Question for Tax Pros! Which computer software packages do you recommend for a doing taxes? Turbo Tax or ...?

Question

H and R Block with the audit protection(or any other brands)? I run a real estate business where 100% of my income derives from rent collected from rentors. I also need a system that figures out depreciation on my investments, houses, farmland etc...
I've had my taxes proffessionally done and electronically filed the last few years and have been very satisfied and the bill from my accountant comes out to about $150.00 per year. I am self-employed and am supposed to be paying in quarterly but the penaltys are not that high from the IRS so I just do them all at one time.
Any advice would be appreciated!

Answer 1

Neither is good for all the deductions, expense and itemization that you need to do. Those programs are designed for persons that have limited tax knowledge and do fairly straightforward filing. You should keep your accountant because, believe me, if you're only paying $150.00/year for your tax filing, you're getting a GREAT deal! As someone else suggested, invest in Quick Books, PeachTree or another reputable accounting system because that will give you a good system of checks and balances and will make tax time less "taxing".

Answer 2

stick with the Pro. From what you said you need it. A pro will be more able to inform you of the new laws etc.. It will be the best 150.00 you ever spent.

With RE investments you're likely to be filing in multiple states. Turbo tax etc... is great for someone with a W-2 and an interest 1099, unless you really know what you're doing.

Penalties were cheap, but as interest goes up so will the underpayment penalty.

Answer 3

I use TaxWise, but you will pay several hundred for that as it is a program that is designed for tax and accounting professionals, not for individual filers.

I know very little about TurboTax or H&R Block's program, but I would imagine (I could be wrong) that their programs are not well designed for self employeed individuals. Those programs are popular because they are simple. In order to do an acurate return, you would need to answer a long list of questions. Most taxpayers don't own rental property, most of them don't worry about depriciation, so asking a long list of questions like that would scare away most of their customers. I could be wrong, but I would imagine that TurboTax would not be an ideal program for your situation.

On a side note, I would be very weary of any audit protection programs. They usually protect you if the software makes a mathematical error. If you inputted some information incorrectly, then you will see that you are not well protected.

If you want to do it yourself, you should enroll in H&R Block's tax school. For $50-$100, you can learn what it takes to file your own taxes.

Answer 4

I'm a big dummy when it comes to taxes and computers. I have used Turbo for the past 2 years. You can not make a mistake. It corrects you. I got quick refunds and no problems at all.

Answer 5

Having just completed an income tax course, I would recommend either TurboTax or TaxCut. We had the chance to use both software programs.

Answer 6

FYI, tax pros do use Turbo Tax.....however it is not the version that you get in retail stores. The version of Turbo Tax from Intuit that they use is called Pro Series.

Answer 7

First I would suggest that you get quickbooks for all your accounting needs. It will do all the depreciation and figure out your taxes on how much you need to pay quartly. I do all mine online and it is great.Then you can get turbo tax and transfer all your data onto to that without having to input that information.

Answer 8

fyi....."Tax Pros" do not use Turbo Tax or Tax Cut.

I received a free copy of TaxCut in the mail this week but I may never install it.