Does Intuit/Turbo Tax have tax advisors

[awang429]

I always think I've put enough into FSA, pretax health premiums, HSA and 401(k) to reduce my 1040 bill, but I got killed this year.  in 2020, I'll likely make the same or a little more this year and I haven't changed any of these income lowering contributions.  Need help deciding where to put income now (or increasing withholdings) to avoid another big 1040 hit

[Critter-3 · Accepted solution]

No they do not ... it is a DIY program which does not  have tax/financial advisors.   I highly recommend you seek local professional assistance to get educated in these matters. 

[Anonymous]

Since it would seem that your 2019 adjusted gross income was more than $150,000 you can avoid underpayment penalties by having your withholding equal or exceed 110% of your 2019 tax. 

other exceptions to this penalty are if withholding equals 90% of 2020 tax or if the balance due after withholding (not estimates) is less than $1000.

the problem with paying estimates at this late date is the standard way penalties are computed is to spread withholding evenly over the 4 quarters but use the actual dates of estimate payments to determine which quarter they fall in.   The IRS also allows you to use the actual withholding for each quarter but it won't help unless there was more withholding in the early quarters than in the later quarters.  as a final method there is the annualized income method where you determine actual income, deductions, withholding and estimates for each period  - 3 months, 5 months, 8 months and the full year. 

[fanfare]

You still have time to make two estimated tax payments for 2020.

Make two payments. Use common sense to compute the proper amount.