any tax gurus out there?

[muttmeister]

difficult child 1 works for Taco Bell and got his W2 today. I called him and he was going to find out what it will cost to get his taxes done. I told him he could do them on line for free. Then we realized that he sold his house last year. It is a cheap house in a rural town. He sold it for the same amount he paid for it ($4000). Does he have to pay taxes on that $4000 since there was no profit? I hate to have him pay somebody a whole bunch of money to do his taxes when really it involves 1 W2 and no dependents except himself. Anybody know the law about real estate?

 

[Fran]

husband swears by Turbo tax. He does his own because this program does a better job of prompting you and getting all the rules to work for you.
Other than that, I don't know.

 

[flutterby]

www.taxact.com

It will walk you through it and is free.

 

[witzend]

I have a small business, expenses, donations, and a house. I use turbo tax every year. I'd try the one that Heather is recommending, first, if I were him. Or find someone who has turbo tax to do it for you.

 

[Abbey]

Taxes? What are those?

 

[muttmeister]

I do my own taxes online every year and have done difficult child 2's a couple of times. I've used a couple of different sites and been happy with them but I'm not sure they automatically take into account the sale of real estate. I need some idea of what I'm looking for before I begin. I think I read that you only pay taxes on the profit from a sale but I could be wrong. Can somebody point me in the right direction before I actually start filling out the form?

 

[klmno]

I don't think so because I think you only have to pay taxes on profit if you lived in the hosue less than 2 years and didn't reinvest the money into buying another house. At least is used to be that way. I wouldn't pay for someone else to do these taxes. You might need to help him but I think you can use the book that comes with the form and get thru this. Don't forget, if he had this house last year he can write off the interest he was paying on any loan for it if that applies.

 

[timer lady]

husband & I have used Turbo tax from the day it was released....so far no audits; good at finding any & all refunds due our family.

Likely, there is a sales tax that is paid by the buyer; since there was no profit there shouldn't be capital gains taxes.

Libraries in our city have CPAs at the library a few times during tax season to help individual who cannot afford tax preparation fees.

 

[busywend]

There has to be a capital gain in order to owe taxes. Not to worry still a basic tax return.

 

[susiestar]

He needs to go to the irs website and click on freefile. If he made less than $45,000 last year he can go through the freefile link and get taxcut or turbo tax. Or other programs, but most are based on the two I mentioned. I have doen this for years and it is the same program you buy from the company.

Either of these will handle the sale of the house, his wages, everything. He will still need to pay for state taxes, but the fee is nominal to get the program for that. The software will prompt him to do that.

This is FAR better than paying a tax preparer. You have the resources of H&R Block if you use Tax Cut, and of whoever makes Turbo Tax if you use them. There are few real differences between these programs. I have done mine with Tax Cut for years, and done a friends with Turbo Tax a few times. I didn't see much real differences in how they worked.

 

[MyFriendKita]

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/industries/article/0,,id=98921,00.html

 

[flutterby]

I'm an accountant by trade and I have used TaxAct for at least 10 years. I swear by it - and it really does walk you through everything. And it's free - for the federal portion.

Also, in some states you can file state taxes online for free via the state website.

 

[witzend]

Taxes? What are those?

It's what rich people don't pay their fair share of!

 

[witzend]

I'm an accountant by trade and I have used TaxAct for at least 10 years. I swear by it - and it really does walk you through everything. And it's free - for the federal portion.

Also, in some states you can file state taxes online for free via the state website.

I already bought my turbo tax this year, but I'm going to have to remember this for next year.

I do know that turbo tax will walk you through a house sale.