to use CreditKarma.
I did some preliminary data entry work, and it seems to be pretty straight forward, but I'll really get rolling on it this evening.
I also read some recent reviews on CK's tax prep system and most reviews say it has come a long way in just a couple of years.
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Let us know. I have been using TurboTax for a long time. Been looking for a good alternative.
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Doing taxes should be easier this year, right? Aren't most of the deductions gone?
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No. At least not the deductions I normally use.
They are more limited, but fortunately I don't go over the limits.
The way it's looking right now is that I should be getting somewhere around $750 back between state and Federal. That will very nicely pay for whatever handgun I decide to purchase next.
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Yeah, I think "deductions are gone" are mostly for if you're employed by someone and don't have any side gigs. I still had a lot of paperwork to do for farm and real estate income and expenses this year. Though after getting hosed the last three years on capital gains, I might actually end up getting some of the estimated taxes I paid this year back.
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Doing taxes should be easier this year, right? Aren't most of the deductions gone?
Employee business expenses are gone. Home office, travel, mileage (like for sales reps), uniforms, union dues, business use of personal phone, etc. All gone.
State and local taxes capped at $10,000 (Sales OR Income taxes PLUS Property Taxes). There's a cap on mortgage interest if your mortgage is over $600k (IIRC)
Medical expenses still have to be over 7.5% of AGI to be deductible (and only those expenses above the 7.5%). That goes up to 10% next year.
Charitable contributions are still deductible. And no, there is no "standard" amount. The limit is "What you gave". And if you ever donate "stuff" to Goodwill, Salvation Army and the like, notice that they leave the "Value" line blank. You can write in whatever number you think your stuff was worth. ;)
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And if you ever donate "stuff" to Goodwill, Salvation Army and the like, notice that they leave the "Value" line blank. You can write in whatever number you think your stuff was worth. ;)
Though I think you need to itemize on some form for over $500, yeah? I'm always paranoid that if I go too high for the non-cash contributions that I'll trigger an audit. :)
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I'm a little nervous about the charitable deduction I'm taking this year.
When Mom died she left me all of her books in her will.
Tried to sell everything, which I couldn't because the market crapped out in 2007-2009 and hasn't really recovered.
So, I donated a couple of thousand books (lots of trash, really) to a local public library.
The director of the library provided me with a donation receipt of $1,000 (he filled out the value).
That probably worked out to about 30 to 50 cents a book for mostly good quality hardbacks.
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TaxAct's prices have really gone up the last couple of years
Yes they have! :mad:
Doing taxes should be easier this year, right? Aren't most of the deductions gone?
The standard deduction doubled (I think) so there are a lot fewer people that will bother itemizing.
That's going to simplify a lot of tax returns, mine included.
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Yep, doubled standard deduction.
Because I refinanced this past year I still have more itemized deductions than the standard deduction, but that would be really nice if it were the other way around just because of simplicity's sake.
Would take my tax prep from a couple of hours to maybe half an hour, and most of that would be double checking everything.
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I did our taxes the other day with my usual HR Block Deluxe software that I get for $ 20 at Walmart. I carefully itemized all our deductions and the new standard deduction gave us a higher refund. Total refund was $ 1600 less than years past. Especially now that the house is paid off, we will have essentially no deductions, so taxes will go much quicker for us in the future, as long as the current tax code applies.
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Democrats say middle class folks won't get a tax decrease. Since I retired in 2006, my CPA filed the short form as we had nothing to itemize that was worthwhile. Did the same this year within the parameters of the new tax law. I had also decreased my withholding from my IRA distribution to 10% from 15%. We still got $1000.00 more back than last year.
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I've been using H&R Block tax software for a number of years - it works OK. It also comes with "Deduction Pro" which helps you put a value on household goods you've donated to charity. (It doesn't cover EVERY possible item you may donate, but it covers a lot of common stuff like books, clothing, etc., and gives you values that are defensible should you be audited. Tip: Having receipts is a GOOD thing!)
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I've used Turbo Tax for years … picked up a copy of deluxe on ebay this year for under $9 … :cool:
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Credit Karma, free for me to file Feds, still waiting for the state option with them
Nothing crazy here, w-2, 1099-G, mortgage stuff.
