Re: free online tax prep
I've used TaxCut from H&R Block for years, strictly for convenience.
This year I have not found the typical rebate packages, so I might not buy it. I usually end up having to pay a little more on both federal and state, so there's no advantage to e-filing. I usually mail the stuff in around mid-March.
Even though I've used tax prep software for 15 years or so, I can't say it's ever saved me money. I still have to know what's deductible, what's creditable, what I need to track, what to summarize before I can even know if I should enter it in a program or form.
I do use Micro$loth Money for our family finances, and I print up a summary by category every early January and review it carefully and compare it to physical statements (like for charitable contributions) to come up with all the deductions. But then I have to check and summarize all the Goodwill donations, all the out-of-pocket expense and mileage for charities we volunteer for, all the jobhunting expenses and mileage, etc. And I have to know enough to track these and summarize them. Since this is actually where the work is, I can't see where the prep programs actually save me anything.
Our state tax forms don't allow any decuctions, although they do have a few special credits. For several years I've used a spreadsheet to do the calculations etc for me, then just copy the figures to a hard copy, enclose my check, and mail it mid-March.
