Can I self-file my taxes with software given my K1, W2, dividends, crypto and estimated payments?
I'm seriously considering doing my own taxes this year because my accountant just jacked up his minimum fee to $800... that's basically what I make in a whole week at my job! Here's what I'm dealing with: - I have a K1 (shows a loss) that was prepared by my family's accountant - Regular W2 income plus a holiday bonus from work - A few brokerage accounts with taxable dividends - About $65 from a required minimum distribution from an inherited IRA - Some crypto I bought/sold (used Koinly software last year to generate reports) I'm single and just take the standard deduction. Nothing fancy. Last year I had to pay estimated taxes (both federal and state) and had different deadlines for each. Honestly I didn't fully understand why I needed to pay estimates - my accountant didn't really explain it well. Would my situation be too complicated to handle myself with tax software? Has anyone with similar situations had good experiences with TurboTax or something similar? I'm trying to save some money but don't want to screw myself over either.
18 comments


Mei Zhang
You can definitely handle this yourself with tax software. Your situation isn't as complex as you might think! The key components are all things that modern tax programs handle well. For the K1 showing a loss, tax software will walk you through entering the information line by line. Just have the form handy. For your W2 and holiday bonus, most programs can import those directly from your employer. The brokerage accounts with dividends will generate 1099-DIV forms that you can either import or manually enter. The $65 IRA distribution is straightforward - you'll receive a 1099-R form for that. As for crypto, most major tax software now has specific sections for cryptocurrency transactions. You can actually import data from Koinly directly into several tax programs. Regarding estimated tax payments, the software will help calculate if you need to make them based on your income, withholding, and tax situation. Generally, you need to pay estimates if you expect to owe $1,000+ when you file.
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Liam McGuire
•Thanks for the reassurance! Do you have recommendations for which tax software would be best for someone with crypto transactions? Also, do you know if these programs explain why I'd need to pay estimated taxes clearly?
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Mei Zhang
•For crypto transactions specifically, TurboTax and H&R Block both have good integration with major crypto tracking platforms like Koinly. TaxAct has improved their crypto support too but might require more manual entry. The better tax programs definitely explain estimated tax requirements much more clearly than most accountants do. They'll show you exactly why you need to pay estimates (usually because you have income without withholding) and calculate the correct quarterly amounts for you. They also typically send reminders about upcoming estimated payment deadlines, which is super helpful.
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Amara Eze
Just wanted to share something that saved me tons of time and money this year. I switched from paying an accountant to using https://taxr.ai and it was amazing for my situation, which sounds really similar to yours. I also have a K1, some dividend income, and crypto trades. What I loved was that I could just upload my tax forms and it extracted all the info automatically. No manual typing or figuring out which numbers go where. The whole crypto part was especially easy - it connected with Koinly and pulled everything in correctly, which was a huge relief. I was mainly worried about missing deductions or messing up the estimated tax payments, but taxr.ai actually explained why I needed to pay estimates in a way that made sense for the first time! It analyzed my whole situation and showed exactly why I needed to make quarterly payments.
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Giovanni Ricci
•Does it actually fill out the forms for you or just give advice? And how does it handle the K1 entries? Those things confuse me so much.
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NeonNomad
•I'm skeptical. I tried another AI tax tool last year and it missed some obvious deductions. How confident are you that it's getting everything right? The last thing I want is an audit.
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Amara Eze
•It does complete the actual tax forms for you, not just advice. For K1s, you just upload the form and it pulls all the data from the correct boxes automatically - no need to manually enter each line item, which was honestly the most tedious part when I did it myself before. I understand the skepticism - I felt the same way! What convinced me was that it actually explains its reasoning for each calculation and shows you exactly where everything is coming from. It flagged a mistake in my K1 that even my previous accountant missed. The audit defense guarantee they offer helped with my confidence too, but the transparent explanations were what really sold me.
