Can anyone recommend some basic US tax help? Someone I can email or respond to on a forum? I don’t have much to file. I just want to know which documents I need to provide the IRS with.
Have you tried the IRS website? Their help stuff, and the instructions for the 1040, are actually sometimes useful.
Sometimes.
For my kids, I just use the free Turbo Tax web site.
I think I can file for free for them because they have such simple taxes, and the software has an interview approach that makes it simple enough to get the right forms filled out.
The wife recommends Turbo Tax. Federal is free. She does taxes as a living. OTOH she is not your tax person. :)
Edit: She does tax filing for a corporation. To use her to do my taxes is like using a nuclear bomb to get rid of a hornet’s nest.
Creditkarma.com also has free filing this year. That’s what I used and it worked really well.
The Turbo Tax “free” edition only works for below a certain income level though. Not sure what the limit is but it’ll tell you that you need to upgrade when you try to file if you surpass it.
Thanks!
I will try TurboTax.
Unless you make above 70k or something. The IRS has a list of sites that let you file for free. It’ll ask you for the basics and ask you about any deductions and investments you have and do everything nearly automatically.
You can also check out
https://freefilealliance.org
Free file alliance is what the tax prep lobby has convinced Congress is an acceptable substitute to just having the IRS do your taxes for you. Of course, nobody has heard of it because the tax prep lobby makes sure it’s advertising is minimal. I’m not sure what the limitations are though, if any.
If there is an IRS office in your area they have what they call VITA which will help you file your tax return and answer questions.
So, it’s my first year as a US tax payer.
My 2020 return is going to be super-complicated, because I earned salary income in the US for part of the year and mixed salary / dividend income from a corporation that I and my wife owned in the UK (a limited company I did consulting / contracting work through). And I’m aware there’s a whole bunch of forms related to reporting ownership of foreign corporations separate from the line item on the 1040 for dividend income.
I’m hoping there are US residents who can tell me where to look for help.
My working hypothesis is that I’m too much of an edge case for the standard software packages, and don’t know how to prove that without buying one and finding out the hard way.
Who do I go to (to pay) for help with this. There’s this half remembered fact - that might not be a fact! - in my head that you go to a lawyer rather than an accountant for tax advice. Is that true? What should I be googling for.
Help me QT3…
Think the tax packages all have free versions but you’ll want an accountant for a complicated return. Which state are you in?
Colorado
Think you’ll need a non-podunk accountant to deal with US/UK obligations, along with your corporate ownership status. Not sure what your lawyer thought refers to. I’m from the UK and accountants are always who we’ve spoken to in the US…
It might come from having watched too much LA Law! I dunno.
Yeah, get a tax accountant. It will cost you a bit if they are any good, and believe me, you do not want one that isn’t good for something like this. We used to use one but our finances stabilized into something more normal so I just do it myself now, and actually get a refund. A tax accountant can save you money in complex situations though, even with the fees.
Definitely get a tax accountant. I take it you don’t already have a CPA for your company books?
I’m trying to figure out, in HR Block’s download software, how to file the COVID-19 exceptions to withdrawals from retirement. You are allowed to spread the taxation of a retirement withdrawal across 3 years instead of the standard 1 year, but the software seems to end up making you declare the amount twice (once on a 1099-R worksheet, then again on an 8915-E form). I tried calling HR Block and got nowhere after several tries. I will not be buying their software again after the nighmare their customer service has turned out to be.
Get an accountant. Fees are tax deductible.
Kinda, not really, if you itemize maybe.
But anything complicated should be done by an accountant or someone who does taxes for a living. Not H&R Block or one of those services. A good accountant will probably pay for themselves in the long run.
Definitely get an accountant. There are good firms out there that specialize in complex returns, both individual and small business (that blurs a lot with LLCs, S-corps, etc.). It’s not super cheap, but totally worth it.
Doing my taxes now for this year, I noticed on the IRS site they are last showing taxes from me for 2018.
I mailed in 2019 taxes on time last year, and I know they received them and cashed my check.
Is the site just not updated and shit is all out of whack due to covid or should I suffer through a phone call and probably hour plus hold, to double check?