New to Tax E-Filing

[War Profiteer]

I'm thinking of e-filing for the first time and planning on using taxslayer.com. Since I'm single and have no dependents it should be easy right? Its free and the person who usually does it for me charges $50, I would rather save my money. I got somes Qs though..

I dont own a printer or a scanner, will I need them to e-file?
If I choose to direct deposit the refund, will I be charged?
I'm scared of making a mistake, whats the best site with a step-by-step? Has anyone used taxslayer.com and was it easy to understand and used?

 

[King of Town]

I use turbo tax, but those online tax things are usually pretty simple. I've never been charged for direct deposit. The printer would mostly be so you could have a copy of the return for your records.

 

[BSmith1068]

And I use Tax Cut... similar to Turbo Tax, just a different company. Makes life quite easy if you ask me, especially in the following years as it remembers your info from the past so you don't have to enter it again. There is not a charge for direct deposit (I believe), but there is an e-filing charge. You would only need the printer to print out the returns once you are done for your records (which you are supposed to keep for at least 7 years...) You are supposed to write down a unique number (called a DCN) on the forms that you get after you file, but I suppose you could do that electronically if you have Acrobat and saved the files as a PDF.

 

[emzie]

And I use Tax Cut... similar to Turbo Tax, just a different company. Makes life quite easy if you ask me, especially in the following years as it remembers your info from the past so you don't have to enter it again. There is not a charge for direct deposit (I believe), but there is an e-filing charge. You would only need the printer to print out the returns once you are done for your records (which you are supposed to keep for at least 7 years...) You are supposed to write down a unique number (called a DCN) on the forms that you get after you file, but I suppose you could do that electronically if you have Acrobat and saved the files as a PDF.

Got bad news for you:

"A. The IRS does not charge a fee for electronic filing. Some Authorized IRS e-file Providers (EROs) charge a fee for providing this service to their clients while others may offer it free of charge. However, this fee cannot be based on any figure from the tax return. Fees vary depending upon the tax professional you choose and the specific services you request."

http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118449,00.html#Q8

edit: oh, were you saying tax cut charges the fee?

I think last year I used taxslayer because I was only filing to get my 600 dollar cheque later on. Didn't care about 20 bucks in missed deductions.

 

[Perfection]

I use turbo tax, but I don't e-file. Might give it a shot this year though.

Spoiler :

I think the assumption that people want to know how I file taxes is good, because come on, it's me we're talking about, I'm never boring!

 

[BSmith1068]

edit: oh, were you saying tax cut charges the fee?

TBH I haven't ever bothered to figure out who is responsible for the fee, but I assume based on your link it is Tax Cut. It is a flat $19.95 fee (or maybe $14.95? I can't remember as I have not yet filed yet this year...)

Either way, $20 is well worth the convenience of using the program to e-file (yes, there is also the regular charge to purchase the software - not sure ATM how much that is, but it is also worth it to me!)

 

[Stile]

IRS has free fillable forms this year. You can find the link from the irs website. It's just like filling the forms by hand, but the form does the math for you (which can be a bit of a buzzkill if you like that kind of thing). I've filled out a couple forms already; I'm itemizing. The instructions are handy with a pdf link. I'm sure the 1040EZ would be a breeze for anyone remotely logical. The filing is supposed to be free with direct deposit within 10 days, but I haven't gotten to that stage yet.

Note: if would make sense for you then to do the state filing by hand (if needed in your state). I guess that might be a problem for someone.

 

[LucyDuke]

I used turbotax, before this year I've always done it on paper with a pen and mailed it using a stamp. Turbotax will e-file your FEDERAL return for free, if you make under $30K or some other qualifiers, and there's no fee for setting up a direct deposit. They charge some $20+ fee to do your state return, so I'm just doing that by hand since it takes a total of twenty minutes tops and I'm not in as much of a hurry to get that refund. Turbotax helped me out on that one, too, though, by showing me a different anticipated refund than I had come up with on paper, so I found my mistake and got myself an extra couple hundred bucks.

You probably won't make a mistake doing the e-file. They walk you through everything, and you review everything, and blah blah blah. If you're filing a 1040EZ it might be a good idea, for your own peace of mind, to do it on paper first, just so you get more familiar with your numbers. They won't let you screw up, though.

You don't need to scan anything, you just plug in numbers off your W2(s). And you can save the output as .pdf, so you don't need to print it, or, if you want to print it, it's in a convenient .pdf that you can bring to any other computer with a printer.

The turnaround time kicks serious ass.

 

[War Profiteer]

If I were to do it by hand for practice and better understanding, where would I get the actual forms?

 

[LucyDuke]

You can print them off the IRS and your state treasury department's website, you can ask the IRS or your state treasury to mail them to you, and in some states you can get them at the public library or the post office or city hall or somesuch.

I know of people without printers who go to the public library and print them from there. It's usually pretty cheap, especially if you only print the actual forms (and view the .pdf instructions onscreen).

I actually haven't filed my state return yet, because I haven't got the form, but I took a sheet of notebook paper, numbered the lines, and filled 'em in with the form onscreen as a guide. It's not as confusing as it might sound.

 

[War Profiteer]

You can print them off the IRS and your state treasury department's website, you can ask the IRS or your state treasury to mail them to you, and in some states you can get them at the public library or the post office or city hall or somesuch.

I know of people without printers who go to the public library and print them from there. It's usually pretty cheap, especially if you only print the actual forms (and view the .pdf instructions onscreen).

I actually haven't filed my state return yet, because I haven't got the form, but I took a sheet of notebook paper, numbered the lines, and filled 'em in with the form onscreen as a guide. It's not as confusing as it might sound.

I'll take a trip to the library since you reminded me that they got the forms over there. Im going to do it by hand first to get an understanding and then tackle doing them for real on the e-file. If I got a question about something on the forms I can just go to IRS.gov for help, right?

Thanks to everyone who responded, I appreciate the help.

 

[LucyDuke]

Yeah, there's plenty of help available. Whereever you can pick up paper forms, they usually come with booklets full of all sorts of instructions you might need, and there are a lot more resources online too. If you can use the 1040EZ, use it, it's really easy - one page, and a couple little worksheets on back for a few calculations. Keep in mind how stupid the average American is, and that most of them file taxes. If they can do it, so can you.