# Simple Life Gets Complex at Tax Time



## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

I have always done the taxes for our household. If I can say, I'm pretty good at it. For many, many years I used Quicken and TurboTax but after multiple cases of lost data due to mandatory update malfunctions and them changing what forms were available in the TurboTax package used year after year I dusted off my muck boots and moved to H&RB. I believe I'm entering my 6th year with that platform. But one thing comes up year after year: which package do we really need?

Each year I may end up buying the highest level package so I don't have to upgrade mid-stream. Yes there is the selection matrix but it is so general. It is about impossible to find out which Fed forms are supported on a given package level - I think by design. What I am really needing is full support for Form F (Farm). We also have a few brokerage items that need to be downloaded, some (maybe) solar credits and maybe itemization if we hit the minimums.

Can anyone hop in here with their insights this year?

TIA, JRH


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

This is why I hired an accountant. I get the numbers together. He figures out how to use them.

Unless you are passionate about studying accounting as it applies to your business AND keeping up with the changes in tax law every year, then it isn’t worth the time and frustration.


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## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

I generally agree with your input, Alice. There have been periods where I hired an accountant for very complex years. But like most things it depends on the situation at hand and one's level of ability. All I'm curious about is package features which are not well clarified with H&RB. I can deal with the rest as life is much more simple than some of those previous times.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

Didnt hnr just give all our data ingo away as in selling


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

A good CPA is worth their weight in gold. It takes all the stress out of tax time. I used to do my own taxes. No one in the whole house could talk for the 6 to 8 hours it took me.

Now, keep my records, give them over to my lovely CPA lady, and easy peasy, lemon squeezy


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## DAVID In Wisconsin (Dec 3, 2002)

I have used FreeTaxUSA for a few years now with great results. It easily handles all of the confusing forms for me. My situation is low dollar but requires a number of forms. I love it. I am self employed and also have rentals. Good luck!


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## doc- (Jun 26, 2015)

Warning to anybody invested in the tax/accounting services-- It's probably time to bail. I understand the next generation of tax forms is only going to have two lines-- 
(1)How much money did you make?____(2) Send it to us."


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## 67drake (May 6, 2020)

We use an accountant here too. Rental properties and my wife owning her own business= my blood pressure and stress is a lot lower paying someone else to do it.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

I have used both accountants and tax software. I have yet to meet an accountant that can understand humor. A tax accountant also seems to have the ability to be non responsive to statements and questions without feeling the need to respond. I admire their lack of sensitivity to awkward silence.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

HDRider said:


> I used to do my own taxes. No one in the whole house could talk for the 6 to 8 hours it took me.


Back in the day, I sent everyone to my mother in laws for the weekend. I gave the animals three days of food and water and I keep aspirin, whiskey close and I shut off my phone.
At some point of blurry mental exhaustion, I would resolve to sign and send what I had completed into the IRS with the hopes that my errors and ommissions would be minuscule enough to keep me off the door knock list.


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

I used the same CPA from 1992 until 2019. He sold his 1/2 of the practice the year after I sold by primary business. He stayed on as an employee, but lost his ability to price his own services. The last year I used him the firm doubled his fees to prepare returns.

So, I have been stuck doing two corporate returns and ~70 page personal return ever since with two state returns as an added bonus. Yes, I use Turbo Tax Corporate and Turbo Tax Deluxe. You can keep personal backups; so, I am not really sure why anyone would complain that Turbo Tax lost their data. 

Just starting the corp returns this morning......really grumpy, old man now.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

GTX63 said:


> Back in the day, I sent everyone to my mother in laws for the weekend. I gave the animals three days of food and water and I keep aspirin, whiskey close and I shut off my phone.
> At some point of blurry mental exhaustion, I would resolve to sign and send what I had completed into the IRS with the hopes that my errors and ommissions would be minuscule enough to keep me off the door knock list.


I had my defense for errors and omissions all thought out.

If they make it so complicated then they should expect an appreciable error rate. I still would have to pay penalties and interest, but it was an honest defense of an indefensible system.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

There was a guy that worked for me once that did not file for 7 years. He contracted to me, had several businesses, trucks, equipment, etc and guys that worked for him. Oh, and a bankruptcy.
He spent two weeks locked inside his home. Since then he has a CPA on retainer.

When I inferred that tax guys have no personality, I should have said that most I have met show little emotion. One I used 30 years ago spoke of his wife leaving him like old furniture. 
He had a very successful, yet very unorganized attorney come in every other June and dump stacks of cardboard boxes on his office floor full of crumpled receipts and papers in no order. The tax guy would just say "Put them over there" and tell him he would call him when everything was done.


