Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

explorerx4

For me the Turbo Tax systems architects are more important than the programmers.
Programming is probably not all that complicated on a granular level.

snakeweasel

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

maybe I should take the classes (I assume they have some training program) and get certified to do taxes for HR Block or one of those discount places, and just do that for 3 months of the year and take the rest of the year off. I assume those people in the Walmart aisle are pretty much just using the same tax software I use to do my own.

I'm sure I could do it, but giving people information they don't want to hear is not my idea of fun.

You mean like telling people they owed $25K? Actually those people were very happy as they expected it to be worse and had put away the funds they thought they would owe.

imidazol97

I had my fling with Turbo Tax last year. After all the work inputting the data by logging into various accounts for the software to download the info, when it came time to actually file my Federal 1040, it said the Fed wouldn't take it. Quick filing and refund was a large part of buying it to avoid the IRS long delays dealing with paper forms.

Disappointed.

So I filed my Ohio 1040 IT online myself. Too bad the IRS won't let me file for myself online due to not meeting the requirements for their free-file.

So this year I was thinking of trying one of the other company's products, but I decided to do taxes myself.
The paper form reached Ogden UT last Thursday. I'll see how long for the refund to show up.

snakeweasel

henryn said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

If you can figure out how to post on Edmunds, you can use TurboTax.

According to the CPA turbo tax will leave all sorts of money on the table.

Yeah I have seen that. The issue with Turbo Tax and other software is that it really can't ask follow up questions like a human can. Sure they ask questions based on how you answer the previous questions but there is no intuition there. So unless you have a basic tax return or know the tax law you can easily leave money on the table.

This leaves me ... "doubtful" is a good word. I made my living programming computers for several decades, and I am quite familiar with what computer software can and can't do. Taxes are not my strong suit, but computer programming definitely is. Any "closed system" can be modeled, and modeled accurately in a computer simulation. The tax laws may be ungodly complicated, but they are definitely a closed system, and every facet of that system can be modeled and represented in software.

Doubtful you may be but software is not a human brain. Tax software can only ask a preset set of questions, the questions it asks in response to answers to questions are also preselected. If the software responds with "are you sure" it usually doesn't explain why it is asking that, humans can. The human mind can adjust follow up questions based on all previous questions and the conversation that the preparer has with the tax payer.

henryn said:

Computer software, done thoroughly and correctly, should be able to do every bit as good a job on your taxes as any human. The only variable left in this equation is the "thoroughly and correctly" part. Did TurboTax hire good programmers and give them enough time and resources to do the job? Or did they offshore this to the lowest bidder in India or Venezuela or ???

No, that is 100% wrong. A perfect example is a client that I had the other day who came in and wanted to get his taxes done. Talking to him I find out he was married and his wife filed as single. I explained to the client that he had to file married filing separately and that his wife needed to file an amended return to file the same way. I also explained to client the tax implications of filing separately and that filing jointly is usually the best way to go. I advised the client to talk it over with his wife and told him we could review the whole thing and see which filing status would be best for them. A tax software wouldn't have done that.

I can give other examples to show that unless you have a basic tax return or know the tax code it you can easily leave money on the table.

And I do not have any insight on that last question.

henryn said:

Now as to the "intuition", that should play no part in any closed system. None. Taxes are laid out in legal terms, rigidly defined in writing. Lawyers may make a living trying to "weasel" out the meanings of those words, but that has no bearing on most of us. The opposite of a closed system would be medicine, just for an example. No computer program can begin to do what a human doctor does.

You may think that laws are always 1+2=3 but sometimes it's 1+X=Y and results are open to interpretation that's why we have lawyers and courts because at times laws are open to interpretation.

Now for intuition I was talking about what questions to ask and how to ask them.

28firefighter

Part of our compensation is in stock and each year I’ve sworn that I was going to hire an accountant because it has been getting progressively more time consuming to enter in the various 1099-B transactions. Buuuut another year down, another TurboTax filing….

snakeweasel

@28firefighter said:
Part of our compensation is in stock and each year I’ve sworn that I was going to hire an accountant because it has been getting progressively more time consuming to enter in the various 1099-B transactions. Buuuut another year down, another TurboTax filing….

