I don't know what was going on yesterday but blogger was NOT letting me in!!! Sorry about that.
Anyway, I just wanted to comment on something really stupid I have been seeing lately. H&R Block has this new thing. It is a refund anticipation loan, which is stupid anyway, but now they will put it on a little pre-paid card for you. They even offer the lowest interest rate. Now, this is something that a couple years ago I would have thought was "neat" and I probably would have gone there just for the novelty.
Anyway, first off, you are taking a loan against your refund. So you will not be getting all the money that is coming to you. This is AFTER you pay them to do your taxes. They have just charged you twice. Next, they put it in THEIR account which you have access to with your little card. So you cannot make any interest on the money that you do get back. Money maker number 3 for HRB!! Then, I bet if you read the fine print, if you fail to spend all of the money within a specified period of time they probably start deducting money from the card.
I have no idea if you get any protection if the card is stolen, but this has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. I hope no one is falling for this. However, like I said, a few years ago, I sure would have. I would love to see some real life numbers on this to see how much money you actually could stand to lose based on your refund amount.
My husband and I have never taken an anticipation loan and we have always had the money within a few weeks. To me it is well worth the wait to make sure I get ALL of my money back.
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
How Will You Do Your Taxes?
There are three ways that I know of to do taxes. You can do them completely by yourself, with an IRS guide and a 1040 form, use a program like TurboTax or go to an accountant. I have used all three. I will tell you when and which have gotten me the most money back from Uncle Sam.
When I first started doing my taxes, I did them myself. I was divorced, had a child, was going to school, and working full time. I did make use of Earned Income Credit for a couple of years, but those first few years I really had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t claim any of my school expenses, I didn’t claim daycare, in fact I probably didn’t get half of the money back that was coming to me. Unless you are studying to become an accountant, or are single with no children… I don’t suggest this method.
Then there is the TurboTax route. First you have to pay for a program. It is pretty easy to use, but some of the things in it I still didn’t understand. You still have to know a little about taxes to make it give you your full refund. For example, the year I used it I was still a college student. Since I had told the program that, it asked me for all types of college documentation, but I still didn’t know what it meant. My husband wanted to go to an accountant that charged $100 to do our taxes, but I thought I could save us $75 doing it this way. He kept pushing me to go to the accountant. I had figured up our refund which looked really good, but in the end, before I finished it, we went to the accountant.
Wow, imagine that, MY husband suggesting a smart financial move. He had had his done by a professional for years and I had looked back on his old taxes and seen that she had gotten him some deductions that I had never heard of and that were not in my “computer accountant’s” list of questions. I was a little upset at having spent around $25 for the TurboTax program then turning around and spending $100 on an accountant… but it actually increased our tax return by over $1000!! I couldn’t argue with that. Even with the cost, we still got an extra $875 more than we would have with TT, and I knew that it was all legal, etc. I have never gone back to doing my taxes myself or wasting money on any of those programs. I think this method is best for anyone with dependent children, going to college, or who have extra businesses on the side.
In the end you have to decide what is best for you. If you owe money, Turbo Tax is probably the way to go because it is less expensive than hiring an accountant. However, I also like the fact that now when we go in it takes very little time because most of our info from the year before is the same. And, again, if you are single without any investments, kids, or college expenses you can probably do them for the cost of a stamp by yourself.
When I first started doing my taxes, I did them myself. I was divorced, had a child, was going to school, and working full time. I did make use of Earned Income Credit for a couple of years, but those first few years I really had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t claim any of my school expenses, I didn’t claim daycare, in fact I probably didn’t get half of the money back that was coming to me. Unless you are studying to become an accountant, or are single with no children… I don’t suggest this method.
Then there is the TurboTax route. First you have to pay for a program. It is pretty easy to use, but some of the things in it I still didn’t understand. You still have to know a little about taxes to make it give you your full refund. For example, the year I used it I was still a college student. Since I had told the program that, it asked me for all types of college documentation, but I still didn’t know what it meant. My husband wanted to go to an accountant that charged $100 to do our taxes, but I thought I could save us $75 doing it this way. He kept pushing me to go to the accountant. I had figured up our refund which looked really good, but in the end, before I finished it, we went to the accountant.
Wow, imagine that, MY husband suggesting a smart financial move. He had had his done by a professional for years and I had looked back on his old taxes and seen that she had gotten him some deductions that I had never heard of and that were not in my “computer accountant’s” list of questions. I was a little upset at having spent around $25 for the TurboTax program then turning around and spending $100 on an accountant… but it actually increased our tax return by over $1000!! I couldn’t argue with that. Even with the cost, we still got an extra $875 more than we would have with TT, and I knew that it was all legal, etc. I have never gone back to doing my taxes myself or wasting money on any of those programs. I think this method is best for anyone with dependent children, going to college, or who have extra businesses on the side.
In the end you have to decide what is best for you. If you owe money, Turbo Tax is probably the way to go because it is less expensive than hiring an accountant. However, I also like the fact that now when we go in it takes very little time because most of our info from the year before is the same. And, again, if you are single without any investments, kids, or college expenses you can probably do them for the cost of a stamp by yourself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
