Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

Unfortunately TurboTax does not take you through "everything." TurboTax works for some, maybe most taxpayers, most years, but there are many common situations that TurboTax (and, I assume, other tax prep services) are not setup to handle. An example; the Form 8938, when it was first introduced, TurboTax only handled half assedly. That year, even though I'd paid for TurboTax, I ended up doing my tax by hand.

Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

Here's Pete's info. I've used him the past few years. He's certified in the UK and the US
Pete Newton
www.britishexpatstax.com

Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

Normally in Turbo tax, you can click on and fill out forms manually and Turbo Tax will recognize that you made the changes and will pull the results (if needed) to form 1040 and recalculate.

Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

Another TurboTax shortcoming, at least in 2006 which was one of the two years I used it, it has some US states down pat, but not others. Reason I paid for it that year, I was still doing taxes for our two children. So, I had three states to prepare, New York, Massachusetts and Oklahoma. It was as fluent with NY and MA as with the federal. But Oklahoma was a complete farrago, I had to prepare that one manually. At least now, I know a bit about Oklahoma taxes .. I seem to remember, whether you kept chickens or not (my daughter didn't) was a big deal ..

Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

I think both you and Robin have equally valid points.

You're correct about the ability to manipulate the workings of TurboTax, and thus able to create an accurate return.

The problem is knowing that you have to manipulate TurboTax in the first place. It gives you little warning in international situations. In essence, you must have a thorough understanding of the international situation and what forms are required or need altering before you can use TurboTax. For the novice, unfamiliar with the regulations, it could be easy to be lead astray, with the taxpayer convinced they've filed an accurate return when in fact, they haven't.

Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

Agreed, in general this is the big paradox with tax prep services such as Turbotax. It's a bit of a vicious cycle .. If you don't know what your return should look like, what should be in every single line of the 1040, and which schedules are required and how they should be filled out, how can you know if you have a correct return? Garbage in, garbage out ...

Re: tax filing - advice requested
 

I agree but if you are trying to work from menu's, it is very difficult to have menu's that cover all situations. Also as Robin indicated, it is difficult to constantly be 100% on top of all 50 state tax laws (especially the smaller states since more time will be spent making sure the larger state tax laws are followed).

However, I'd trust Turbo Tax more than I'd trust most tax preparation companies since it would be unlikely that one individual can understand IRS tax code, international tax code, and the tax codes of 50 different states as compared to a large number of employees at Turbo Tax developing the program with likely many more as trained tax experts giving assistance.