Robotic Accountant Options?

February 3, 2012 5:06 PM

I'm tired of doing my own taxes, and afraid of hiring another accountant. What is the best/cheapest tax software for a Canadian living in Quebec? I just can't deal with another accountant. I'm tired of being told something will cost 150$ and then get charged 500$ as if they didn't know what they needed to do. I want a tax software that is going to do the weird stuff for me. I don't depend or trust what the box says either! I have some rental income, some contract income, and some salary income. I also have a second (gf) who has simple income.
posted by Napierzaza to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Best answer: The Turbo Tax family of products has worked well for me. I have a simple return, so I use standard option ($17.99 per return) but since you have rental income and contract income you'll need to use Premier or Home & Business ($32.99 and $44.99, respectively). Turbo Tax supports provincial returns for Quebec, which not all programs do. You can also do your taxes for free, choosing to pay only when you get to the point of actually filing -- so you can really kick the tires on the program/process before you spend any money.
posted by kate blank at 5:21 PM on February 3, 2012

Best answer: I use UFile , an online program for my relatively simple taxes. I have salary and consulting/contract income, but no rental income so unsure if that is covered. It's cheap and easy!
posted by lulu68 at 6:21 PM on February 3, 2012

Best answer: I like UFile too.
posted by scruss at 6:51 PM on February 3, 2012

Best answer: I have rental income and use UFile, and have been very satisfied with it.
posted by orange swan at 10:04 PM on February 3, 2012

We've used StudioTax a few years in a row. I can't say if it will fit your needs, but for the low, low price of "free", it couldn't hurt to check it out. Hasn't done us wrong yet, and it is compatible with NetFile.
posted by sunshinesky at 2:23 AM on February 4, 2012

Best answer: TurboTax!

I have used both UFile and TurboTax (the online versions, in both cases) and the latter is SO much better. The whole process of filling out the info was WAY faster with TurboTax, and in the end I was much more confident that I had actually done everything correctly.

Also, as kate blank says, you can try it for free and only pay if you decide to use it to file.
posted by sanitycheck at 2:34 AM on February 4, 2012

Response by poster: Hm, Ufile looks very nice and cheap. But Turbotax promises it will suggest a lot of deductions. Tricky. Thanks everyone.
posted by Napierzaza at 10:35 AM on February 4, 2012

Response by poster: Oh, I finally looked at StudioTax, looks cool but I am on a Mac. So I don't know about getting that to work. In my particular situation I want suggestions for different deductions since I have small business/rental property. If I just had regular income I'd probably go StudioTax.
posted by Napierzaza at 11:02 AM on February 4, 2012