W-2s are in! Now what?

[Oceanside78]

So I've strongly considered filling taxes myself. I paid over $300 last year to H&R Block. I feel like I can do this myself.

Stats:
26
Married
Two kids
I'm active duty military
Wife is a stay at home

Would I file head of household? Also, another little issue is my wife worked for maybe a month. It was just too stressful and we couldn't do it anymore so we agreed for her to just stay home and take care of the kids. Since it was such a short period of time do I need to file it? Does that change from head of household to filling jointly? I'm a little confused/nervous and don't want to miss out on something. I truly need every penny

 

[Rotzs99]

Honestly I don't have much experience, and my taxes are pretty simple, but Turbotax FTW! Post 1000! WOOOOO:banana:epper::dancenana:

 

[charba951]

Honestly I don't have much experience, and my taxes are pretty simple, but Turbotax FTW! Post 1000! WOOOOO:banana:epper::dancenana:

Turbo tax is so easy to use.

 

[NC85]

I'm going to need something to drink to wash down this popcorn.

Seriously, take your time and do it yourself. You haven't listed anything outside the norm that would warrant paying someone else to do it.

 

[98 Saleen Cobra]

You're military.. Check on base, but I'm almost 100% sure they do free tax filing for military members on base. I know that the Coast Guard does

 

[redcollection8]

Last time I checked on base they did it for free using h&r block for active duty

 

[FiveOhJoe]

Try to find a smaller local CPA in they yellow pages

 

[WireEater]

Turbotax online... it's simple, cheap (maybe 80$ to file for state and fed?) and quick. I usually get my money 2-3weeks after I file.

 

[Tmatt142]

I heard from my tax guy that quick returns are going to be a thing of the past. Told me to look for 20-30 for returns from now on.

 

[Torch10th]

Sounds like unless you've got a lot of complex investments, that you could probably file a 1040EZ. That'll take you about 20 minutes once you've got all your stuff put together.

 

[verbal]

Turbotax online... it's simple, cheap (maybe 80$ to file for state and fed?) and quick. I usually get my money 2-3weeks after I file.

Use Turbotax. It will walk you through every step and tell you what is the best way to file. Most likely married filing jointly. You need to fill in all income you or your wife earned no matter how small.

 

[DaleM]

I thought Turbo Tax did the EZ cost free?

 

[WireEater]

I heard from my tax guy that quick returns are going to be a thing of the past. Told me to look for 20-30 for returns from now on.

Where’s My Refund opens January 30, 2013.
Due to recent tax law changes, we will open filing season and start processing individual income tax returns on January 30. This applies to tax returns filed on paper or electronically.

Once we start processing returns, we expect to issue refunds within normal timeframes. You can generally expect the IRS to issue your refund in less than 21 calendar days after we receive your tax return.

Starting January 30, you can use this tool to check on the status of your refund. It will provide the most up-to-date information the IRS has. There’s no need to call us unless Where’s My Refund? tells you to do so. Where’s My Refund? is updated every 24 hours – usually overnight – so you only need to check once a day.

Where's My Refund - It's Quick, Easy and Secure.

 

[verbal]

I thought Turbo Tax did the EZ cost free?

Federal is free. If you go to deluxe it is $30. State/local filing is not free.

 

[racebronco2]

My tax guy says never never never file on line. If for some reason you get audited it's really easy for them to check all your previous tax returns with a touch of a few keys. You are opening up yourself to undo stress even if you are right. Since the government never throws anything away, they will have to actually go down in the vault (?) to retrieve any documents which is less likely then having to press a few buttons. Just something to think about.

 

[WireEater]

My tax guy says never never never file on line. If for some reason you get audited it's really easy for them to check all your previous tax returns with a touch of a few keys. You are opening up yourself to undo stress even if you are right. Since the government never throws anything away, they will have to actually go down in the vault (?) to retrieve any documents which is less likely then having to press a few buttons. Just something to think about.

I would tell someone that too if I didn't want to lose their business.

I'm pretty sure once your papers are received they are digitally entered into their system anyways. It's not hard to do. A simple OCR program could do it. All they have to do is scan in the documents.

Nobody really keeps paper documents anymore.

 

[verbal]

I would tell someone that too if I didn't want to lose their business.

I was thinking the same thing.

As long as you keep printed records of your online returns what does it matter? Do you think the IRS is going to handle an audit on an online return any differently than a paper return?

 

[oldmodman]

You can absolutely do it yourself. Your tax situation is very simple.

The only reason I pay a CPA/Enrolled Agent to do mine is the 125 pieces of capitol gear that has to be depreciated, the five stock trading accounts, and the real property that has to be deducted. I figure paying him has saved me from overpaying by as much as 100k over the 25 years that I have been working with him. Plus he has represented me in 3 audits and saved me from having to pay the bastards another dime.

The biggest reason to pay a professional to do your taxes is that you can send them to the IRS to answer questions. If you are foolish enough to show up yourself the IRS agent can go on a fishing expedition and troll for any information they want.

 

[Devious_Snake]

I would tell someone that too if I didn't want to lose their business.

I'm pretty sure once your papers are received they are digitally entered into their system anyways. It's not hard to do. A simple OCR program could do it. All they have to do is scan in the documents.

Nobody really keeps paper documents anymore.

this. I have seen many people get screwed because they got audited after their tax guy hooked them up for years. I did it myself last year with turbo tax and I will do it again. I even have more things than the OP and its still pretty easy, it walks you through what you need to plug in

 

[rotor_powerd]

I don't have any complex investments or gains/losses to report, so I always do TurboTax online. I've never had any issues, money is always direct deposited 2-3 weeks after filing.