I was originally planning hire a professional to do our taxes this year, instead of using TurboTax like I normally do every other year. I thought that we would get more money back (yes, we get tax refunds) having a pro do them.
But I didn’t look for a good tax person soon enough, because I’m so awesome at procrastinating. So I figured I would give TurboTax another go and see what the numbers looked like this year and go from there.
Well, the numbers looked pretty darn good to me and I didn’t think paying a professional a couple hundred of dollars would make that much of a difference. So I filed our taxes with TurboTax again. I’ve always been happy with them, so why should I change things?
Right before I paid to file, I checked around to see what sort of coupons and cash back I could find. Why pay more money than you have to, and why not get some cash back to boot?
So here’s what I found:
If you go through Shop at Home, you can get 16% cash back on the purchase of filing your taxes online with TurboTax. The 16% cash back won’t last forever though, it is a limited time offer that can expire anytime.
Plus, Shop at Home also has on online coupon to give you 10% off your federal return purchase. This coupon says that it is good until the end of April, so you should have plenty of time for this.
Double awesome.
Breakdown for our taxes:
Federal Return: $29.99 – 10% = $26.99 + $2.56 cash back = $24.43
State Return: $36.99 (no discount for state) – $3.51 cash back = $33.48
Total: $63.98 + $6.07 cash back = $57.91 (savings of $9.07)
Yeah, so maybe it was only 9 bucks that we saved. But you know what, it took me like 10 seconds to click through Shop at Home and save that 9 bucks (after I found out about the coupon and cash back).
Also, all these little amounts add up. Maybe somebody making $100k or more a year doesn’t think the effort (which is little more than a click) is worth 9 bucks—but I do.
Getting a tax refund at the end of the year can be either bad or good, depending on how you look at it and utilize it. Despite the good, bad and the ugly of tax refunds, we’re still loving them.
How do you save money when filing your taxes?
Do you earn cash back for your taxes too?
I’ve been using Free Tax USA for 3-4 years now. It walks you through the tax forms by asking simple questions, just like Turbo Tax. It is free to do the federal AND to e-file. It’s also free to do your state return, and just $10 to e-file. You can also pay an extra $5.95 for additional support and audit assistance, but I always go with the regular package and have been satisfied.
I’ve never heard of Free Tax USA before, I’ll have to check them out. They sound a lot cheaper than Turbo Tax, but I’m always hesitant to try new places.
Thanks for sharing, Jennifer.
Jen Perkins recently posted..You’re So Vain—You Probably Think This Post Is About You
Nice work…I’d never thought to look for anything like that. It’s only $9 but that can buy your lunch today!
Jason @ WSL recently posted..Paying Down Debt – Which Strategy Is Right for You?
H&R Block which is not very good (but I did use it once many years ago), does send out free versions to previous customers once every couple of years. So I use that in between TurboTax, where no such discounts are offered
Marty recently posted..The SPG and Delta SkyMiles Programs Introduce Crossover Rewards
How I save money on my taxes? I go all the way to the point where they want to charge me money and then stop. Then I transfer the numbers manually and file myself.
Edward Antrobus recently posted..Saving Money Series: 3 Stories of Negotiating
That’s actually a great idea. I bet it might take a while, depending on how elaborate your taxes are, but still…a great way to save money.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Saving Money Isn’t Always Easy
Good work! I used to do the same thing when I filed our taxes on my own. We hired a CPA last year since we run our own business. It just became too much for me to be able to do with confidence, plus it saves me a good deal of time.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..Frugal Friday: Blog Posts That Ruled This Week, More of the Same Edition
Great article. I also like the free eFile system offered by the IRS. The IRS also works in conjunctions with many commercial companies to offer free filing if you meet certain criteria.
Chris recently posted..How To Save On Water Bills
Thanks for the tips, I’ll definitely be checking out the discounts before I file.
The First Million is the Hardest recently posted..What Is Your Retirement Scenario?
I also used turbotax for federal and state and loved it! Overall, easy to use and very thorough program. Takes you through everything where you might save. Filing the federal return was free! But state (nj) was like thirty bucks to file electromically. So i just printed it out and mailed it in for free. Refund will take longer, but thats Ok. 30 bucks to file electronically was ridiculous in my opinion!
I tried to print ours out before paying and they told me I had to pay first. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but I’ll give it another shot next year.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Saving Money Isn’t Always Easy
Curiously we have also had to file our taxes recently. I say curious because for historical reasons, our tax year runs from 6th April – 5th April but we have to file for the previous tax year by 31st January!
Anyway the online filing is fairly straightforward and doesn’t cost anything but it’s interesting how different countries do things in a completely different way!
John@MoneyPrinciple recently posted..Principled Money Posts #34: the ‘I love being fifty’ edition
Every little bit counts!
For me, saving comes through working with a CPA. I think this individual will do a better job than I will, and will also save me a good amount of time. So, saving on taxes can occur in different ways.
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