With the 1099 B you should have a summary of the long term and short term transactions. Just subtract out all the wash sales and enter the resulting numbers as a summary then enter the wash sales one at a time.

snakeweasel

OK talking to a buddy who is looking to get a new truck on the cheap. So I mentioned the Maverick and pulled up my trusty Edumds app and looked it up and found this.

ab348

As it happens, I decided to do my taxes today. I’ve used the online version of Canadian TurboTax for a long time, probably a decade or more. Some years ago my tax situation was more complicated than it is now, and TT always handled it well. Now my situation ought to be dead simple for them, just pension income, some interest income, and that’s about it. Yet this year was the worst experience I have ever had with them.

I assume Canada is similar to the US in that the software interacts with the federal tax site if you have an online account with them and populates the file with your tax slips the Feds have online. That’s good because for my federal pension I don’t even see a tax slip since they don’t mail them out, which I found odd when I first started receiving it. For whatever reason, this year TT seemed to ask a lot fewer questions of me than it did in the past, and in a few cases the software had glitches in it that I hadn’t encountered before. For some reason it insisted I was self-employed and wouldn’t let me proceed until I paid for a more expensive version of their service, which was absurd. I had to take a break to go back many steps and got it to show me a screen it had not displayed before, and I clicked something there that seemed to resolve that. Later I was entering medical expenses and it got into a loop that wouldn’t let me finish that section. Very odd. The other thing that always annoys me is that they make you buy an upgrade version of their service if you have any investments at all, even simple bank interest. That seems ridiculous.

It took me 3 hours to slog through it today, a new record. I can only imagine how long it would take if I had a more complex situation.

stickguy

I use HR Block (taxcut). as far as I know the only connection to the IRS is when you file. You can get data from some sources (W-2s from employers, or 1099s for investments) if they are set up for it. My employer used a provider that let you do it. Though by the time I could get logged in to some of them (like my 1099 DIVs) it was quicker to just enter manually off the paper copies (which I always print out if they don't come in the mail).

HRB is pretty good with what it includes. only need to upgrade to the super deluxe if you have some really complicated stuff that I never had.

kyfdx

I was doing my son's taxes, and learned that TurboTax will now let you scan a copy of a W-2, and transfer that info directly into TurboTax. It really works well.

28firefighter

@snakeweasel said:

@28firefighter said:
Part of our compensation is in stock and each year I’ve sworn that I was going to hire an accountant because it has been getting progressively more time consuming to enter in the various 1099-B transactions. Buuuut another year down, another TurboTax filing….

With the 1099 B you should have a summary of the long term and short term transactions. Just subtract out all the wash sales and enter the resulting numbers as a summary then enter the wash sales one at a time.

I understand each of the words in this sentence individually. Put them together and I’m reminded why tax law was not my best subject in school.

roadburner

I gave up and started using an accountant several years ago. This year he filed our taxes 10 days after we brought him our records. I really need to adjust my withholding…

ab348

For the last 2 tax years I’ve owed a little over $1K each time, something that never happened in the past where I usually got a few hundred $ back. I’m not sure if I should do more withholding or not. This year I hopefully won’t have the medical costs I had in 2022 so I might owe the Feds a couple of Gs this time next year.

henryn

TurboTax let me upload PDF files for my documentation, including 1099 forms from 2 different credit unions (showing interest income), and the RMD from my rollover IRA. And of course, the 1099 from SSA (Social Security). Basically all paperwork was uploaded as PDF files, and read in by TurboTax. Without errors, and all in the free version, no charge to me.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

For the last 2 tax years I’ve owed a little over $1K each time, something that never happened in the past where I usually got a few hundred $ back. I’m not sure if I should do more withholding or not. This year I hopefully won’t have the medical costs I had in 2022 so I might owe the Feds a couple of Gs this time next year.

