Free Tax Software

[big zeke]

I just downloaded TurboTax for free, I found the link from the CRA website, they had a list of about a dozen free sites.

I haven't done my own taxes for years but since the accountant charged me like $600 for 2 returns last year I figured I'd try my hand at it (gives me more gas/beer money). My situation is fairly typical with a bit of investment income, regular wages and some child & disability tax credits.

Firstly has anyone used this software before? Is it as straightforward as it seems to do a filing? This looks dead simple, I only have like a dozen information slips (T3, T4 etc)

I have this bad feeling I've been funding my accountants vacations while he had some kid filling in the same forms for me for the past years...

Thanks in advance for the input
Zeke

[JustBen]

Yes, it is that easy.

[Ricki Bobby]

Easy as ****

[het4human]

I've used Studio Tax for years, including the Netfile. I was re-assessed once in 2010 but no errors were found. It's been fast and easy every year so I don't think I will ever go any other way.

[2000victory]

x2 Studio Tax
5 years now
And 19 friends returns for free from one download

[Bub]

TurboTax is not exactly free, is it? I am pretty sure you would have to pay a nominal fee when you file your return. You can do the same thing using ufile online, without having to download and install anything on your computer, which should preferred method for anyone.

As for myself, I use StudioTax and have used it for years. It is genuinely free. You can (and should, imo) make a donation once it's all done and over with, but it is free. You can file up to 20 returns for free using the software and that is usually enough for me to file the returns for my friends and family. I am in the accounting field, so I know exactly what I am doing, and StudioTax gives me the most to work with. It is the only software I am aware off, other than the professional stuff I use at work, that allows me to go over any schedule I choose to in order to see what exactly the program is doing and whether certain deductions were applied and how much was deducted.

If all you have is some T slips, disability and child's credits, it should be fairly straight forward and you should be able to figure it out. StudioTax takes you through a "wizard", where you choose what you have and lets you fill the numbers in from your slips. Pretty sure you get to mark whether or not disability credit applies to you during the "wizard" as well.

Friendly advice, if all you have is a bunch of T-slips, do not go to a professional accountant. Any accountant spent plenty of time in school learning about the accounting world and these simple tax returns have nothing to do with that world. You can look at it as calling an electrician in to change a light bulb in your kitchen. Guys at our firm charge up to $550 per hour and you do not want a guy like that to work on your tax return. From what you are saying, I would probably charge no more than $250 for your tax return if I prepared it on my own time. If a senior accountant worked on the same tax return in the office (or me, for that matter), $600 sounds about right. You are better off going to the HR Block or the like, in spite of most hiring many imbeciles to work there. There your return would probably fit within $200-250 range and even that is pushing it.

Lastly, when installing the software, make sure you read what you are offered to install and check or uncheck the features you do not need and you need nothing but the tax software in this case. So make sure to deselect any task bars and search engines or whatever the hell else is offered free of charge. This applies to StudioTax as well. I do not think it offers anything but StudioTax itself, but I do not remember with a 100% certainty.

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by big zeke

. . . I haven't done my own taxes for years but since the accountant charged me like $600 for 2 returns last year I figured I'd try my hand at it (gives me more gas/beer money). My situation is fairly typical with a bit of investment income, regular wages and some child & disability tax credits . . .

At $600 in accountant's fees for two basic returns, 'Yes' you were getting raped. But doesn't considering using something that's Free instead, constitute going to the other extreme?

One of many questions to ask yourself ... What deductions/income splitting/credits/etc., do you miss out on, that the Free software doesn't accommodate, account for, or tell you about?

There's an old saying about this; "Free is free, until you pay for it."

Selkirk

[Bub]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

At $600 in accountant's fees for two basic returns, 'Yes' you were getting raped.

It is not rape, it is reality. I can easily see a $600 fee for what the guy had mentioned. At our office, $600 would probably be a very conservative estimate for the number of sleeps and other stuff that he mentioned. That is why I have NEVER seen anyone coming in to our office asking to prepare his/her personal tax return and actually going ahead with it. A professional accountant is not in the business of preparing personal tax returns for employed (i.e. working for someone else) individuals, unless they are related to the existing clients.

[TBark]

Paid $29 for my Turbo Tax.
It carries forward all our last years info to the current year when u load the disk.

TBark

[Bub]

Yep. They all do, as far as I am know. StudioTax does the same for free.

[big zeke]

Thanks a bunch for all the input.

The $600 is real but it all started when I used an accountant to do some filings for a business I have since wound up, he was very personable and knowledgeable. I continued to use him to do my personal stuff, esp the child disability stuff as I had never heard of it before. Jump ahead a few years and my filing was just employment income, investment income and some tax credit and his bill stayed the same...that's when I started looking around.

Last year, after the clever accountant had retired and was replaced by his non-accountant son and it became obvious that this is something I could handle myself.

An extra $600 will buy a bit of boat gas, or beer, or both.
Zeke

[Peace Meal Farm]

Another vote for Studio Tax - I've been using it since 2012. It is straightforward and intuitive.

[purgatory.sv]

Simple tax is another free product,it was mentioned by another member who participated in a thread from last year?

https://simpletax.ca/reviews


https://simpletax.ca/

[Okotokian]

I've used Turbo tax for years. I use the Premier version. I'm not clear on why they would supply free versions, unless there is a lot of advertising in it you have to wade through. I always pay for mine.

