It is probably a little late for my readers to utilize, but I discovered TaxSlayer.com last night thanks to a recommendation from a friend… our tax situation shouldn’t be difficult (three W2s, two states, one move) but TurboTax was giving me fits – the federal part was easy but the state returns were next to impossible. I tried it several times but the partial year residency in two states while maintaining the same jobs before and after the moves really made using TurboTax difficult. I called Jackson Hewitt and H&R Block to get an idea what it would cost if they did my taxes. I described my simple situation (no itemization, etc.) and was quoted “probably about $300” from Hewitt and “about $200” from H&R Block. That seems insane. What is more insane is that the woman from Jackson Hewitt was obviously no more familiar with how to handle my tax situation than I was… when I asked about it she just replied “well, I dunno – I am sure when I put the stuff into the computer it will know what to do”. I didn’t want to spend $200 – $300 for a person who didn’t know more about the situation than I do.
I am unlikely to use TurboTax again now that I have found TaxSlayer.com. It is so much easier and faster. Not to mention, it was considerably cheaper (than the boxed TurboTax) includes e-filing (for federal and BOTH states) for the minuscule total of $9.95. Sorry this sounds like an advertisement for TaxSlayer.com, but I am really impressed. Hopefully a month or two from now my opinion is the same (if my opinion changes, I’ll post it here). Also, you do your entire taxes and don’t have to pay until you are completely finished and ready to file. If you still haven’t done your taxes, give it a try.