Tax program questions

johnN

Hope you folks doing well

Which tax programs do you use?

We always use turbo tax but every yr the irs send us lovely letters asking for more $$ (usually everywhere from 2k or 3k Ir one time 10k) and we always underpaid although we input every papers we know of and all 1099s/w2s etc. Turbox tax may not be that accurate. We got audit once have paid 10k extra

Our colleagues at work also have same issues w HRBlock last yr (have pay 6k more)


Any suggestions? Wifey refuse to have our laywr_cpa file our tax although that maybe most accurate and best ways to get rid of tax headaches but may cost 1.5k - 2k annually


Some other mentions tax Slayer is very honest good but expensive

Mark

Were the items that caused you to underpay (i.e. things the IRS noted) things that you did not input when you filed or were the amounts calculated wrong?

Do you input your brokerage and/or mutual fund data manually or do you input the data by allowing TT to access your accounts?

Are any of you underpayments due to NOT paying your taxes when due through the year (i.e. are they fees for underpayments)?

Based on what you mentioned above it might be worth it to a pay a CPA for a year or two to check if you're listing your items properly and/or in the right places. I've been using TT for over 15 years now, manually inserting the data from those dreaded k-1's, along with ownership of a small business and haven't experienced what you've reported.

TT also offers audit protection. I doubt that your troubles are with the TT program but I don't know your whole situation. Maybe consider not earning so much.

davidrmoran

Have had no problems w TT in that regard; what items cause overage? Consider upping withholding or paying quarterly? Would have to know details of your return.

johnN

Hi folks usually no biggies just questionable home office claims and travels issues... Sometime work from home but irs agents offices always have questions about these and ask us to pay more.. Helping family out of states and travel there frequently w businesses (we do have records) but they always throw or limit Traver expenses or limited these fees out... Other colleagues states sometimes irs tax agents do not honor compensation pay fully
. Yr we got audit filed tax very late April 18th I. Rush and got audit since we were in rush and completely forgotr 1099 of Edward Jones and and had to pay 10s k extraclate penalties+fees

Will likely file for irs audit protection via tt next yr

Thx

BenWP

I have used TT for Mac since its first iteration as MacInTax. In my experience, if I manually enter brokerage tax information, even if my work is correct, the IRS wants the data downloaded from the brokerage and will make me provide it. I've had this happen only once, for obvious reasons.

Just from the information that @johnN has provided, my take is that he's taking deductions for stuff that gets IRS attention, namely home office and travel expenses; I'm not sure what category "helping family out of states" might be, but I doubt it's deductible. I see articles at tax time that review the areas of a return most likely to trigger an audit. I'd start reading up. Old timers may recall the "three martini lunch" business deductions that the IRS cracked down many moons ago.

TT has been fine for us and the only thing that has tripped it up recently was our state income tax deduction for college expenses for our daughter. TT was way too generous, but the state of MI caught it and claimed its share.

No one wants to get one of those ominous looking white official envelopes a few weeks after filing...

Old_Joe

Some deduction items are notorious for attracting the attention of the IRS. The "home office" is one such. How is TT or any other program supposed to prevent IRS questions if you input stuff like that? If you consistently have to pay additional tax then the problem isn't with the program- it's with the data that is being input to the program.

davidrmoran

I have entered modest home office expenses, in full and even w some stretching, for decades, into TC and the last 15y maybe into TT. No problems, even for the years w low freelance income justifying same. It's not a large deduction and the freelance amounts are never huge or sole. But it almost always helps. TT questions are thorough in this regard.

msf

I agree with others that home office and travel expenses are items that can attract attention and are likely to be challenged. For example, the IRS will disallow meal expenses that it considers "lavish or extravagant". That's the IRS's wording (in Pub 463), not mine. Personally, I declare the standard meal allowance (being sure to look up the allowance for the city I'm in), enjoy some fine pho dinners, and pocket the difference.

Deducted items are supposed to be used exclusively for business purposes. I have never been so fortunate as to have enough space to dedicate a room (or a desk or ...) exclusively for business use. So I don't touch the home office deduction.

TT won't catch padded expenses; the IRS might.

I've found my share of quirks with TT, a couple even necessitating overrides. But nothing that would result in a significant underpayment. It even (annoyingly) asks me whether I want to skip inputting any 1099 that I had provided last year (e.g. Edward Jones).

Old_Joe

Personally, I declare the standard meal allowance (being sure to look up the allowance for the city I'm in), enjoy some fine pho dinners, and pocket the difference.

Shame!!!!!!! I'm reporting this to President Trump in person!

Oh... wait... I'll get back to you on that.

Ted

Mark

Waste of time OJ. Moscow Fats already knows all the tricks for cheating on one's taxes.