I usually owe a few hundred but back in the farm days it was different. One of the few perks the IRS gives to farmers is that you don’t have to pay taxes quarterly. That was convenient but it resulted in some big pay ins in April.

driver100

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

henryn

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

Michaell

henryn said:

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

The Santa Cruz is much bigger than a Maverick, I can tell you that. Not sure how it stacks up to a Ranger, however.

imidazol97

Is this real? Saw it on Facebook.

imidazol97

I'm thinking of a GPS again to replace old TomTom. How well does the Garmin with a traffic cable that receives FM broadcasts for the traffic info work, for trips in rural areas and interstates between cities?


https://www.amazon.com/s?k=garmin+drive+52+&+traffic&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_15

qbrozen

@imidazol97 said:
Is this real? Saw it on Facebook.

Looks real enough to me. Oil slick on the ground with an accurate reflection is more work than most fakers want to put into their pics.

jmonroe1

imidazol97 said:

Is this real? Saw it on Facebook.

————————————————
See if you can find a follow up pic after those were buffed out. Then you’ll know.

jmonroe

stickguy

Michaell said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

The Santa Cruz is much bigger than a Maverick, I can tell you that. Not sure how it stacks up to a Ranger, however.

actually the SC is 4" shorter (but about 3" wider) than a Maverick. And the bed is about 6" shorter too.

imidazol97

I can just hear the service writer talking to the customer waiting in the louge, eating bagels with cream cheese and drinking Starbucks coffee.

"Sir, there's been a small problem with your vehicle's service."

I recall long ago maybe in mid 90s Sears let friend's new Silverado diesel slip off the alignment rack.
He never seemed too upset. Sort of, well just get it fixed...

driver100

imidazol97 said:

I'm thinking of a GPS again to replace old TomTom. How well does the Garmin with a traffic cable that receives FM broadcasts for the traffic info work, for trips in rural areas and interstates between cities?


https://www.amazon.com/s?k=garmin+drive+52+&+traffic&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_15

If you can use WAZE it is better than a Garmin or even a built in GPS.

henryn

Michaell said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

The Santa Cruz is much bigger than a Maverick, I can tell you that. Not sure how it stacks up to a Ranger, however.

I learned long ago that the overall size does not accurately reflect how much room they leave for the driver. Not even close. And the published measurements (leg room, hip room, head room) are not a very good indicator either. You have to plop yourself down in the drivers seat, adjust everything, and then you know.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Michaell said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

The Santa Cruz is much bigger than a Maverick, I can tell you that. Not sure how it stacks up to a Ranger, however.

actually the SC is 4" shorter (but about 3" wider) than a Maverick. And the bed is about 6" shorter too.

Huh - my mark one eyeball (admittedly, with glasses) leads me to believe otherwise. My neighbor across the street has a SC, and it looks pretty big to me.

stickguy

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

Michaell said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

The Santa Cruz is much bigger than a Maverick, I can tell you that. Not sure how it stacks up to a Ranger, however.

actually the SC is 4" shorter (but about 3" wider) than a Maverick. And the bed is about 6" shorter too.

Huh - my mark one eyeball (admittedly, with glasses) leads me to believe otherwise. My neighbor across the street has a SC, and it looks pretty big to me.

style doing that most likely. I think the Maverick looks smaller than it actually is (length wise).

stickguy

henryn said:

Michaell said:

henryn said:

driver100 said:

I saw one of these today so I had to look it up to find out what it was. Some of the new trucks are nicely designed.

Hyundai Santa Cruz

I like the way that looks, personally. One of these days I need to find a Hyundai dealer who has one in stock so that I can try a trial fit.

I have yet to find a Maverick that I could try sitting in.

The Santa Cruz is much bigger than a Maverick, I can tell you that. Not sure how it stacks up to a Ranger, however.

I learned long ago that the overall size does not accurately reflect how much room they leave for the driver. Not even close. And the published measurements (leg room, hip room, head room) are not a very good indicator either. You have to plop yourself down in the drivers seat, adjust everything, and then you know.

That I agree with. I did sit in a SC and it felt somewhat confining (big console, pretty much like a Sonata I think).

but can say that the Maverick has tons of space to spread out in the front seats. And have seem a lot of big guys on the forums (6'6', 250, stuff like that) saying they had plenty of space.

driver100

Let's solve this for once and for all;
Ford Maverick size specs
Exterior Dimensions
Wheelbase (inches) 121.1.
Length (inches) 199.7.
Width, without mirrors (inches) 72.6.
Height (inches) 68.7.
Body Length. 0.00.
Ground Clearance, Front. 8.6.

