Free Tax Preparation Software

[Mockingbird]

It's that time of the year again.
Here are some free tax preparation software providers in no particular order.

1) StudioTax

2) UDoTaxes

3) Taxman (No NetFile)

4) Turbo Tax (Some restrictions apply)
[According to their website..]
To qualify for TurboTax Free, you must:
• Receive T-slips such as T4s and T4As
• Have tip income or pension income to claim
• Not be self-employed
• Not have investment income
• Get standard federal & provincial deductions


MB

[martinv]

A big thumbs up for Studio Tax! Have been using it for several years without any problems.

[RedRose]

Does Ufile still offer that one day for those over 60 still?
It is usually for one day at the end of Feb.

[leoc2]

Does Ufile still offer that one day for those over 60 still?
It is usually for one day at the end of Feb.

From Ufile Site:
http://www.drtax.ca/en/UFile/tips-an...reefiling.aspx

Are you or your spouse over 60 years of age?

Have you heard about Free File Friday?

If you are a taxpayer aged 60 and over, you too can prepare your tax return for free! To qualify for Free File Friday and prepare your tax return online at no charge, you or your spouse must be 60 years of age or over.

Simply log on to UFile ONLINE and start a new file (or open your pre-existing file if you already used UFile last year) on Free File Friday, February 24th, 2012.

Enter this code 543P292 in the Special Offers page found in your UFile program, located near the bottom of the QuikClik Navigator.

File your return whenever you are ready. Remember, you do not need to file your return on Free File Friday.

[RoR]

I don't think TurboTax has those listed restrictions. They have a personal and small business option where you can enter all that, be self employed and have investment income.

I was on there today.

[GoldStone]

Here's how I've been doing my returns for the last 5 years:

1. Download StudioTax.
2. Download free version of TaxFreeway (no Netfile).
3. Complete the returns in both apps.
4. Make sure the numbers match.
5. Netfile in StudioTax.

Full version of TaxFreeway is $9.95 for up to 20 returns.
http://www.taxfreeway.ca/

[MrMatt]

Here's how I've been doing my returns for the last 5 years:

3. Complete the returns in both apps.
4. Make sure the numbers match.

Why do you do your returns twice in an app? Do the numbers often match?

Personally I do my taxes once on paper, then in the app.

[Eclectic12]

Why do you do your returns twice in an app? Do the numbers often match?

Personally I do my taxes once on paper, then in the app.

The reason I could see doing the return twice in two different apps is to check the numbers. I'd expect the two apps to have matching numbers - just like paper return compared to app return.


Why do the return on paper? Doesn't this add a lot of manual calculations that take time?
I'd rather focus on the details instead of the calculations.


Cheers

[GoldStone]

Why do you do your returns twice in an app? Do the numbers often match?

Are you kidding? I expect them to ALWAYS match to a penny. If they don't match, it means one of two things:

a. One of the apps has a bug
or
b. I made a data entry mistake in one the apps

And that's the whole point of this exercise. Catch software bugs or my own mistakes.

In 5 years that I've been doing this, I caught one bug in StudioTax. I entered my kid's fitness amount in one of the StudioTax forms. ST applied the amount to the federal form but not to Ontario form. I think it was the first year Ontario introduced fitness tax credit.

Personally I do my taxes once on paper, then in the app.

Paper return? No thanks. Time-consuming, error-prone, messy, annoying, and very much 20th century.

[slacker]

I use Studiotax for 3 years now without issues. I paypal them $10 per return I do. I encourage you to do the same.