This was my first year doing my own taxes since the 90's (when I filled out the 1040 EZ with a pen and calculator). Over the couple decades that my ex and I used accountants - first a family member, then the firm who took care of his business - I followed along, but also put a lot of trust in the professionals to do things right. I knew that the personal returns weren't terribly difficult, but also knew that there were a lot of little things to keep track of.
This year, I decided to see just how difficult it would be to do it all myself. On my brother's recommendation, I chose H&R Block. It really did walk me through all of the little things, and actually prompted me for more than the accountants ever did. In retrospect, I probably would have saved myself a little bit of money each year (accountant fees aside) by doing it all myself from the get-go.
It definitely took quite a bit of time to go through the whole process, but mostly because I was overly thorough. I suspect it'll get quicker as I get more accustomed to everything. I liked the way it allowed me to enter all of my deductions, then automatically determined whether standard or itemized would come out better. When all was said and done, rather than feeling afraid that I had missed something, I actually felt more confident than when I had handed previous returns off to someone else.
All in all, a good experience. I would definitely recommend it.
Data Verification Form 8889 line 6 accuracy review
on March 10, 2020
Posted by: Dale Schaefer
from Michigan
Verified Purchase:Yes
After going through the interview when I would run the accuracy review it would always said Data Verification needed to enter an amount on line 6 of my wife's 8889 form. We both had HSA's and all contributions were on mine, but she did have some distributions from hers. Zero was the correct amount, but it seemed like it wanted a different amount entered other than 0. The final accuracy review said the review was risk free, so no idea why it kept flagging that line on her 8889 form.
Pros: Maximizes refund
Cons: Time consuming, Hard to prepare, Hard to import documents
Easy to load and update. You can load last’s info and let the program walk you through the process of entering the current years information. Then it automatically enters the information into your state program and let the program walk you through the state income tax.
Pros: Easy to prepare, Maximizes refund, Easy to import documents, Fast
I have used H&R Tax software for more than one tax year. I moved to CA in late 2017 so had to get use to doing CA tax returns as well. The software works very well in integrating data from the federal return into the state. For my 2019 returns, both the Federal return and the state were accepted within hours of my filing with no errors or issues.