[JoshT]

Yep TurboTax for me! Wife does hers and mine at the same time.

[pikergolf]

Meh.. I sit down with pencil, eraser, and calculator and do it manually. The nice thing about this method is that I get a good understanding of how the government calculations and formulas work.

[MoFugger21]

If you're paying $300 per each T4/T5 type tax return, you are paying too much. Plain and simple.

Our base rate for simple returns (T4, T5, medical expenses, donations, etc) is $84 per return.

[jrowan]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

At $600 in accountant's fees for two basic returns, 'Yes' you were getting raped. But doesn't considering using something that's Free instead, constitute going to the other extreme?

One of many questions to ask yourself ... What deductions/income splitting/credits/etc., do you miss out on, that the Free software doesn't accommodate, account for, or tell you about?

There's an old saying about this; "Free is free, until you pay for it."

Selkirk

Well the CRA publishes for free PDFs that cover all available deductions for each line of the forms (max 100 pages of information). Studio tax (I also use this) goes through the same questions as TurboTax and other personal tax software that covers all deductions people can take.

The only time taxes are more complex is when you are doing a return for a business, or in some cases where you have capital gains outside of a RRSP, a TFSA, or your primary residence.

You can always get the paper forms from the CRA in PDF format print them and go through them to double check the software (which I have done).

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by MoFugger21

If you're paying $300 per each T4/T5 type tax return, you are paying too much. Plain and simple.

Our base rate for simple returns (T4, T5, medical expenses, donations, etc) is $84 per return.

I don't know who you're using, but it sounds like you are getting a pretty good deal.

Our tax accountant charges the wife and I $100 each.

.

[Bub]

^ MoFugger is probably talking about the basic fee for one-slip-return. And then there are additional charges for each individual slip, etc. That's my guess, anyway.

[MoFugger21]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

I don't know who you're using, but it sounds like you are getting a pretty good deal.

Our tax accountant charges the wife and I $100 each.

.

That is what our office charges for a basic return.

Originally Posted by Bub

^ MoFugger is probably talking about the basic fee for one-slip-return. And then there are additional charges for each individual slip, etc. That's my guess, anyway.

And no, we don't charge more per slip per se, but will charge more if the file is time consuming (involves lots of back and forth with the client, CRA, etc), involves farm/business/rental schedules, capital gain calculations, etc, etc. If your tax return involves one or two T4s, a couple T5s, a T3, RRSP contributions, medical expenses and some donations, etc, it will cost you $84 here.

Firms can obviously charge what they want or feel is fair, but I'm often shocked and wonder why people pay $300 for the type of return I described above. Paying more doesn't necessarily mean better or more knowledgeable. Shop around if you want.

[Bub]

Originally Posted by MoFugger21

Firms can obviously charge what they want or feel is fair, but I'm often shocked and wonder why people pay $300 for the type of return I described above. Paying more doesn't necessarily mean better or more knowledgeable. Shop around if you want.

You will get charged $300 or more per return at most of the professional accountant offices. It does not mean that the service you receive is better, even though it often is. It just means that the guy's time is more valuable. Simple as that. The knowledge base is definitely greater. Would be weird to argue otherwise. But in most cases of simple tax returns this knowledge base is not relevant. And for this reason I mentioned earlier that one should not go to a professional accountant for simple tax returns. Though one should be aware of credits and deductions available to him/her when going to places where people without professional education and experience prepare tax returns.

[MoFugger21]

Originally Posted by Bub

You will get charged $300 or more per return at most of the professional accountant offices. It does not mean that the service you receive is better, even though it often is. It just means that the guy's time is more valuable. Simple as that. The knowledge base is definitely greater. Would be weird to argue otherwise. But in most cases of simple tax returns this knowledge base is not relevant. And for this reason I mentioned earlier that one should not go to a professional accountant for simple tax returns. Though one should be aware of credits and deductions available to him/her when going to places where people without professional education and experience prepare tax returns.

So the accounting office I work in isn't a "professional" office because we don't charge $300......? Weird.

EDIT: Either way, there is nothing wrong with utilizing the free software and doing it yourself. Just know what you can claim.

[Bub]

I did not say that. One can charge whatever he wants as long as people are willing to pay.
Although I have never seen professional accountants undercutting Libertytax and HR Block and the like to do personal taxes.

It would be great if most people did their own taxes and be aware of how the system works. And I only encourage everyone to do so by advising about the software and giving out tips and advice here and there.

[wildcat111]

my brother owns Crosby business and Tax Services in Calgary , he would of charged roughly 100 bucks for the originals poster and his wife, so 50 bucks each. because of the way personal returns are going, he doesn't really target that crowd and figures with the software available on the market, that accountants doing personal taxes will be a thing of the past in a few years. However if anyone is looking for someone to do there corporate taxes let me know and i will get you a real sweet deal.

[rubyone11]

Originally Posted by Selkirk

I don't know who you're using, but it sounds like you are getting a pretty good deal.

Our tax accountant charges the wife and I $100 each.

.

$100 bucks each sounds like a good number