Any credible 2020 tax software for Win7? (standalone, not online)

You can download pdf fillable forms from IRS, fill them in, and mail them, but that won't get you California. Even the high-priced TaxWise products want 8.1 or above.

I know there are a number of Excel Tax Calculators available. I looked at a couple in the past - they seemed to work.

Google: excel tax calculators, for example. Also: excel1040.

Wouldn't know if they meet your tax situations. I included california in searches and got some hits. Geo.

I doubt any tax software company is producing current year software that will run on Win 7 because Microsoft stopped supporting it in January, 2020. That means there are no security updates being provided. Tax software companies don't need to take the risk that a user of an unsupported operating system has their information hacked.

You may not realize it, but you can upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10, generally for free. Microsoft won't tell you that you do it for free, but it is possible. Google is your friend.

Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ

The point is that many users just don't like Windows 8 or 10 and prefer to continue with Win 7 as long as possible. My solution is just to use the cheapest online solution I can find each year. I agree no reputable tax software company is likely to produce 2020 tax software that will run on Win

I think you may have what the engineers call an "overdetermined problem." May I urge you to reconsider your objections to online filings? I felt the same as you about them, until a couple of years ago. My online filing experiences over the past three years have been good to very good, and I would say this year's was excellent.

You can download the full tax forms and supporting schedules from every online service I've tried, so if you don't want to _file_ through the online service but simply fill in forms, then mail paper, you have that option.

Your situation may be different, but I qualified for IRS's Free File. (Use the Lookup Tool at

I selected TurboTax, and was pleasantly surprised to see that not only was state filing also free, but it correctly handled my partial year residency in both states (CA and NY). I checked TurboTax's result against my own spreadsheet, and they matched.

Turbo Tax even correctly handled my missing IP PIN. (I had one last year, but they are good only for one filing season. I didn't know that once you have one, the IRS automatically snail-mails you a new one the following year. I never received that mailing, but TT guided me to retrieve the PIN from the IRS site, and in half an hour I had confirmation that my filing was accepted.)

Some good thoughts. Thanks.

-----

paultry snipped-for-privacy@afn.org wrote on Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 1:36 PM:

I confirmed that all of the federal forms that I require are indeed available as fillable PDFs. Also, all of the Calif forms that I need.

-----

G. Salisbury snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote on Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 3:46 PM:

Yes, if I did this myself, I would develop my own Excel spreadsheets. I did that for many years before I got lazy and started depending on TT.

-----

Stan Brown <the_stan snipped-for-privacy@fastmail.fm wrote on Wed, Feb 17, 2021 at 10:08 AM:

Yes, I will give it some thought -- again. Actually, I reconsider the question each year.

My primary issue with online services is not the "experience", but the (in)security of data stored "in the cloud".

But this year, I must weigh that against the inconvenience of doing it myself ad hoc -- as I had done for so many years, but so many years ago.

-----

And of course, I could always turn to any of the local tax professionals.

I just wanted to know if there were any reputable tax prep programs (like TT and HRB) for 2020 tax returns that installed and ran on Win7, before I explored alternatives.

I'm hearing the answer is "no" (sigh). Thanks.

The essential point here that you may want to consider is that your operating system is no longer supported, has reached end-of-life, is no longer provided with security updates, and is therefore inherently and increasingly insecure as new unpatched vulnerabilities are discovered. I would be much more worried about that than by a potential data breach involving one of the online tax software providers. It seems curious to worry about the one and not at all about the other. Good luck.

I can't speak for the OP, but I can easily understand why some people might be more concerned about putting their data on the Cloud vs. keeping it stored locally under Win 7. My situation is perhaps a little different because I worked in the computer industry for more than 40 years and I think I have a fairly detailed understanding of operating systems and security. In my case, I simply prefer Windows 7 over Windows 8/10 and am willing to deal with the lack of security updates through other means (including strong antivirus and firewall software). As far as I know, even with an unsupported operating system, my computer has never been breached and I am pretty confident that I have the right safeguards and protocols in place to safeguard the data stored on my computer locally. In contrast, there have been many news accounts the last several years of major corporations suffering one kind of breach or another, including such major companies as Target, Yahoo, Equifax, Facebook and others. Fortunately, as far as I know, none of the major tax software companies has admitted to any major breach, so I'm okay so far with using their products.

--

Joe User wrote on 2/18/21 7:35 AM:

One possibility is to use the (free?) online service, but do not provide accurate personal info i.e. incorrect SSN, wrong address (correct city, state, though) etc. So, the information cannot be associated with you personally. You probably can't import/drop the W2/1099 pdfs etc either, but have to enter them manually to avoid the cloud service getting your personal info via the tax docs. Let the online service prepare the return, you can print it and then manually transcribe the calculations to the fillable pdfs, and then paper-file by mail. Basically, using the online service to do the calculations

-- Shankar Prasad