Decisions

I got my W-2 forms in the mail today and I had gotten my 1098-E for my student loan last week. So I sat down at the computer tonite to file my taxes. Last year, I was able to file both my federal and my state taxes for free online with Turbo Tax because of the IRS’s “Free File”. But apparently this year I make too much money … or things just changed.

The IRS website states:

If your adjusted gross income was $54,000 or less in 2007, you can use Free File to prepare and e-file your taxes online.

My AGI WAS less than that, but apparently Turbo Tax has their own limit of $30,000 unless you served on active military duty in 2007 or qualify for an earned income credit. Neither apply to me. So … if I plan on using Turbo Tax again this year, I’ll have to pay full price. Dammit.

So here are my options this year:

1. Do my taxes the old fashioned way and mail them in.
2. Use Turbo Tax and pay $14.95 for Federal and $29.95 for State
3. Use Complete Tax and file Federal for free and State for $14.95.
4. Use H&R Block and file Federal for free and State for $29.95.

I’m such a cheapskate that I’m actually considering option #1. But that would mean it would take a lot longer to get my refunds back. I’ll probably end up going with option #3. I did file with Complete Tax a few years ago. I was going to file with them last year, but I would have had to pay for my State return. I didn’t have to with Turbo Tax, so I went with them. But now Turbo Tax really isn’t the best option.

So it looks like I won’t be filing my taxes tonite. It’s almost 9 already. I’ll sleep on my options and pick things up tomorrow nite.