You think TurboTax is not accurate? I don't understand your question.

If you have a mortgage, in most cases it's better to itemize. If you don't have a mortgage and are salaried, it could go either way.

Anonymous wrote:We itemized last year with out taxes. It made sense between college expenses, medical bills, childcare, etc. I think we should again this year but am wondering if there are any good resources or online calculators out there to help determine which way is better? We usually do taxes by Turbo Tax so I'm looking for suggestions outside of their estimator.

Itemizing is for deductions. I don't understand what that would have to do with expenses for college and child care, both of which are covered by credits?

You can only deduct medical expenses once they exceed 10% of your income.

Do you not trust TT? I can't figure this post out.

seriously, why would you need something besides tt to figure this out?

If you use TT, enter all your deductions. If the standard deduction is more beneficial for you, it will default to that.

When I use TurboTax, I just go through all their prompts and let TurboTax figure out where itemizing or standard deduction is better. So far I have never needed to itemize, but I always keep records just in case we pay less taxes if we do. I guess I don't understand your question. I just plug in the numbers for charitable donations, medical expenses, work expenses, etc.

we itemize b/c it's easy in turbotax, but the amt renders it pointless.

We itemized last year with out taxes. It made sense between college expenses, medical bills, childcare, etc. I think we should again this year but am wondering if there are any good resources or online calculators out there to help determine which way is better? We usually do taxes by Turbo Tax so I'm looking for suggestions outside of their estimator.