Next year the info will be in the hands of the People’s Liberation Army 
.
2 Likes
And you say next year FreeTaxUSA’s online info will be in the hands of the People’s Liberation Army?
Do you use any Credit Union or Bank online sites? Online info we all post to gain CD’s etc.
1 Like
If I want to have bank accounts, my info will be accessible online, I can’t prevent that. But for filing taxes there is still a choice to prepare them on my own computer, then print and mail directly to federal and state tax authorities. Fewer points of failure.
1 Like
Printing seems like the big gap there. My understanding was that printed tax returns had to be transcribed either by an IRS employee or some text scanning software. That seems more prone to failure than e-filing.
Although I agree with you that preparing locally on your machine is likely to be more secure. Combined with efiling over an SSL’ed connection, that seems like the best option to me. But all that said, I’m a hypocrite and went with FreeTaxUSA anyway .
2 Likes
Plus, getting your refund is quicker via e-file and trees aren’t harmed in the process, unless you print yourself a copy. But I guess old people really love standing in line at the Post Office.
It’s just scanning numbers printed with a known and easily recognizable font, so the chance of failure is extremely low. And they’ve been doing this for much longer than e-file.
True, some trees are harmed, but I make up for that in other ways. I usually owe a little, so no problem with delayed refund. Also I’m not old and I go to the PO during off-peak hours so the line is short.
I believe e-filing requires you to provide your phone number. I refuse to provide the IRS my phone number. If for no other reason it is to be absolutely certain that a call “from IRS” is a scam (because they don’t have my number).
They will send letters in the mail first. If they can’t call you, then they will send their agents to your door. That’s not better.
2 Likes
I just completed e-filing with FreeTaxUSA. Providing your phone number is optional.
4 Likes
To me, it is. Calling is cheap. If they suspect a discrepancy of $100, maybe they’ll call. But I’m hoping cost vs. benefit analysis won’t make them fly someone over to waste time sorting it out for $100. So until I receive mail from them, I’ll ignore all “IRS” calls.
Though, it’s definitely good to know about the IDs they should show you and the dedicated line to confirm these. Asking for these when they show up at your door could also give them the first impression that you’re not some uninformed cash cow.
2 Likes
Thanks, @pattyb53. That’s what I was afraid of. 
… not for you specifically. It just means that they retain all of your info, including practically everything anyone would need to steal your identity.
Although the arguments about banks are valid, I doubt that all of this info is all in one database, except possibly the IRS and SS systems.
When I said that all the info will be ready to go next year. I’m not sure (my first time to use this system) but I’m pretty sure it will. But isn’t this the normal procedure?
We trust Banks & CU to hold all our information. What’s a person to do?
I use an accountant for our taxes. I did my son’s taxes with FreeTaxUSA. This service is the easy way out & using e-filing. I used to do taxes using a calculator & pencil, hours of work. Guess I’m just to lazy now & trusting that no one to steal my data. 
No need to worry. Your data is probably already stolen (to some degree).
Highly recommend Credit Karma free (as in really free) tax filing software for anyone whose tax situation is relatively straightforward.
1 Like
Just an update to my own post. The H&R Block CD I purchased in December was different from what I usually get on the CD. It didn’t even contain the federal software, it only had a browser-based downloader. The downloader asked for the activation code (printed on the manual inside the CD case), then proceeded to download the actual federal installer. It took a few extra steps (compared to previous years) to get federal and state installed on a disconnected virtual machine. But there’s a new problem with the 2019 software – all the help topics are no longer included! It’s online only. So I ended up also installing everything on a connected machine just in case I need to read any of the help topics. It’s very annoying. I can’t wait until IRS grows a pair and creates their own software, with all the reported fields pre-filled.
1 Like
How would you get updates, which are quite often and necessary?
The updates are downloadable from their website. The “disconnected VM” doesn’t have a network interface (so no internet connection in or out), but it has a “shared drive”, so I can copy files to/from the connected host. That’s what I’ve done in the past.
This year the installer downloads the latest federal version, and it gets the latest state version. I just did taxes yesterday and all my forms are final. I also verified it against my own spreadsheet, which produced the same results (within a dollar due to rounding), so I’m confident it’s correct.
1 Like
But what about software activation?
I wouldn’t count on the software, or the pre-filled data being correct. They don’t even gaurantee the answers that their offices spew.
I don’t think it’ll happen. Yes IRS has cancelled its promise not to develop competing software (maybe due to total failure of Free File experiment where only 1.6% of taxpayers out of 70% eligible actually take advantage of Free File options)
But the tax software industry spend billions lobbying for this NOT to happen back in 2002 when they formed Free File. After hiding Free File options in search engines, they are appropriately blamed for its failure and IRS has put pressure on them but I expect Intuit, HR Block and Co to play nice for a couple of years and find other ways to make it less accessible but not as obviously as before so as to placate the IRS.
That said, in an ideal world, I wish the IRS used the forms they’ve received from banks, employers, etc … to send me a pre-filled tax return for me to basically look over and validate, with only entry of info they don’t have from my part.
2 Likes
The main H&R software does not actually require online activation. That annoying “registration” step that pops up on launch can be ignored – after you launch it and click “activate later” 4 times, a new button will appear – “never activate”. This year was the first time I’ve ever had to input the activation code (for downloading the main installer). In previous years the code was only needed for e-filing, which I don’t do.