Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

wasn't it TurboTax and HRBlock software that was lit up by a class action lawsuit?  They, in short, 'hid deductions' from users, and miscalculated others that gave the IRS advantage every time. 

I used TurboTax for some filings but not for personal.. for personal I use(d) taxact.  I continue to use it as i can import years and years of taxes.  The problem, however, is that taxact has gotten as popular as turbotax and have also started to make some deductions more difficult to get to... i can compare former years and see the path to the deduction plainly, and i can reference the IRS to ensure the deduction is still available, but the newer (started three years ago) taxact (just like turbotax and HRBlock before them) have made accessing those deductions more difficult.  That, to me, is pure BS.  

... and here is the thing: if i had not been using taxact way back when, i'd have never known about those deductions to begin with.  they are buried layers and layers deep, but taxact (used to)pre-populate the required information in every place needed... i.e. they would offer you the lower level form instead of making you populate every form in between first- then ask you what it needed to populate the 'missing' (if any) information in the 'in between' forms if it required it.

i was audited back in '09 i think it was... it got hairy enough i secured an advocate to assist.  When my day of review came, the advocate reported following "they said your taxes were as complete as any they've ever seen".  I got an additional $310 back due to the item in question that spawned the situation (a 1099 my former wife received when she cashed out of an investment, and never told me about so it wasn't included in the filings- it was hers, but we had filed jointly- she purchased the stocks w/post tax dollars and i had to prove to the IRS it didn't fall out of the sky into my lap giving us a $15k return on a $0 investment- once demonstrated she actually lost money on it, they were more forgiving... pain in my arse, though, explaining all that and proving it to them.).... Because my taxes (thanks to taxact) were so complete and well documented, I was pretty much in and out- they didn't have to contact me to question this or question that to wrap it up in one day (after almost a year of waiting for that one day).    

the deductions aren't 'hidden' so much as they're just hard to get to using the ui/ux of the application.  

one of them, as a for instance, is deducting the actual cost of operating a (small) fleet of vehicles.  both applications, using schedule C, used to make access to 'standard mileage' deduction fairly easy- but the three trucks i was running at the time blew through that like it was cool with all the maintenance and such- and the cost to run them was the premise of 'margin' for that ventures value.  If you choose 'standard mileage' for one of them one year, you must claim standard for the life of that vehicle.  if you choose 'actual' for that vehicle prior, you can choose either- but as soon as you choose 'standard' you're stuck with it..... there are times when selecting the standard rate bumped margin's slightly, but if that truck is going to be requiring repairs or replacement of a consumable item (tires, brakes, hydraulic system ect) in the near future you may want to eat the 'loss' of choosing 'actual' because the next year the actual costs will be far greater than the standard... using turbotax i had to handjam the forms in for this and then adjust every cascade it impacted- and couldn't file electronically because of that... had to print and review, and mail it off... w/taxact it was right there under my nose (well, it used to be).   Beginning last year TaxAct started making that more difficult- BUT- because i imported the year prior i could go right to it.  meaning: it's there- it's in the application- but you ain't getting to it without the 'import' function of its prior use.  THAT, is what i call BS on. 

insofar as this year and the coming years, yeah- for personal taxes using itemized deductions may become a thing of the past.  it sure seems that is their intent.  

My withdrawal did generate a 1099 from Schwab, so I'm stuck.  Someone told me to file Form X, but I can't find it anywhere.  Schwab is up the street so I'll stroll by later, supposed to be a nice day.

Good move. Let them handle it.

Trying to decide if I should find a new tax system / accountant. I had an accountant from many years back when my ex had a business, on top of us having a house, and the taxes were a lot more complicated. I ended up sticking with them, even though my typical tax preparation bill was ~$400 annually, assuming that at the very least I had an expert working on it. 

Now that I'm remarried, and we rent, I think the taxes will be CONSIDERABLY simpler than they ever were in the past, especially with some of the new tax law changes. But I want to make sure I don't miss things...

Anyone have recommendations?

Trying to decide if I should find a new tax system / accountant. I had an accountant from many years back when my ex had a business, on top of us having a house, and the taxes were a lot more complicated. I ended up sticking with them, even though my typical tax preparation bill was ~$400 annually, assuming that at the very least I had an expert working on it.

Now that I'm remarried, and we rent, I think the taxes will be CONSIDERABLY simpler than they ever were in the past, especially with some of the new tax law changes. But I want to make sure I don't miss things...

Anyone have recommendations?

Certainly don't want to take away business (I have my own accounting business) but if that is all you have, I would recommend using turbotax. It would walk you through your return. Th only thing you would get from a CPA is a second set of eyes and someone who will sign off on it.

The wife and I were out today, it's nice, and went to Costco (where I spent too much money on vino).  We have no kitchen, and no sink, which is amazingly problematic, just a microwave and a grill outside.  Anyway, we both noticed heightened police presence everywhere, like at a mall we passed and on the highway.  I'm guessing the MARTA police are out in force, and the concert area out at Atlantic Center appeared to be hopping.

The Game will feature roughly 80,000 people in the stadium, not really a significant number, but I hear that hundreds of thousands come to town for the game.  Why is that exactly?  The side shows?  The local news is consumed with this, street closures and whatever else.

We will be hunkered down in situ of course.  Oddly enough we have a friend from France of all places coming to see the game, she's about 20 and knows nothing about football, long story.  

Anyway, this strikes me as a bit odd.