Turbo Tax

[luke]

will now answer your tax questions for "free" according to a radio ad I heard today (in month of January) - of course what they will do is let you ask your question and then a "tax expert" will call you back to discuss your question )AND I'm SURE try to sell you Turbo Tax!) - I cannot imagine getting "free" tax advice from Turbo Tax but they'll get a LOT of less sophisticated tax clients I guess?

[Snaggletooth]

Omnipresent

Luke, TurboTax is growing everywhere, like a fungus. Like our discussion about false advertising, they don't do it either, but they do stretch the imagination for those of us in our profession who know better. If you're like most of us, you go behind TT and find thousands of dollars every year.

What I really don't like is our bank. By their own policy (so they say), they refuse to advertise local businesses, even those who bank with them. They will not allow billboards, flyers, anything on their premises which portends expertise even by their constituent clientele.

Absolutely not! No way! Nada!

But there are flyers in your statement advertising TurboTax. Go to their website to check your account, and a TT ad covers your whole screen so you have to opt out just to look at your account. Why does the bank accept advertising money from Intuit when it is their cardinal rule not to advertise for ANYONE??

[luke]

I agree

It burns ME up! I even dropped my daily emails from Kim Komando because she was advertising TaxAct ......
WHat really concerns me is even though we do correct a lot of TT etc mistakes - how many mistakes get thru the "system"???

[Nashville]

Virtually none

Luke, I would say virtually none of them are ever detected. Primarily because TT does not make the kind of mistakes that would raise a red flag. For exemple, I have never known TT to make a calculation error.

The problems I correct are bad assumptions and misunderstandings on the part of the taxpayer, and they are almost always in the government's favor. One $1800 error I caught was a taxpayer renting out farmland, so he entered the rental proceeds on Sch F and got hung for $1800 in SE tax.

As badly as I detest TurboTax, their product is not flawed. The $1800 above would never be caught by the government. In fact, TurboTax doesn't even know that the farmland is rented either.

Where I'm miffed is the omnipresent, incessant advertising which tells the high school dropout he can be as competent as a CPA for a lousy 40 bucks.

[Black Bart]

Exactly right

Luke, I would say virtually none of them are ever detected. Primarily because TT does not make the kind of mistakes that would raise a red flag. For exemple, I have never known TT to make a calculation error.

The problems I correct are bad assumptions and misunderstandings on the part of the taxpayer, and they are almost always in the government's favor. One $1800 error I caught was a taxpayer renting out farmland, so he entered the rental proceeds on Sch F and got hung for $1800 in SE tax. As badly as I detest TurboTax, their product is not flawed. The $1800 above would never be caught by the government. In fact, TurboTax doesn't even know that the farmland is rented either.

Math errors are the easiest things for IRS computers to catch and there won't be any on TurboTax to catch. I'll bet IRS loves TT lots more than us 'cause those $1,800 SE cases will just sail right on through without making a bobble and the erroneous cash collections just stack up and up. It's like a client on trial without a lawyer.

Where I'm miffed is the omnipresent, incessant advertising which tells the high school dropout he can be as competent as a CPA for a lousy 40 bucks.

My tax newsletter says that '09 home computer efilings were up 20% over the previous year. The TT appeal is obvious -- nobody loves IRS and you almost hear the average guy's mind clicking and ticking: "Those tax pros want $50-$150, ask lots of questions, and won't let me deduct things I want to. TT is $30 and doesn't argue -- I punch in what I want and watch the refund total grow as I go. So what if I claim a little too much? Audit odds are less than 5% (wish I could find a lottery with those odds) and even if it happens, I'm just an amateur who got mixed up, made mistakes, and I'll just pay the extra tax. If I'm halfway reasonable they're not going to do anything to a poor ordinary working-class guy."

TurboTax online federal (short form) is free and state is $27.95 -- here's the link:

http://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/free-edition.jsp?priortyCode=4515800000