Do you think FreeTaxUSA is good for someone who has rental property income? I've been using TurboTax Deluxe but thinking of switching.

FreeTaxUSA handles rental property income really well in my experience. I have a small rental property and had no issues reporting all the income and expenses. They walk you through all the necessary depreciation calculations and possible deductions specifically for landlords. The interface isn't quite as polished as TurboTax, but functionally it does everything you need and saves you a ton of money. Their Deluxe version is still way cheaper than TurboTax's basic version once you add state filing. I particularly liked their audit assistance which is included in the Deluxe version for much less than TurboTax charges.

This is good to know. I make under $73k so I should qualify for Free File but I always end up paying when I go through TurboTax's website directly.

One of my kids did work a summer job and made about $3,800 last year. How would that change things? Should they file their own return? Would I still claim them as a dependent?

Yes, your child should definitely file their own return for that summer job income. The good news is that you can still claim them as a dependent on your return as long as you provided more than half of their support for the year and they meet the other dependent tests. When they file their own return, they'll check the box indicating "Someone can claim you as a dependent." This is actually beneficial because while you still get whatever dependent benefits you qualify for, they may get some of their withholding back if too much was taken from their paychecks. It's not a major tax strategy that will eliminate your $2500 liability, but every bit helps, and it's teaching them about tax responsibility too.

With mortgage interest of $9,200 and property taxes of $4,500, you're at $13,700 just from those two items. Add in state income taxes (up to the SALT limit) and any charitable contributions, and you might exceed the standard deduction ($13,850 for single filers, $20,800 for head of household in 2023). Run the numbers both ways to see which gives you the better result. But remember, even if itemizing only saves you a few hundred dollars over the standard deduction, that's still money in your pocket.

Thanks for pointing this out! So if I understand correctly, my 2023 contribution ($6,500) plus my 2024 contribution ($7,000) gives me a total basis of $13,500, which matches lines 3 and 5 on my Form 8606. But I only converted $7,204, leaving $6,296 as my remaining basis (line 14). Does that mean none of my conversion should be taxable? That doesn't seem right if I had earnings.

Your understanding is partially correct, but there's a key distinction. When you convert from traditional to Roth, the IRS looks at the proportion of your basis to the total value across ALL your traditional IRAs, not just the one you're converting from. If you converted $7,204, and your total basis across all traditional IRAs was $13,500, then the taxable portion would be calculated using the ratio of non-deductible contributions to total IRA balances. However, if the $7,204 includes $704 of earnings on the original $6,500 contribution, those earnings should be taxable. The fact that line 4b on your 1040 is showing "rollover" but no amount suggests the software isn't calculating this correctly. You may need to manually enter the taxable amount there.

I use TurboTax every year for my backdoor Roth. The trick is to enter the 1099-R first, THEN enter Form 8606 information. If you do it the other way around, it sometimes miscalculates the taxable amount. Also, make sure you're entering your prior year non-deductible contributions correctly on line 2 of Form 8606.

I managed to get through last month but only by calling at exactly 7:00 AM Eastern when they first open. Even then I waited for 1.5 hours on hold. Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to be slightly better than Mondays from my experience.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try calling right when they open on Thursday. Did you end up resolving your issue when you finally got through? I'm still debating whether it's worth the hassle for a small amount or if I should just pay it.

Thanks for mentioning this! My income is around 350% of the federal poverty line. Do you know roughly what the repayment cap would be at that level? And where exactly is the repayment limitation section in Publication 974?

The repayment limitation section is in Chapter 5 of Publication 974, usually around page 30-32 depending on which version you're looking at. For income between 300-400% of the federal poverty line, the repayment cap for 2024 is approximately $2,850 if you're filing as single, and about $5,700 if you're filing as married filing jointly. Those are the maximum amounts you'd have to repay regardless of how much premium tax credit you received in advance. Since your income is around 350% FPL, this cap would apply to you, which could save you quite a bit if your total advance payments were higher than that cap.

I used TurboTax for a similar marketplace/employer insurance overlap situation. It was slightly better than H&R Block - it has a guided interview that specifically asks about employer coverage availability month by month. It also directly references the relevant sections of Publication 974 and explains what you need to do more clearly. That said, it still took me a couple hours to figure everything out, and I had to manually look up some information. The interface for entering the 1095-A information is pretty similar across all the major software options.

Thanks for the feedback! Think I'll give TurboTax a try - anything that makes this process easier is worth it. Did TurboTax automatically adjust your refund/amount owed when you entered the correct information about employer coverage availability?