question about income taxes?

Question

i did my income takes online and it only cost me $10, but i hear that other people are paying $200 to file theirs and that is outrageous to me!! anyway i told my cousin about taxactonline.com and she was like "well i want to check out different places to see if i could get more money back"....so my question is: how come when you go to certain places, you get more or less back then you would have at a different place?? shouldn't you get the same amount back regardless of where you go to file?? i don't get this. help!!

Answer 1

Yes, you should get the same amount back no matter who prepares your return, or if you do it yourself with or without software, unless somebody makes a mistake.

If you have a very complicated return, like own a large business with lots of deductions, then this might not be true since there are many gray areas where some accountants might take something as a deduction, others might not, and in an audit the IRS would rule one way or the other.

But for most people's personal returns, it shouldn't matter unless the preparer screws up, either by missing something or by claiming something that's not allowed.

Answer 2

I am a Tax Preparer and just had an excellent example of the difference. A divorced client came in to have his taxes done and the result was he was going to get a $180 refund. In talking to him and asking the right questions I found out that his girlfriend lives with him and he is the sole support for her and her teenage daughter, neither of whom work and the daughter is a school student. Texas is one of a few states that recognizes "Common Law" marriages whereby if the couple has cohabited for over 3 months and have presented her to be his wife, the IRS will recognize that common law marriage should the couple wish to claim that status, and they can file Married Filing Jointly. Doing so allowed him to claim both the girlfriend and the daughter as dependents and qualified them for the tax credits that produce the large refunds, and they got back over $5,000. There is a hitch to this though, and I advised them of this.....if they ever file Married Filing Jointly, in the eyes of the IRS, they are just as married as if he'd said the dreaded words in front of a Preacher. If he had gotten Turbo Tax instead of coming to me, I guess he could have asked the box what to do.

Answer 3

It depends on whether you know enough about taxes to ask for certain forms or not. Many times taxpayers are eligible for credits or deductions, but because they really don't know what to ask for they miss out.
If a tax professional does your taxes and they are good at what they do, it can make thousands of dollars worth of difference on a taxpayers return.
In some instances, although you file the Standard Deduction on your Federal taxes, by inputting deductions anyway, many times it will roll on down to the State tax return. Some States allow you to file Itemized on State and not Federal.

good luck & bless

Answer 4

Assuming the return is done correctly, yes, you should get the same final answer regardless of how you have your return done.

To each his or her own. Some people just aren't comfortable doing the return themselves especially as the return gets more complex. Some people pay for returns that they easily could have done themselves and others will never pay a professional and always do it themselves.

Answer 5

You will have the same tax liability regardless of who prepares your return, assuming that it was done properly. If you go to two different sites and get two different answers, you screwed something up on one or both of the sites.