Taxes - the year you moved to the U.S.

[trailmix 77]

So I have been hemming and hawing for weeks about doing our 2008 taxes. My Husband had income in both countries (plus there is interest and rrsp withdrawal). I have done 4 years of U.S. taxes quite easily, I understand how to exclude foreign income etc - when you are living in another country.

However! For 2008 he has income in both countries and I started to do the taxes online with Turbo Tax and frankly, I can't be bothered trying to figure it all out. So I am thinking of having H&R block do them (for his - around $170).

I'm interested to know if any of you have any experience with H&R here in the U.S. - or if you found a software program that was so easy you wouldn't bother.

[Sprailenes 47]

My husband does it with turbotax. In Canada I'd have an accountant do it all but Mike says that's like throwing money away.

[Emancipation 2]

did it myself.. in the end the CRA did their own "adjustments to it"... bah.. so I had to file an adjustment to "fix" their mistake.. what a mess...

[JillA 2]

Canadian taxes - had my Dad's accountant do it, but I think he messed it up. Still waiting to hear back from CRA. US taxes - we used Turbotax, so easy and "dummy proof!"

[trailmix 77]

Canadian taxes - had my Dad's accountant do it, but I think he messed it up. Still waiting to hear back from CRA. US taxes - we used Turbotax, so easy and "dummy proof!"

Yeah i've already done the Canadian taxes - that's a piece of cake! I'm just wondering about U.S. taxes really. So with turbotax Jill - you had Canadian and U.S. income in that year and you found it to be really easy?

[The_Dude 1,142]

Most of the major firms have an online function that is free. I used the H&R Block online one and it is fairly straight forward. I'm not a fan of TurboTax. I got screwed out of a major deduction several years ago and have vowed vengeance!!!!

[JillA 2]

Canadian taxes - had my Dad's accountant do it, but I think he messed it up. Still waiting to hear back from CRA. US taxes - we used Turbotax, so easy and "dummy proof!"

Yeah i've already done the Canadian taxes - that's a piece of cake! I'm just wondering about U.S. taxes really. So with turbotax Jill - you had Canadian and U.S. income in that year and you found it to be really easy?

Yes I entered my T4 under "other world income" also my EI.... Glen had US income so we entered his W2.... it's a piece of cake because it takes you step by step what to do, it's hard to mess it up. Even if you had income from 3 other countries, you can enter it under other world income. The directions are very detailed

Oh and also with Turbotax, we got the max refund! It didn't gyp us of any $$

[S & J 0]

I did them for us and used taxact.com. I found it better than turbotax for understanding the numbers.

[sly_wolf 199]

I did them myself using Turbo Tax. I have to add that I did a lot of reading and asked a lot of questions first. Zyggy was good help and I was also lucky enough to be able to validate some questions with a Tax guy here at the office.

Turbo tax is good but you still need to have some idea of what to expect. I was trying to save myself money and also felt that some of the so called tax pros were not that knowledgable in cross border taxes. I did run through a number of Turbo Tax scenarios before I finally got it right

In the end ... it took a lot of my time but I learned a lot during the process.

Sly

[Flames9_RN 358]

When i first got to the USA, made an appt at H&R block with the "Cdn" expert!! he was sooooo clueless!! I thanked him for his time and left,lol

[Gypsyangel 11]

I have always done my taxes myself ... with a pencil and eraser in the old days and with tax software more recently. For 2008, I used an accountant (I moved in July). The Canadian stuff wasn't too complicated, but the U.S. stuff seemed complicated and I wanted to do it right. I might use an accountant again next year and once I get the hang of it, do it myself.

For peace of mind, it was worth it to me.

[trailmix 77]

Yeah I have always done our taxes too, there is that small learning curve and then voila'! you have it. The American tax system is still unfamiliar to me, I did the 4 years of taxes by simply copying the little bit I did understand.

I agree with your Husband Sprailenes that it probably is a waste of money to have someone else do it - I might give it another try (or just send the stuff to H&R and let them figure it out). At least I have enough knowledge about it at this point that I can probably see if they are doing it wrong.

Edited June 10, 2009 by trailmix

[thetreble 19]

We used H and R Block this year but definitely not for next year. I would do them myself if they weren't complicated at this point. Once you start owning assets and want to claim mileage and other stuff for work, health expenses, etc. it gets super complicated. I can't do it myself.

I basically had to tell the person preparing them what we qualified for. For example, she knew nothing of the new home owner's credit. It was almost embarrassing for her.

Next year I want to find a decent accountant. I want to get every penny back I should!