Santa Cruz
Length (inches)
195.7
Width, without mirrors (inches)
75
Height (inches)
66.7
Body Length
0.00
Ground Clearance, Front
8.6

snakeweasel

When will Ford learn? Mustangs don't have four doors and Mavericks don't have beds.

stickguy

driver100 said:

Let's solve this for once and for all;
Ford Maverick size specs
Exterior Dimensions
Wheelbase (inches) 121.1.
Length (inches) 199.7.
Width, without mirrors (inches) 72.6.
Height (inches) 68.7.
Body Length. 0.00.
Ground Clearance, Front. 8.6.

Santa Cruz
Length (inches)
195.7
Width, without mirrors (inches)
75
Height (inches)
66.7
Body Length
0.00
Ground Clearance, Front
8.6

so, exactly what I said!

oldfarmer50

I had an interesting day a work today. A customer returned a Mustang Ecoboost to the airport trailing a cloud of smoke that would put James Bond to shame. Filled the entire structure. When checked it had only one quart of oil in it. My conclusion was a blown turbo.

I told them I would be willing to drive it back to the repair yard if they put some oil in it. Our mechanic filled it up and tried to start it but the cats were so clogged it wouldn’t run.

Since they couldn’t prove the customer was racing they let him go but my question is why would you try to drive a car bellowing huge clouds of smoke? Why not pull over and call the company for another car? Was he trying to put some distance between him and where he was racing?

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
I had an interesting day a work today. A customer returned a Mustang Ecoboost to the airport trailing a cloud of smoke that would put James Bond to shame. Filled the entire structure. When checked it had only one quart of oil in it. My conclusion was a blown turbo.

I told them I would be willing to drive it back to the repair yard if they put some oil in it. Our mechanic filled it up and tried to start it but the cats were so clogged it wouldn’t run.

Since they couldn’t prove the customer was racing they let him go but my question is why would you try to drive a car bellowing huge clouds of smoke? Why not pull over and call the company for another car? Was he trying to put some distance between him and where he was racing?

Considering it is an airport, I imagine he had somewhere to be other than the side of the road.

28firefighter

Why would someone race with an Ecoboost mustang?

Isn’t the more likely scenario the turbos just ate themselves Ford style and he had a flight to catch?

kyfdx

Why would racing a Mustang cause the turbo to blow? Where would you race in NY, in Winter? On the street?

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

Why would racing a Mustang cause the turbo to blow? Where would you race in NY, in Winter? On the street?

————————————————
You’re right. Just because he did it in his childhood he thinks everyone has the same Winter sporting feeling like he had.

jmonroe

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

I had an interesting day a work today. A customer returned a Mustang Ecoboost to the airport trailing a cloud of smoke that would put James Bond to shame. Filled the entire structure. When checked it had only one quart of oil in it. My conclusion was a blown turbo.

I told them I would be willing to drive it back to the repair yard if they put some oil in it. Our mechanic filled it up and tried to start it but the cats were so clogged it wouldn’t run.

Since they couldn’t prove the customer was racing they let him go but my question is why would you try to drive a car bellowing huge clouds of smoke? Why not pull over and call the company for another car? Was he trying to put some distance between him and where he was racing?

Hate to break this to you, but I've "tracked" many laps many a weekend in Audi's and never once has that caused smoke to bellow out as you put it.

The ONE time I had smoke bellowing out, I was cruising at 75-80 MPH or so in top gear maintaining speed on the freeway.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, if a car can't handle being driven hard, the manufacturer should make the redline 2500 RPM.

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

Why would someone race with an Ecoboost mustang?

Isn’t the more likely scenario the turbos just ate themselves Ford style and he had a flight to catch?

I’m not sure what your dislike of Ford has to do with someone driving a car to destruction. Would it have been different if it was a BMW he blew up?

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

kyfdx said:

Why would racing a Mustang cause the turbo to blow? Where would you race in NY, in Winter? On the street?

