Tax Time
Venkat, the TurboTax Support Guy: Do you have any friends?
Matt: Um, sure, I have friends. But how is that relevant?
Venkat: Well, perhaps you can borrow a friend's US credit card to pay for the software with?
Matt: . . .
Venkat: Sir? Are you still there?
Matt: Yes, I'm still here.
Venkat: Matthew, is there a friend whose card you can borrow?
Matt: You're telling me that after I spent several hours trudging through my US tax return, after the time I already spent doing both my wife's and my Canadian tax returns, and find only at the very end of everything when it's all done, that before I can print it or save it or really do anything with it, and having entered my Canadian address as one of the very first steps in the application with no warnings or anything, that I'm only allowed to pay with a US card, that the best advice you can give me is to talk an American friend into paying for my tax return software, so that I don't have to redo all of it?
Venkat: Well? Do you have a friend with a US card?
Let's just say it wasn't a good day for my "don't abuse the call centre rep because he's only doing his job executing someone else's policy" philosophy.
I was promptly transferred to Venkat's manager, and the best he could do was give me a copy of TurboTax 2008 Deluxe for Mac for free. It still didn't save me the two hours or so it took me to re-enter everything I'd already done in the web version, but at least it saved me about $50.
I asked several times whether they'll be supporting non-US payment in the future. I don't think they ever really understood my question.
At any rate, if there are any other US expats out there who've put off taxes to the last minute this year, don't make the mistake of using the web version TurboTax like I did. Or, if you've got time to burn and could use some free tax software, perhaps doing what I did is exactly what you want to do. I don't know.
Matt: Um, sure, I have friends. But how is that relevant?
Venkat: Well, perhaps you can borrow a friend's US credit card to pay for the software with?
Matt: . . .
Venkat: Sir? Are you still there?
Matt: Yes, I'm still here.
Venkat: Matthew, is there a friend whose card you can borrow?
Matt: You're telling me that after I spent several hours trudging through my US tax return, after the time I already spent doing both my wife's and my Canadian tax returns, and find only at the very end of everything when it's all done, that before I can print it or save it or really do anything with it, and having entered my Canadian address as one of the very first steps in the application with no warnings or anything, that I'm only allowed to pay with a US card, that the best advice you can give me is to talk an American friend into paying for my tax return software, so that I don't have to redo all of it?
Venkat: Well? Do you have a friend with a US card?
Let's just say it wasn't a good day for my "don't abuse the call centre rep because he's only doing his job executing someone else's policy" philosophy.
I was promptly transferred to Venkat's manager, and the best he could do was give me a copy of TurboTax 2008 Deluxe for Mac for free. It still didn't save me the two hours or so it took me to re-enter everything I'd already done in the web version, but at least it saved me about $50.
I asked several times whether they'll be supporting non-US payment in the future. I don't think they ever really understood my question.
At any rate, if there are any other US expats out there who've put off taxes to the last minute this year, don't make the mistake of using the web version TurboTax like I did. Or, if you've got time to burn and could use some free tax software, perhaps doing what I did is exactly what you want to do. I don't know.