Should I use a service to file my taxes, and which forms should I use?

Question

I am a college student with w-2s from different states and Jackson Hewitt said it would be about $150 to file. Should I do it myself, I mean what more could they do for me? Also, what form would I use for a college student paying plenty for tuition and everything else? Thank you for the help.

Answer 1

As a student, you probably qualify for the free file program. Go to www.irs.gov and choose one of the participating programs. It shouldn't be too hard. The only tricky part is that you have to file taxes in two states. The program may or may not take this into account. I know turbo tax does, and I believe they participate in the free file program, so I would recommend them.

Answer 2

a 1040-A in combination with Form 8863 will probably do you, and no the $150 dollars is not worth it. Tax preparing offices are a scam, most of the time you pay those huge fees for about 15 minutes of work.

Answer 3

As a college student i assume your income is less than $52K and you qualify for Free file using most of the online tax software. You need to go thru irs.gov site to qualify.

Otherwise you have many options to file free.

1. Visit a VITA site. They prepare and e-file your taxes free.
You can find more details about VITA here http://findtaxservice.com/tax-help/how-to-get-tax-help.html

2. Use taxact.com You can file your taxes free. With only W-2 it is easy and you should be able to file yourself. Now remember to claim you education credits/deductions for your tutions. You can visit TaxAct from this link.
http://www.linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=009022005294002200&atid=lctact_fts

Answer 4

u need a 1040 form which Can be downloaded from IRS. there are three kind of 1040s.
1040ez--- for simple return,
1040a--- for itemized deduction(u only need it if all u expense more than standard deduction $5150 for single) the expenses are medical expense, state & local income tax, real estate& personal property tax, home mortgage& investment interest, charitable contribution, casualty&theft losses, job expense and miscellaneous deductions.
1040--- for tax return.
if u haven't claimed hope credit yet u can claim it by using form 8863 which u can get $1650 back.

Answer 5

Find a VITA site near you - look on irs.gov for more information. The VITA people will prepare your return for you at no charge.

Answer 6

Rose has a good answer for ya. Check out
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=97397,00.html
there r many links in there & they explain the forms....good luck!