I've used Turbo Tax Deluxe in the past and it has handled stock dividends and sales just fine. The box for this years products, and Intuit's website, lead you to believe that Premier is needed to handle those things this year. Has anyone purchased either product yet and played with it enough to offer any clarification. I suspect I will be just fine again this year with Deluxe.
Thanks, Bernie
TurboTax Deluxe is intended for users with straightforward tax situations, such as those who only have a W-2 income and claim the standard deduction. It also includes support for common tax deductions and credits, such as the mortgage interest deduction and the child tax credit.
On the other hand, TurboTax Premier is intended for users with more complex tax situations, such as those who have investment income or rental property income, own stocks or bonds, or have sold stocks or property during the year. It includes additional features such as maximizing rental property deductions, tracking cost basis for stocks and mutual funds, and generating tax-loss harvesting suggestions. Additionally, Premier offers extra guidance for retirees and investment income, for example, it will help you to optimize your tax situation when you're receiving income from Social Security, pensions, or annuities. In summary, TurboTax Deluxe is suitable for simple tax returns, while TurboTax Premier is intended for users with more complex tax situations and those who want more guidance and support for investment-related tax issues.Hi, Bernie.
I bought the Basic version of TurboTax again for 2007. ALL the functionality to actually prepare the returns is in there. More-expensive versions add nice-to-have extras, but don't add anything to the actual preparation of the return.
If you look at the comparison chart (on the back of the box for any version - and in other places), you will see that Deluxe adds It's Deductible and the Audit Risk Meter - but neither of those is required to file your return. Premier adds advice and explanations ("Extra guidance for investment sales..."), but no extra forms are provided - or required.
Some years ago the Deluxe version included IRS Publications; I'm not sure if it still does. The pubs and other literature were always available free from the IRS, but it was worth something to have them at our fingertips. They are all available online now, and with a broadband connection, it's almost like having them on our own computer.
The Home & Business version does add some features for Sole Proprietors and Self-Employed that just might be worth the extra bucks, but I've never used that version, so I can't comment on the actual worth of those features. The Expanded Schedule C Guidance might be worthwhile. And it says it will "Create W-2 and 1099-MISC forms for your employees and contractors". If you pay helpers, this feature alone should be worth the price of the whole package - unless you already have such chores covered by other software or a bookkeeper or accountant. I don't see any mention of depreciation calculations.
Of course, my years of experience in the tax field - and my now-simplified tax situation - might make the added advice features less valuable to me than to most taxpayers. Only you can decide what they are worth to you.
RC
"R. C. White" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:
I also would be really surprised if Premier offers any "must have" items. I only buy Deluxe to get the state return, which RC in Texas doesn't have to worry about of course. I do a 1040 with sked b,c,d,e and various supporting forms for inv interest, foreign tax credit, depreciation/179 expensing, passive activity, etc with no problems in the past. The only thing is I've given up on TTax for is figuring my estimates. Instead I use a spreadsheet program that I bought online.
scott s. .
Hi RC. Thanks for the input. What you say is my understanding and my experience. I have trouble imaging that the Premier "extra guidance" would be useful for me, but this is the first year I've even thought about it. I sold some stock at considerable profit and hadn't considered the tax implications - I'll probably need to sell more to pay the capital gains taxes (nice problem to have). I doubt that their guidance can make any difference. Now I'm just trying to decide if it is worthwhile to take a loss on a different stock to offset some of the gain.
Bernie
Hi, Bernie.
Probably not! But I'd have to know a lot more about your whole tax situation, not just your capital gains/losses, to advise on that. (And I'd have to spent a LOT of time catching up from the tax environment I knew 15+ years ago. Even if I could remember what I knew then, much of it is not true anymore. And, of course, I'd need to requalify and renew my permit to practice public accounting.)
But, as a no-longer-expert, I can remind you of a couple of points.
First, capital gains rates are some of the best rates available. Don't waste them without a good reason. Capital losses can be deducted from your ordinary income, but only after reducing capital gains to zero. Tax rates on ordinary income are usually the highest in the book. I barely know what the rates are these days, but I think those principles still apply.
You said you "sold some stock at considerable profit". Does that mean a thousand dollars, a million dollars, or some other number? What some of us call "considerable", others consider pocket change. I'm not asking you to disclose anything here, just pointing out that "considerable" does not give an adviser any hook at all on which to hang his advice.
But a quick example might illustrate the basic point. Suppose you are always in the maximum tax brackets - rounded to 40% for illustration. Suppose you sold stock at a $3,000 gain and that the gain qualifies for the
15% tax rate, so the tax would be $450. You have stock that is down $3,000 and you are thinking of selling it to reduce that part of your tax bill to zero, saving tax on $3,000. But if you take that loss next year, when you expect no capital gains, you can deduct it from ordinary income and save 40%, or $1,200. So by letting this year's tax bill be $450 higher, you can reduce next year's bill by $1,200. (And you don?t have to sell to get the cash to pay this year's taxes until April 15 of next year.) That sounds like good planning to me - MAYBE!There are few "simple" tax situations when we consider all the factors in a return. Would the capital gain trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax for either year? How much might that be? Will your ordinary income fluctuate much between the years? How will that effect taxes for the two years? Do you have a lot of deductions that might go to waste in either year if your AGI is too high or too low in that year? (Remember that we pay taxes on TAXABLE income, which is AFTER deductions and exemptions, NOT on gross income for the year.) Nobody can adequately advise you - or any taxpayer - without knowing all these factors and taking them into consideration.
The general rule is that a taxpayer with level income over several years will pay less total tax than if his income fluctuates wildly from year to year, even if the average income for all those years is the same. We want to take income from the highest brackets in one year and move it into a lower bracket in another year, when we can. Picking the best time to realize a capital loss is one method that we can use. It generally is a bad idea to offset capital gains with capital losses in the same year. But I said, "GENERALLY"!
If the gain was "considerable" to you, then it probably is worth paying a "considerable" fee for competent advice on how to handle it.
RC
Thanks for your incite R.C. You answered one of my questions before I had to ask it.
Edward
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