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I'm still waiting for the last of my forms from Vanguard.
The only thing I still need.
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Hey, nice. Credit Karma can import W2s from ADP, which is the processor that my company uses. Nice to see that they've caught up with TaxAct and the others. That's one thing I always hated was entering all of the info from my W2. Always felt that I was going to make a mistake.
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I'm still waiting for the last of my forms from Vanguard.
The only thing I still need.
WHAT?!?
Did you piss off the Bogleheads or something? I think they have to send them by 15FEB, but it looks like they put you at the end of the line. :laugh:
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"WHAT?!?"
Yep, always been that way with my Vanguard brokerage account. Always comes at the last stinking minute.
I can easily cobble the information together from my quarterly statements and the like, but I don't much care for doing that. I always feel as if I'm going to screw up and end up missing something and have the tax man decide to crawl up my ass with a microscope just because.
Friend of mine also has a brokerage account with Vanguard and it's the same for him.
It's kind of weird, because I also have company stock in my 401k with Vanguard, and the 1099-R for the dividend distributions from that was available at the beginning of January.
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The more I get into Credit Karma tax, the less impressed I am with it. It's not... iterational I guess is the word I'm looking for... in that it doesn't ask a lot of things that should be standard intro questions for anyone starting a tax package...
Things like... Did you own a home? That triggers a whole bunch of things that should be asked, like did you pay mortgage interested and points, did you pay property taxes, etc., which can make a big difference on whether you itemize or claim the standard deduction.
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WHAT?!?
Did you piss off the Bogleheads or something? I think they have to send them by 15FEB, but it looks like they put you at the end of the line. :laugh:
Yep, brokerages have until 15 Feb to get your info into the mail. That includes your 1099-B, 1099-INT, and 1099-DIV's.
Mine's here at work, everything but that stuff keyed. What makes it even worse is because I get a W-2 from Mutual of Ummmmmmaha with the Sick Pay , I have to mail in a paper return and wait 6-8 weeks to get my refund. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
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Yep, brokerages have until 15 Feb to get your info into the mail. That includes your 1099-B, 1099-INT, and 1099-DIV's.
Mine's here at work, everything but that stuff keyed. What makes it even worse is because I get a W-2 from Mutual of Ummmmmmaha with the Sick Pay , I have to mail in a paper return and wait 6-8 weeks to get my refund. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
How the heck does that happen? As far as I knew, you could, worst case, electronically submit the filled out forms.
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I get my forms electronically.
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
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How the heck does that happen? As far as I knew, you could, worst case, electronically submit the filled out forms.
Unless you get a W-2 with code "G- Sick pay", in which case you have file a paper return.
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Freaking FINALLY got my Vanguard 1099-DIV.
Jesus.
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Unless you get a W-2 with code "G- Sick pay", in which case you have file a paper return.
You're talking about a W-2 with no taxable income in box 1, which causes either the IRS or the tax prep software used to reject it, right?
I was reading, people are submitting them electronically by either "misfiling" with $1 in the box, or just not including the W-2 at all, as it doesn't affect tax due at all.
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Finished my taxes.
Slight payment due to Feds, larger refund from state. More than enough to cover the new Ruger Security 9 I've been wanting to get.
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I just got mine back. As expected, I finally got a break after paying out the nose the last four years on capital gains from selling off my CA properties.
My income this year was 1/3 of last year's. I paid zero estimated CA taxes for 2018, and they also ended up giving me $2500 back - something I couldn't do anything to prevent. In CA, when you sell any income property, they force you to "pre-pay" taxes on the sale via a CA 593. CA tries to make you use their default payment formula, but there's an alternative formula you can use, which can save you sending them thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars over the default. I used that formula, but they still rig it to give them more money than they deserve.
I actually overpaid on the fed taxes as well, getting a $2000 credit on next year's estimated taxes. That was due to my sharp CPA though. She found so many deductions on the new Idaho property, even though I only had it for three months of 2018, that it was ridiculous. She's got me depreciating everything from the shop to pumps and fences. Plus it turned out the previous owners put in a new pump and a bunch of pasture fencing in 2015, so my cost basis on them started out much higher than expected.