I did my own taxes from when I started earning enough money to report it (age 19) to when I moved out of my parents house (age 27), because my dad was always distrustful of tax programs or advisors. I switched to TurboTax for the past 2 years.
I've found that TurboTax cut down on the time required to do my taxes from "a weekend" to "about 3 hours", and saves me roughly $300/year in deductions that I didn't know I could take. It's been well worth the $50 or so I pay for it.
Certain moving expenses are tax deductible if you're moving for work, from a location that is more than 50 miles away from your new job to a location that is less than 50 miles away.
Money received from paid family leave is tax-deductible on state taxes in California, but not on federal taxes. This can be a big chunk, since PFL is basically a replacement of income for the duration, and having your income be non-taxed is a pretty big refund.
Charitable contributions are tax-deductible. I think everyone knows this, but the wording on form 1040 can be somewhat confusing as to when you can take itemized charitable deductions and when you should take the standard deduction.
Comments
I did my own taxes from when I started earning enough money to report it (age 19) to when I moved out of my parents house (age 27), because my dad was always distrustful of tax programs or advisors. I switched to TurboTax for the past 2 years.
I've found that TurboTax cut down on the time required to do my taxes from "a weekend" to "about 3 hours", and saves me roughly $300/year in deductions that I didn't know I could take. It's been well worth the $50 or so I pay for it.
What kinds of deductions did TurboTax reveal?
Things like:
Certain moving expenses are tax deductible if you're moving for work, from a location that is more than 50 miles away from your new job to a location that is less than 50 miles away.
Money received from paid family leave is tax-deductible on state taxes in California, but not on federal taxes. This can be a big chunk, since PFL is basically a replacement of income for the duration, and having your income be non-taxed is a pretty big refund.
Charitable contributions are tax-deductible. I think everyone knows this, but the wording on form 1040 can be somewhat confusing as to when you can take itemized charitable deductions and when you should take the standard deduction.