I've used H&R Block web tax cut for years and it has been great for me. I'm usually done in about 15 minutes which is all the time I ever want to dedicate to anything related to complicated math.

I'm surprised that more people don't use a professional for some reason. Maybe I'll stick with H and R after all. They have all my info which makes it easier to let them prefill it all out.

We've used a professional for more than a decade. The difference in the final total (vs turbotax or Block) can be astounding. Plus, you can deduct the cost of the preparation. So worth it.

I thought as a general rule you could only deduct tax preparation expenses as part of the miscellaneous deductions that must exceed 2 percent of AGI to become deductible.

Maybe that's why your guy is so good.

You're right. It does fall under the 2% rule.

Tax Software: Do you want to do deductions?

Me: Would that mean answering more questions and/or filling out more forms?

Tax Software: Yes.

Me: Well then, I'm good. Can I just toss in an extra $500 to avoid any additional worries? Because I'm not going to be keeping any receipts for anything, and probably won't even keep a copy of this year's tax return.

Tax Software: I suppose so.

Me: Make it so.

The nice thing about the Web versions is that they keep the returns so I don't have to.

Yeah, I have copies of previous returns because I still have the same computer as the last two times. But if I got a new computer tomorrow I'd no longer have any copies of previous returns.

Last year we went with a professional. NA being self-employed in multiple lines of work made it way to confusing for me to keep up without fear of incurring some huge penalty. I was happy we did as my negative best guesses and swags turned into a healthy refund.

Professional mean the difference between owing money and getting 5k we were not planning on. Soooo worth it!