Which e-file provider is easiest to use?

Any help appreciated.

Man I just chose the wrong provider.  Which one works for you? (my total earnings around US $18k).

I battled thru all the form boxes then they asked me for my gross income on last year's return; would NOT submit the form without this info.  I can't find any paperwork or electronic notes on last year's return.  Tried to get some kind of alternative to validate this year's return, a PIN, from IRS website: who declared that I was ineligible for such a PIN.  So totally stuffed. Does every e-filer software require those same bits of info, or is there an option to file without having to enter previous return info or a special IRS code.
 
I think I filed taxes last year; then again, maybe I didn't.  I know I was below the threshold of needing to file, but I filed in case we immigrated, to prepare the right paper trail, so I thought I filed (argh).

Problem 2: I have lots of money in accounts in UK; I filed FBAR last year (I do have paper copy of that, hooray!).  I thought that the rules also required me to declare all interest in property (as in the house we jointly own), but property not an option on the "FinCEN Form 114 OMB No. 1506-0009" form.  Is that wrong form?  What other paperwork do I need to file about non-US assets?

Argh. British self-assessment seems so much easier!

If you cannot e-file you may want to think of e-filing paper filing..

Although not a tax return, FinCEN Form 114 is for reporting bank and financial accounts if these exceed the relevant filing threshold.

IRS Form 8938 is for reporting non-US financial assets if these exceed the relevant filing threshold.

Why do you think your house is a bank or financial account?

what is the difference between e-file & e-filing other than a few alphabetic characters?

Maybe it's the 8938 form I was thinking of, that we had to list all assets on, including property.

Typo corrected. It should have read paper filing.

Does every e-filer software require those same bits of info, or is there an option to file without having to enter previous return info or a special IRS code.

You must have either the previous year's AGI or an e-filing PIN in order to e-file using any software package. This is an IRS requirement.

I think I filed taxes last year; then again, maybe I didn't.  I know I was below the threshold of needing to file, but I filed in case we immigrated, to prepare the right paper trail, so I thought I filed (argh).

You must keep tax records for a specified period of time - details here. Again, this is an IRS requirement.

I'm just bumping this up again in case anyone wants to offer an opinion about which free e-filing software they find easiest & most reliable to use.

thanks!!

No idea.  I'm doing paper.  But I do have sympathy on the record keeping.  One ends up with masses of tax paperwork from the past, in the event they may be needed.  But when you're moving across the ocean, it's hard to decide what you're really going to need out of this mass of paper and files.  I thought I could get by with just the photocopy of last year's submission but should have brought the whole packet from the CPA.

I'm just bumping this up again in case anyone wants to offer an opinion about which free e-filing software they find easiest & most reliable to use.

thanks!!

I like TurboTax for ease of use in general. However, they put through a stealth price increase this year (for those of us who don't qualify for free filing). If you need to file Schedules D or E, the much more expensive Premier edition is now required, whereas in previous years the Deluxe edition could be used. So this year I will be trying TaxAct instead.

Also, one year I found a limitation of TurboTax that I believe still persists. Let's say you use the foreign earned income exclusion for 2012 and 2013, and part of your foreign earned income from 2012 was not actually received until 2013. In this case the IRS wants you to report this prior-year income on your 2013 return, but you can "carry over" any unused FEIE allowance from your 2012 return to the extent needed to exclude the prior-year income on the 2013 return. H&R Block Online handled this situation very nicely, but I found that TurboTax did not support it at all. I even called the TT helpline but they were no use. In hindsight I should have used this as an opportunity to put their "maximum refund guarantee" to the test.

I use TaxAct. It's not super shiny or fancy, but does the trick for wht I need.