It’s that time of year! And when you work from home, taxes can be a little more confusing because you may be getting income from self-employment and trying to figure out what kinds of deductions you can take, etc. Having multiple streams of income (as I do) can make things even that much more difficult to keep up with.
If you’re interested in saving money and trying to do your taxes on your own, you can always take advantage of some of the online tax preparation services that are out there. These seem to get better and better every year, asking you all the right questions to help ensure you get as much money back as possible. I like how these programs simplify everything for you. Even if you don’t end up filing right away, you can at least get the process started through either of the below options and get an idea how much of a refund you might get or how much you might owe.
TaxACT Online
TaxACT Online is free to use apart from your State return, which costs $15. However, you do not pay the $15 until you actually file. This is good because if you go through the whole process and just don’t feel like something is right, you can cancel everything with no money coming out of your pocket. My mother used this one last year and had a great experience and she is also self-employed. If you run into any problems, TaxACT features free email and audit support.
TurboTax
TurboTax is the another good online option for doing your taxes that a lot of people swear by. I started the process with this one and was impressed with how easy to use it was. It takes you through your entire return, asking you simple questions for each step. If you don’t understand something, you can get a quick explanation for absolutely anything right there on your screen. It’s free to file your federal but if you want to file your state through TurboTax, you do have to pay extra. I liked how easy this one is to come back to if you don’t have time to finish it right away.
If you don’t want to pay the hefty fees that a lot of tax preparation services charge, these are both good to consider and it’s so nice to do everything conveniently from your home. However, if something doesn’t seem right to you throughout the process, either take advantage of the email or phone support you can get with both of the above services or just go ahead and consult with a tax professional in your area. You don’t want to risk getting audited!
Have you ever used either of these services for filing your taxes? What was your experience?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I have used both of these and agree they are great choices. It is surprisingly easy to file, even with our unique work at home status.
Miranda recently posted..Needle.com Hourly Work at Home Chat Job
Actually Turbo Tax has a separate division called http://www.taxfreedom.com .
Depending on your income you can actually get your state and federal done completely free. Its not up yet because you can’t file until Jan 30,2013 but all the qualifications will be there to show you how you can get your return free. The only negative part is that it doesn’t save the information like regular turbotax but as long as you have the same user name and password your files from the previous are saved in the form of a pdf file.
This year I will file my taxes online for the first time…I live out of the country but since I work at home for 2 US based companies I know that I must file my taxes. Let’s see how it goes! Thanks for sharing this information it will really come in handy.
Stephanie recently posted..2012 Work at Home Earnings Summary
I’ve used turbo tax for a long time and love it because it’s so easy and user-friendly. I can do paper forms, but why bother with the math when Turbo Tax does it for you? lol. Honestly unless you have alot of income coming through or tons of deductions I think filing online is the way to go. A friend of mine filed taxes at H & R and was told she was only getting $80 back on her return. I knew this wasn’t right because she had 2 children and qualified for the child tax credit. I convinced her to let me file hers online instead and she got over $4000 back! I don’t know if either her tax preparer didn’t file correctly or was trying to pocket the money, but if something doesn’t seem right, try filing online instead