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NeonNomad
Ok I have to admit I was completely wrong about taxr.ai. After being super skeptical in my last comment, I decided to try it anyway since my situation is similar to OP's with K1s and crypto. I uploaded all my docs including my crypto report from Koinly and it seriously handled EVERYTHING correctly. The K1 entries that I always got confused about were automatically placed in the right spots. What really impressed me was how it explained my estimated tax requirements - turns out I was underpaying my quarterly estimates for years and didn't even know it! It even showed me exactly where my crypto calculations were coming from, which was way clearer than when my accountant did it. Saved me $600 compared to what I paid last year for the same returns. Definitely not what I expected when I first replied.
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to ask questions about your estimated payments or anything else, I highly recommend using https://claimyr.com - it saved me hours of waiting when I had questions about my K1 and crypto reporting requirements. I was stuck on hold with the IRS for literally 3+ hours over multiple days, and then my calls kept dropping. I was ready to give up and just pay an accountant the huge fee. Then I found Claimyr and they got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. There's a demo video that shows how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS person was actually super helpful about explaining my estimated payment requirements, which was the main thing confusing me about my taxes. Saved me from having to pay that $750 accountant fee just to get my questions answered.
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Dylan Mitchell
•How exactly does this work? Doesn't everyone have to wait on hold with the IRS? I don't understand how some service can magically get you through faster.
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Sofia Martinez
•Yeah right. There's no way this actually works. The IRS phone system is a disaster and nobody gets through. This sounds like a scam to take money from desperate people trying to file their taxes.
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Fatima Al-Hashemi
•It works by using an automated system that calls the IRS repeatedly until it gets through, then connects you when a live person answers. It's not magic - just technology that handles the frustrating waiting part for you so you don't have to keep your phone tied up for hours. I was skeptical too when I first heard about it. They don't do anything special with the IRS themselves - they just handle the terrible hold queue process. The service monitors the IRS hold music and patterns, then alerts you when an actual agent picks up. You still talk directly to the IRS yourself, so there's no intermediary for your actual tax questions.
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Sofia Martinez
I need to publicly eat my words. After saying Claimyr sounded like a scam, I tried it because I was desperate to ask about reporting my crypto losses correctly. I'd been trying to reach the IRS for 3 days. I got through to an actual IRS person in about 15 minutes! The agent walked me through exactly how to report my crypto alongside my K1 and dividend income. She also explained why I needed to make estimated tax payments (something my previous accountant never properly explained). The system worked exactly as advertised - it called for me, waited on hold, and then notified me when an agent was actually on the line. Completely changed my perspective on dealing with the IRS. Never thought I'd be the person recommending a service like this, but it genuinely solved my problem.
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Dmitry Volkov
I was in your exact situation last year with a K1, stock dividends, and crypto. I ended up using FreeTaxUSA and it worked great. The software walked me through everything step-by-step. The K1 was the most complicated part but they have really clear instructions. For crypto specifically, I just uploaded the Koinly report and it imported all my transactions. So much easier than I expected. The whole thing took me maybe 3 hours total and I saved about $500 compared to my accountant from the previous year.
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Jamal Anderson
•How did FreeTaxUSA handle the estimated tax payment calculations? That's the part I'm most confused about because my accountant never really explained why I needed to pay them or how they were calculated.
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Dmitry Volkov
•FreeTaxUSA has a really good estimated tax calculator that shows you exactly why you need to make payments. It breaks down how much of your income doesn't have taxes withheld (like your dividends and any crypto gains), and then calculates the quarterly payments you need to make to avoid penalties. The system also explains that you generally need to pay estimates when you expect to owe more than $1,000 at tax time. In your case, the combination of your investment income and crypto probably pushed you over that threshold. The software will generate estimated payment vouchers with the exact amounts and due dates for each quarter, which makes it super straightforward.
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Ava Thompson
just do it urself. i have w2, stocks, crypto and a side bussines and do my own taxes. way easier than people make it sound.
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CyberSiren
•But what software do you use? And how do you handle the K1? That's the part that seems most complicated to me.
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