Money doesn't actually talk. We do.

Free TurboTax Question (and Talk Therapy) Until Jan. 31st

There are hotlines for getting help with crossword puzzles, hooligan neighbors and even your love life. But what I really want is a tax hotline. A free one. Someone who will chat with me about what forms I need, which ones I don’t and how to fill them in. For free.

As it turns out, this financial fairy tale can be a reality for anyone until January 31.

The folks at TurboTax have started FreeTaxQuestion.com. They claim that when you submit your question there, a real person will call you and answer your question within 24-48 hours.

That sounds as believable as all that toads-into-princes garbage, but I thought I’d send ‘em some questions to see what would happen.

Here’s the sob story I sent in:

My question: Should I file individually (as opposed to my parents claiming me as an exemption)? I’m under 24 and a full-time college student who lives in student housing (but I’m thousands of miles from home), but my parents do not provide more than half of my support. I work and pay for school (tuition, books, housing, food, etc.) with scholarships, personal savings and money from work that is taxed, but not part of federal work study. I’m not legally emancipated. If I am eligible to file individually, would this maximize my own return? Or is the difference the same?

I submitted a preferred time window (between 2-4 p.m.) for the TurboTax answering gods to contact me. I waited by my phone like a freshman yearning for a call-back from the cute boy in English class. But alas, no TurboTax response – or prom date offers for that matter. Just an apology e-mail after the time frame passed.

Undeterred, I submitted the same question a second time. In less than two hours, my phone rang! It was Paul, the enrolled agent of my dreams who not only answered the original question I submitted, but answered all of my follow-up questions for twenty minutes. He didn’t seem anxious about my blabbering, nor did he excessively push TurboTax products of any kind, especially the ones I don’t need.

He covered the bases (answering my question — I should file on my own — and pointing me to the right forms on the IRS site) but also offered up some tips for things I could do to maximize my refund, like starting an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and looking at the Lifetime Learning Credit.

Paul added that since I was a student and my income was low that I could use several different online tax-prep programs (including TurboTax) for free, assuring me that this whole tax thing “wasn’t really going to be too bad.” to answer to my original question, I could file on my own return this year. He knew he wasn’t going to make any money off me but was kind and helpful anyway.

Although it took me two stabs to get my tax question answered, the FreeTaxQuestion was ultimately worth it. They called me back, dealt with my tax angst and all of it was at no cost.

I feel much more confident about tackling my 1040 in the next couple of months. And if a tax prom comes up, I’ll know who to call.

-Mary Pilon

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