February 12, 2006

Filing Taxes With The 'Net or Software

Filing your tax returns is a major pain. Many people hire an accountant or someone else to do their taxes but many of us do them on our own. I'll be doing mine, again, this year by myself. However, unlike last year, I'll probably use some tax software to make the process easier and more accurate. I'll probably use Intuit's TurboTax if for no other reason than I'm more familiar with the Intuit brand for simple to use software.

The New York times has a great overview of some FREE tax preparation services/software and fee based ones.

The NYT writes But millions of taxpayers who earn modest incomes and have simple returns to file may want to consider using the Free File program from the Internal Revenue Service instead of buying off-the-shelf software. Established three years ago, Free File is a partnership of the I.R.S. and private tax preparation sites that typically allows taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of around $50,000 or less to complete their returns electronically ¬? free.

If you have a relatively complicated return ¬? for instance, one that requires you to seek help in determining how certain capital gains should be treated or whether certain home-office deductions are legitimate ¬? the traditional off-the-shelf programs are likely to be a better bet.

0 comments