Me, I use TurboTax.  I've done it for at least 15 years and I love it.  It imports data from last year to make each year easier.  By doing it yourself, you can try several "what-if" scenarios to maximize your refund (like, should your college-age kid be on your return, or file separately? Should you or the kid claim the college deduction? Etc.)

I know many people use the tax preparer service on base.  How's your experience with this?  I only once hired a tax accountant and it was the worst experience. They wouldn't let me claim anything!  Since then I've always vowed to do my own taxes.

Turbo Tax is the way to go!

I use www.taxslayer.com. I've been using it for the past 6 years because it's very easy to navigate, and it's FREE for military. I got my tax return back so quickly this year.

We used to get them done on base, but started using Turbo Tax last year, and we'll be sticking with it.

BTW, you can get good discounts on TurboTax through USAA or NFCU (see their websites). You can do several returns on each, including one free federal filing. They have some free versions (web-based) but I prefer to download & install the software; I find more flexibility this way. Don't forget, if you itemize then the cost of software or tax services is deductible!

Never heard of taxslayer; I'll check it out. thanks.

I use the H&R Block service that is provided for free through militaryonesource.com. I have used them for 4-5 yrs now or so, and have had no issues from them. We usually get our refunds within a week or so of filing...

As a 17 year Volunteer Tax Assistant I will say the following. Taxes can and should be done by individuals capable of doing them. There are MANY FREE software programs out there that are more than adequate for the average user. Doing taxes should be a life skill that every American should develop. Some folks simply dont understand the process or are afraid of this process. The goal of the VITA office is to help train those on how to do it and explain that they CAN do it themselves, for most people. People who rent their homes out, that is not an easy thing to do with taxes, it takes a little training for someone who has never done it before, I like helping those. They THINK they have it right in most cases but miss huge deductions such as home depreciation that frankly if you dont know what to do you WILL make mistakes. Buying and selling of STOCKS for the schedule D, that is also confusing to many. A majority of people can do as the software says, fill in the blanks and they are done, they should not need help. Those with STATE TAXES and are military may find some states that have very unfriendly processes in their tax forms and they need help. I personally try to do some financial counseling with each person I do taxes for that has a huge refund! The only reason you get thousands back is that you PAY TOO MUCH in taxes each year. I try to get more money every month, not just once a year, this year my refund was 925.00, 800 of that was the making work pay credit, I really should have gotten 125 back since I paid in only 1600, I was really close to paying in only what was due from me, not mindlessly paying in hundreds each month extra for no reason. Of course some use Uncle Sam as a savings account, roger that, if that is your way to pay off Christmas debt then so be it.

Bottom line is all of the programs listed are great, just know what you are doing. If you have questions ask! I have corrected NUMEROUS do it yourself tax files, not due to the program, due to the users making mistakes. Only if you have complicated issues like I listed and dont know the rules do you REALLY need to make sure you get the education on the areas. For most folks, if you can point and click and enter the data, it is easy...

Those rapid refund loans are a big reason why people use paid services, a TOTAL RIPOFF, and if you can wait the 2 weeks save the money.

Posted By FCCMCOLLINS on 11 Mar 2010 10:05 AM
Taxes can and should be done by individuals capable of doing them...  Doing taxes should be a life skill that every American should develop. Some folks simply don't understand the process or are afraid of this process.

EXCELLENT point, Master Chief. I've never heard it put that way but I agree COMPLETELY.  If you don't understand how your taxes are done, then you have no way of (1) Assessing whether your tax preparer or software is giving you the best break and (2) Adequately planning for taxes next year. 

Totally on my own, I've done taxes to include:
 - Buying and selling my home
 - Rent my home, and sell my rental home (reclaiming depreciation)
 - Exclusion of tax from income earned overseas
 - College expenses
 - Buying and selling stocks, including short-term & long-term capital gains.
 - Using savings bonds TAX-FREE to pay for college (back when bonds used to pay a decent interest rate).

I've been audited twice and my returns were upheld both times.  If I hadn't done my taxes, I'd have been terrified of an audit and would have had to pay someone to represent me.  As it was, I went in on my own.

Some of these tax situations were horrifically complicated the first time I did them, but after that I UNDERSTOOD the tax law.  For instance, I still buy & sell stocks through Scottrade, and never have to pay tax on profits because I understand capital gains.  No tax preparer is going to teach this to you, and if you sell the wrong stocks at the wrong time you can lose a great deal of your profit in taxes.  It's hard but not insurmountable to figure out and certainly not harder than anything else we face in the military.

Kudos to VITA for this educational undertaking.  I thought VITA just helped people do their taxes, not to teach them how to do taxes.  VITA goes way up in my estimation because of that.