Tax Season upon us now. Considering filing online this year.

AlbertC

AlbertC

New Member
Location
Canada
For decades I've spent countless hours sitting down at my dining room table with shoeboxes full of receipts spilling out onto the floor, and have slogged through carefully filling out my tax forms with a pen and paper, but, here in Canada it is of course now possible to avoid all of this and file online.

I don't know much about this. I see software at staples called "efile" and "quicktax" and so on, but it's not clear to me whether this software is really necessary or beneficial for doing taxes online. Do you need to buy software to file online? Are you better off doing so? Or is the software mostly just a glorified "how to" manual for free methods?
 

I did not buy my software. I used a free software called StudioTax which is the same thing as efile and the others. It just doesn't look at pretty, but easy to use. It generates at .TAX file which you can submit online. I am in canada so I access the NetFile website from the government's tax website and submit my .TAX file there.
 

I filed online this year and actually found it a lot easier then the usual paper books they require you to fill out. For some reason filling them out online provided easier accessible help if you get into a tough spot. It also lays everything out in a step by step way that makes it very easy.
 

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Beginning last year, them revenuers stopped mailing out forms and the post office quit stackin' them by the door. Had to go online to search the irs site to order forms and instructions. Looks like I'm gonna be forced into filing online eventually if not sooner as I'm stubbornly being pushed headlong toward the brave new world. (Get a horse!)
 
I have filed my tax online for several years. I have used Turbo Tax and Taxactonline both, no software to buy, just file online. If you file a Federal 1040E filing is free, as well as electronic submission to the IRS.
State filing is charged for, but it's reasonable.

I have used it for both complicated filings and relatively simple ones. They walk you through it step by step. and no need to buy software.

This year I used TaxAct, had a relatively simple filing and filed it with the IRS all in a few minutes...the best part..it was free!

If you decide to file on line, be sure to gather up all your paperwork first, and organize it. It will make the process go much smoother, if you are familiar with and can lay your hands on your receipts, deductions, W-2's etc..

They do offer live support if you really need it
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, for a slight fee of course...and they have pop ups trying to sell you different packages, I just click them off and continue on.

Happy Filing!
 
I worry about folks who have no internet access. There are quite a few. Local libraries come to mind but, heck, they're dying by the dozens. I know there's no denying the future but, it's difficult having it forced upon you. I think (therein lies the danger...) that as we age, we find ourselves a comfortable mindset and way of living and, although, the only constant is change we believe we have no need for the new-fangled ways of doing things when the old ones work just fine. Harrumph.
 
So true. It's hard to keep up sometimes. There are times when I want to stick my head in the sand and let the world go by, and I probably do that more than I should. But, I am motivated to keep up, at least with rudimentary advances, because I literally have no one else to take care of me later on in my even more advanced years, if my hubby goes before me.

I don't necessarily believe the old ways work just fine all the time, but I do think there are too many advancements that are superficial, new and improved just for the sake of making money, and not because the improvement is so much better.
 
You're right. The old ways weren't actually the best and new ways are often great improvements. But, it's a hard road wading through what's necessary or superficial. I accept and enjoy many modern conveniences like . . . indoor plumbing...! But, we rush so headlong into the great beyond with not-so-smart phones in hand that we leave a lot of valuable old ways in the dust.

I guess filing online is better that having the Sheriff of Nottingham come striding by on his horse with his henchmen to collect the taxes.
 
I tried Turbo Tax one year and it wasn't askingme all the right questions. It was the year I moved cross-country, still had my home on the east coast and had just bought a home in SoCal. I knew it was wrong in the refund amount so I ended up paying to have my taxes done and got several hundred more dollars back. That was in 1999, I've slept so many times since then, I can't remember the exact amount.

Anyway, I do everything on an Excel spreadsheet and let it do the calculating of expenses. I stuff the receipts in a safe place, take the spreadsheet to the accountant and let him lose his hair over figuring it all out".

Actually, I have to pick our taxes up this afternoon. I didn't bother to ask "how much?". I think this year, "how much" means "am I going to have to write the check for" and I will be ecstatic :shark:
 
I have done mine, and until recently both daughter (married now) and my sister's online for almost ten years. I use a free service online and have had no problems. I still print the returns and keep folders for each year and save the PDF files (multiple backups).


That's one thing many do not realize about online filing is that you need to at least save the PDF files and back them up and remember where the backups are!
 

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