Tax Write Offs

Either way. I'm no expert, mind you, but I'd say if your income over the past year has been pretty straightforward, invest in a program like TurboTax; it'll help you get the most writeoffs as opposed to doing it yourself on paper.

If you moved out of state, or have a number of different sources of income, investments, etc, you could still use a computer program or go ahead and get a professional to help you.

Hi A.,

I use to work for H & R Block. My first question would be how did you file last year? If you went to a tax office and they showed you your return and explained it to you and you feel that you can to it yourself, you can. You cal always call your local H & R Block tax office and ask questions.
Also has your situation changed much since last year? If there have been many changes in your finicial situation you may want a professional to work with you.
Other than that I do not know your situation because business owners can write off more things than regular employees. If you like feel free to reply to me and I can give you my phone number and we can talk further. I would not want to discuss finanical matter on a online message board.

We had one of those "FREE" E-file companies do our taxes one year, but they charge to if your income is over a certain level and by each form they fill out for you. Never again...I do my taxes now. You can request a complete Tax book from the IRS. It may be cumbersome to read, but it is very very helpful! It is Publication 17. Spend 4 hours reading and taking notes and 1 hour getting forms and filling out for attachments/worksheets downloaded from internet. It is well worth your while to investigate for yourself. H & R, Jackson Huwitt (or just plain go to Walmart with all your paperwork!) is good if you don't have the time. They get paid by percentage of returns they get for you, but time vs. money is always in play as well. If it is going to take them more time to get back a little bit more money it is not worth it to them!

By the way, I do know that your even though you cannot use your current child you are pregnant with as a deduction because HE (congrats!)will be born this year, you can deduct travel expenses to and from doctor's visits and if the amount spent on after-tax health insurance premiums (find the worksheet???) is deductible up to a percentage...It will definitely behoove you to do the 1040A or 1040 Longform.

A.,

We use the Turbo Tax program. We do the online program instead of buying the box. We have used this for the past 4 years and haven't had any problems. It walks you through each step and asks questions so it will know what write offs that you qualify for. I also have a little girl that will turn 1 next week!

I use the Taxcut program every year. It is self explanatory and guides you through every step. I have never paid anyone to do mine. I know people that pay outrageous amounts to have their taxes done. Unless you have a complicated situation as far as your income I would do it own my own.

A.,

Personally, I have found that I can file my own taxes by using a program. I've used both H&R Block's program and TurboTax. I like TurboTax the most. TurboTax has also been advertising something new: if you donated items in 2007, such as clothes, it gives you the amount that you can use for each item (I thought that was pretty neat). I discovered that I could spend about $40 on a program or spend $100+ to a business.

However, filing your own taxes depends on exactly how complicated your situation is. If you own your own business or your husband owns his own business, you might consider going through a company to do your taxes because it gets a little more complicated.

As for write-offs, that also depends on your situation (whether you have a business or work for someone, etc.) When you get a program, it walks you through all of it. The program lets you know whether or not you have enough write-offs to do itemized deductions or to just go with the standard deduction.

Hope that helps!
K.

Hi A.,
We use turbo tax, you can buy it in any office depot, or wal-mart, you can buy it just about anywhere. It's easy to use and it makes sure you get all you can write off. It ask all the questions, all you have to do is answer and go to each step it takes you. We've used it for years, and love it, it's fool proof, you'll love it.
Hope you choose this wonderful method, that is available to us...
Good luck and Happy New Year
sandra

if you go to the irs.gov web site and click on free file there is several companies that offer free filing. I use H&R Block program every year. It takes you through every step and compares itemizing? vs. the standard deduction. And does all the math for you. Plus they offer direct deposit and you can have it back in 8-15 days.

Turbo tax software works well and you can deduct it on your taxes - just be sure to double check your numbers b/c you are responsible if you make an error inputting data. We usually use it and then double check them with TaxAct.com which is free online.

Best thing to do is to get Turbo Tax or something similar and file online. That should give you all the tax break info.

Hey Ashely! I am not sure if you know this or not, but if you have not made more than I think 55,000 in the year you can file with turbo tax for free!!! You can go to the irs website for more info on it! You can acctually use several different companies! We did it last year. It is great. Walks you through everything!

T.
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