————————————————
You’re right. Just because he did it in his childhood he thinks everyone has the same Winter sporting feeling like he had.

jmonroe

Oh, I was wild in my youth but I never did it in someone else’s car.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

I had an interesting day a work today. A customer returned a Mustang Ecoboost to the airport trailing a cloud of smoke that would put James Bond to shame. Filled the entire structure. When checked it had only one quart of oil in it. My conclusion was a blown turbo.

I told them I would be willing to drive it back to the repair yard if they put some oil in it. Our mechanic filled it up and tried to start it but the cats were so clogged it wouldn’t run.

Since they couldn’t prove the customer was racing they let him go but my question is why would you try to drive a car bellowing huge clouds of smoke? Why not pull over and call the company for another car? Was he trying to put some distance between him and where he was racing?

Considering it is an airport, I imagine he had somewhere to be other than the side of the road.

Driving a car that damaged might very well have put him on the side of the road.

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

Why would racing a Mustang cause the turbo to blow? Where would you race in NY, in Winter? On the street?

That’s just my guess. He could have blown a head gasket. As to where he would race, just go to YT and search “rental car abuse”.

https://youtu.be/jBms9KWr9o0

kyfdx

Never mind that all of those are 25+ years old..

But, nothing I see in that video would harm a modern engine. I think you seem to have some bias against turbo engines.

Seriously, a big smoke cloud seems like a valve cover gasket or head gasket. If it's me, I park it, call an Uber, and drop the keys at the counter with an address where they can pick it up. Am I going to wait for another car when I'm on the way to the airport? No, I am not.

driver100

?

28firefighter

oldfarmer50 said:

28firefighter said:

Why would someone race with an Ecoboost mustang?

Isn’t the more likely scenario the turbos just ate themselves Ford style and he had a flight to catch?

I’m not sure what your dislike of Ford has to do with someone driving a car to destruction. Would it have been different if it was a BMW he blew up?

Ha - you misunderstand me. I don't dislike Ford. But Ecoboost turbos have, historically, had a propensity to eat themselves in rather spectacular form. Even if it was something else, that doesn't mean someone drove it to the ground - if I'm enroute to the airport for a flight and my rental car has an issue, I'm going to try my hardest to get back to the airport unless I truly feel it is unsafe to do so. Why assume that someone has driven it to destruction intentionally?

For the record, I rent cars between 75-80 days a year and I drive them more carefully than my own. My coworkers are the same way.

qbrozen

oldfarmer50 said:

Driving a car that damaged might very well have put him on the side of the road.

of course, but either take the chance and make it or be on the side of the road by choice or force? I'd rather take the chance if it was important enough (and wasn't my car).

henryn

I went by the Chevy dealer today to pick up the license plates for my new Silverado. This dealership is only about 4 blocks away from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which is a very big deal here in Houston. If I had remembered that, I would have asked them to mail the plates, but oh well.

When I went to leave the dealership, I cut around to the back so as to avoid the snarled traffic on the freeway feeder. The first thing I noticed back there were about 6 rickshaw looking bicycle contraptions. While trying to figure that one out, I noticed big signs advertising “Rodeo Parking”. It seems the dealership, which like most dealerships these days has a lot of unused parking spaces, is selling parking in the back of the dealership to the Rodeo crowds. Which actually makes a lot of sense. If they can sell 100 parking spots at $25 a whack, that’s an easy $2,500 per day.

I also noted that the Toyota dealership, immediately adjacent, was doing the same. And of course the bicycle rickshaw guys were there to take advantage of the money making opportunities.

driver100

@henryn
The capitalist system is alive and well.

snakeweasel

kyfdx said:

Why would racing a Mustang cause the turbo to blow? Where would you race in NY, in Winter? On the street?

Excessive heat from long term constant use could do it. If you have elevated boost and abruptly cut power you can have a situation where intake air reverts back out of the compressor. Repeatedly doing it can kill a turbo. Then there is overspeeding where a turbo is pushed past it's limits and can cause components to fail.

Or it could be poor maintenance, a rental company may postpone required maintenance in order to have the car out to earn rental fees. That happens a lot.

snakeweasel

henryn said:

I went by the Chevy dealer today to pick up the license plates for my new Silverado.

Make sure they gave you the right plates. When we got the BMW they put the wrong plates on it and we were driving it plated wrong for several months before the dealership caught their mistake.