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## rambler (Jan 20, 2004)

This forum and an iOS tablet are not very compatible. Capitalization, editing, cursor moving, spell checking, are all very difficult since the last change on this sight. It’s about impossible to get a correct message typed out. I have less troubles on other sites, so there has to be some sort of incompatibility here. I often recognize the posters with iOS tablets/ phones, as their text errors look just like mine.

I generally at least understand the numbers appearing on my tax forms that my accountant gives me. This year he did income averaging, my tax forum is a book. Wow. I have a small farm, wife has a job with both overtime and lay-off this year, we have some investments.

there is no way I could ever figure out the best path to travel year to year. Farm taxes are way to complex. It’s maybe not the actual forms done right; it is more about finding all the proper ways to save some taxes. Conventional ira, health contributions, depreciation quick or slow, and balancing all those with an eye to the future.

Paul


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

rambler said:


> It’s maybe not the actual forms done right; it is more about finding all the proper ways to save some taxes


.

That's what Trump said when this bruhaha first started over his taxes....   
True story  - that's what the internet said

Thread DRIFT..... back on point now...


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I can not suggest software but I have had to use high-cost CPAs and worked my way down to a local CPA for a few hundred dollars each year. Currently, I do them for free online. 

In your case, a local hometown CPA would be my suggestion. 
Good Luck.


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## RJ2019 (Aug 27, 2019)

My taxes aren't even all that complicated, except for one (nontaxable and joint with parent) account that provides me with absolutely nothing but headaches. But doing the paperwork, and additional forms for nontaxable income, having to keep the forms from school and proof of health insurance, blah blah blah makes me absolutely sick. If they REALLY want my money, they shouldnt make it such a GD pain in the rear to accomplish. All of it, is complete crap. I simply do not have the patience for that kind of paper pushing, brearucratic nonsense


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

We have been doing our own for years. The one time the IRS had a question they decided they owed us a few hundred dollar refund. I don't try to get iffy deductions. we just filed for CAUV on a new parcel (had to put it to use for 3 years before it was eligible). When I turned in the form with the application fee a week or so ago I turned it in with the renewal for our other parcels. The county Deputy Auditor rejected the application. I went in today with the renewal for our other parcels and my copy of the application for the new parcel. I asked to see the Deputy. I handed her the forms. She is updating their system to put the new parcel under CAUV. That will save us almost $2K a year in property taxes.

One of the main reasons we do our own taxes and bookkeeping is that it forces us to focus on revenues and expenses in a way that having someone else do it doesn't. I've had a few accounting courses in the past so it doesn't seem that difficult to me.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

It isn't that difficult if you have a mostly simple life.

I don't think I have one.


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## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

I apologize to Forcast for the my lack of perception. I don't do well with text speak. My error. And to Doc: well I'll just have to let that one go. Please let it go.


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## LT2108 (May 28, 2014)

Thread has been cleaned up, please keep negative comments about members off the site. It’s been mentioned over and over, if you don’t like a post, please keep scrolling.

attacks and harassment to members will be met with zero tolerance. If there is a post that breaks the rules, please report it so staff can review and take appropriate actions of necessary.


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## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

Forcast said:


> Didnt hnr just give all our data ingo away as in selling


This might be interesting. I just finished up 2020 with H&RB and submitted it. It was accepted by the IRS within 20 minutes, woohoo. At the end was a H&RB user survey. I didn't give H&RB a glowing input - it wasn't the package itself but was more marketing related. I submitted the response. In a flash of a popup window, TG for slow connections for once, I saw that not only did my response but also sent was my 2020 return uploaded. Oh, $h**. To whom, a marketing grunt?

The H&RB package did moderately well this year - as well as can be expected with all the complexities. But DON'T do the survey. _Another response to this thread said they only go to an accountant for taxes._ Great, if its simple. If complex the professionals charge by time and forms and so they should. But this is why I do my own taxes. I can't afford to pay someone 100's of dollars for forms for inputs required to the return that only result in a few dollars of gain or loss. AND UNLESS I DO MY OWN TAXES, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RUN MY HOME BUSINESS and what to do or change and not to do that again.

So, this year there are a few more lessons learned. First is security. Second is on some transactions that I will NEVER do again. If I didn't do my own taxes I'd not know about those problem transactions and again I'm not going to pay an accountant, etc. to tell me minor details that are expensive whether IRS or professional services. And your professional isn't going to things you can do yourself. Some people can't deal with the complexity and I understand. This is just fair warning.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Hubby does our taxes, but we don't claim business expenses or many deductions. Even the simple forms are confusing and complicated. I had to laugh when the postcard simple form from last season turned into a 2 page form this season. And we still had to fill out 2 additional forms.


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