Official 2012 Tax Software and E-Filing Discount Thread

2012 tax filing deals are starting to pile up but I haven't seen the annual community summary thread yet, so here it is.

I've put links to any current deals that I've found to date in the quick summary with some preliminary categories to get us started. If you know of any others, please update the QS and add links to any new tax software and e-filing deals there as they are posted.

Please post links to FW threads (not directly to the deal site) so that folks can read the discussions to get the most up to date information before making a decision to purchase. Also, include the price if not in thread title and expiration date for each link.

Actually... feel free to organize things however works best foe everyone in general

Great op

Why is this the OFFICIAL thread?

YankeeRedneck said:   Why is this the OFFICIAL thread?
Because it said so on the Internet.

YankeeRedneck said:   Why is this the OFFICIAL thread?

'cause that's what all compilation threads on FW typically start with (including the titles of the past yearly tax deal summary posts). IMHO, it immediately identifies the purpose of such threads and makes them much easier to find via search, so it made sense to me to use the same Lingo.

ETA: btw, that question pretty much gets asked in every 'official' thread. I can't remember what the typical responses were, but you should be able to easily find and review them by searching for "official."

ETA2: To address some confusion reflected in mistadeal's post, the purpose of this annual tread is to provide a convenient, one-stop resource to review and compare all current deal threads simultaneously. There are/will be so many different 2012 tax posts that it will be hard to navigate them all and choose the option that works best for you. As I said when I first posted this thread, "Please post links to FW threads (not directly to the deal site) so that folks can read the discussions to get the most up to date information before making a decision to purchase." If you find a new deal, by all means, reply here to let us know about it, but first create a separate thread for that deal (because separate, more focused discussions are more productive than discussing them all in one thread), and put the link for your new thread in the QS in this thread. Hope that clears things up.

Thanks I was waiting for someone to make a thread. I'm going to hold out and see if TurboTax does a free download for basic like they did last year.

Costco has all the TurboTax products for $10 off in the recent coupon book. Here's a link to Home and Business for $69.99: http://www.costco.com/TurboTax-Home-%2526-Business-Federal-%2b-E...

Neil

Why pay when you can file fed AND state for free - H&R Block / Walmart

I have used this for 2 years and it works great

I compared it up against Turbo-tax and the questions and outcome was exactly the same.

To qualify an individual or Family's income must not exceed $57,000

No trips to make to a B&M costco, no coupons to cut, just order online from Amazon for a few cents less...

H&B - $69.83 (http://www.amazon.com/TurboTax-Home-Business-E-File-State/dp/B00...

Lowest price for Premier - $56.30 (http://www.amazon.com/TurboTax-Premier-Federal-E-File-State/dp/B...

Agreed, roughly 40% of Americans make more than $57k a year.

skidmark said:   kapper said:   Why pay when you can file fed AND state for free - H&R Block / Walmart

I have used this for 2 years and it works great

I compared it up against Turbo-tax and the questions and outcome was exactly the same.

To qualify an individual or Family's income must not exceed $57,000


THAT'S why ...

So, for 60% of the people this is a great deal - thanks for making my case

Bheemax said:   Got TurboTax Deluxe +Efile+State for $39.99 a few minutes ago on Amazon.

Thanks for the heads up. Note that there is a link for a thread discussing this already in the QS (although the OP has not changed the price in the title).

Im not going to qualify for any free service based on low AGI...but I feel like a dummy for paying H&R Block Online $70 dollars a year for the last 5-6 years when I see taxhawk is $12.95

missamo80 said:   Costco has all the TurboTax products for $10 off in the recent coupon book. Here's a link to Home and Business for $69.99: http://www.costco.com/TurboTax-Home-%2526-Business-Federal-%2b-E...

Neil


dssl said:   Costco has Turbo Tax Deluxe for $39.99 - $10.00 instant coupon for the month.

