Do you prepare your own income tax forms and how long does i
I use Turbo Tax for all my returns, both federal and state. The program walks you through each step. If your return is very simple, you can go to the Turbo Tax web site and select the free federal return and just follow the instructions. http://turbotax.intuit.com/ ybarra-cgm.com
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If you return is more complicated, then using a version of Turbo Tax on your computer is a better way to go.
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There are a few things that add time to doing the return. ybarra-cgm.com
- Your knowledge of the tax forms. While Turbo tax does take you through the return, it does ask some questions that require some tax knowledge. For example, do you want to put a 1099 Misc. on Schedule C or just as part of return? Do you have an office in your home and do you want to take the deduction. If so, you then have to figure depreciation on your home and what percent of your home is allocated to an office. This can take time.
- You tax information. Is it all in order and easy to find. If you have to dig around and search for W2's, 1099's, medical and business deductions, the time it take to do the return is directly proportional to how long in take for you to track everything down.
- Making sure you have not reported an item twice. For example the program will let you deduct tags and license fees in a number of different places. On the regular return, as part of form 2016 if you use your car for business, or schedule C. You need to make sure you did not enter it a number of times.
- Trying to make a decision whether to take business deductions or medical. The first 2% of adjusted gross income is excluded if you use form 2106 for business. Not excluded if you use schedule C. So if your AGI is, for example, $100,000 then the first $2,000 of business expense is not deductible. It will ask you if you think you have more than the 2%. If you are not sure, you can enter the numbers to see if you get a deduction. If it turns out you do not have enough, then you have lost the time entering the numbers. The same for medical, except the first 7.5% of AGI is not deductible, so the program will ask if you want to enter the numbers anyway to see if you qualify.
- Having to reference IRS publications from IRS.gov. It takes time to read the publication. Not all the answers are in Turbo Tax.
- Have you triggered Alternative Minimum Tax? Doing this by hand is a real test of patience.
A normal return using Turbo tax takes about two hours in total if you have all your information organized. A complicated return with lots of stocks sales, dividends, interest, business, etc., can take four or five hours. ybarra-cgm.com
I would not even attempt today to do a complicated return by hand. It is a paperwork nightmare. Plus, it never fails that you do not have the correct forms or a form period then you have to download it or go to an IRS office to find one. copyright ybarra-cgm
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And, if you use Turbo tax to do a federal return, the information is automatically transferred to the state. A normal state return using Turbo tax takes about five minutes. And if you don't want to spend the money to file electronically, you can still use the program to print the return and just mail it.
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It is impossible to accurately answer your question, because unless I can see what is involved in your return, I can't tell you how long it will take to do your return. copyright ybarra-cgm
Mine takes about four hours. That is because I enter all the numbers. I wait a few days and then go back and check to make sure I have not rearranged the numbers, not missed anything, see if I can add anything, do a error check (turbo tax does this automatically, but you have to manually fix the mistakes.) I then wait a about a week and run through the numbers again. During the month of February, Intuit updates the software about two or three times a week. Some forms are not ready when Turbo Tax is originally released, so as the government makes the forms available, Intuit updates the software. ybarra-cgm.com
I usually file the first week of March and the state takes three or four days to direct deposit my refund, and the federal takes about 7 to 10 days.
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