I believe this does not include any state forms, which is fine for people living in states without income tax.

I almost pulled the trigger, but figured I would wait a few weeks and see if a better offer came up.

I added a general Costco TurboTax coupon link to the QS.

If you have a State Farm account you will be able to get either free or discounted TurboTax® on line. I have for the past 4 years.

kapper said:   Why pay when you can file fed AND state for free - H&R Block / Walmart

I have used this for 2 years and it works great

I compared it up against Turbo-tax and the questions and outcome was exactly the same.

To qualify an individual or Family's income must not exceed $57,000

There was already a link in the QS to the thread about this deal. I updated it to include the WalMart portal.

mistadeal said:   fivetalents said:   YankeeRedneck said:   Why is this the OFFICIAL thread?

'cause that's what all compilation threads on FW typically start with (including the titles of the past yearly tax deal summary posts). IMHO, it immediately identifies the purpose of such threads and makes them much easier to find via search, so it made sense to me to use the same Lingo.

ETA: btw, that question pretty much gets asked in every 'official' thread. I can't remember what the typical responses were, but you should be able to easily find and review them by searching for "official."
Despite this, any good deal should still be posted as a separate thread. Or in the Unofficial tax software thread.

Agree 100%. It is more helpful to have a separate thread/discussion for each deal, I already stated so in the OP.

Available though USAA 35% off Federal

(all online file):
Basic $19.99 // Deluxe $19.99 // Premiere $34.99

Must log in through www.usaa.com to see pricing (go to the tax center or search using TurboTax)

nosaurus said:   TaxAct Federal - free e-file. Copy a few numbers to state forms and mail. Cost - a stamp.

I added this to the QS

Thanks OP

billrubin said:   hbg1 said:   I discovered a few years ago that filing an extension through H&R Block was not the way to go. (I don't remember the details, but probably similar to your experience.) I filed the extension via TurboTax's website both last year and the year before without any problem, and no fees. I did not owe tax, so I don't know how that would work with TurboTax.

I was very unimpressed with H&R Block's program this year. I've used it without any problems for many years, but this year I found it buggy, and they removed a lot of Deduction Pro's functionality by supposedly integrating it into the H&R Block program (they took away the parts of it I was using, and I didn't use what they had integrated). I will be seriously considering other options for next year.
A co-worker used TurboTax's website to get an extension but it did not offer the ability to efile the NYS extension as TaxAct did. My only complaint about TaxAct was that if you wanted to use the free edition, you could not import any information from previous years, so I had to re-enter stuff. I didn't check to see whether I could sign up for one of the pay packages and file an extension without actually paying (i.e., it was not clear when they collected the money). In previous years I think I used TaxSlayer (or maybe it was TaxAct) to efile my extension and found out the hard way that it would not let me pay the state tax due electronically. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to efile both Federal and state for free AND give them my checking account number to debit and did not have to mail anything (especially since it was after 5pm by the time I did the extension!).

I have not gotten around to doing my donations yet so I guess I will find out later about the lack of features in Deduction Pro. I did not like Block as much as TurboTax, but the price was right.

I knew that my co-worker was home working on extensions so I sent him email to tell him about TaxAct being free and able to e-file both, but he did not see my email. He ended up having to mail the NYS extension out today after discovering that TurboTax would not efile it.

My state doesn't require a separate extension to be filed, so I wasn't aware of that issue with TurboTax. And I know I had to create an account with them, but I don't remember if it saved any of my info. As for the lack of DeductionPro features, it looks like the only thing they brought in was calculating donated-item values. Nothing for money donations or medical expenses. You have to calculate all of that on your own. (I created a spreadsheet, which I'll reuse next year.) I've never tried TurboTax, but next year may be the year for that, unless there are better options.

If anyone reading this has any feedback on how different programs compare to others, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Personally I'm looking for a program I can have on disk and install when needed, rather than relying on an external website to store my data (and maintain the program).