| Are you one of those people who puts off your taxes until the last
possible minute? I'm one of those people who actually loved my tax class
in law school! Although my handing out tax advice over the Internet
would be in violation of some pretty serious state licensing laws, I'd
still like to be able to help in any way that I can. First of all, the
mother of all tax websites--the Internal
Revenue Service! Whether you are an individual, a business, a
corporation, or a non-profit, you will find advice in both legal terms
and layman's terms on this website. You may even qualify for
Free
File, an electronic tax preparation service with online submission.
1040 Central has advice on tax law changes, files and forms, and
fraudulent schemes. With
IRS
eFile, you can file your return online and have your refund direct
deposited quicker than ever.
Parents have special tax needs and must know the credits and
deductions available to them. The
IRS Parents
site includes information on the child tax credit, education credits
(including the Hope Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit), child and
dependent care, and adoption .
Need a little help putting your return together? You have three main
choices. The first is paying a CPA. If you were going that route, you
probably would not have been searching online in March or April for tax advice.
So we will talk about the other two choices--tax software and online tax
preparation.
H&R Block offers a variety of different choices.
They offer a Tax Calculator
and also break down the Tax Law Changes .
H&R Block's Signature Online Tax Product
lets you complete your tax return online or with tax software. Either
way, you can electronically submit your return to an H&R Block tax
professional who will review, correct any errors found, sign and e-file
your return at no additional charge. TaxCut Standard
is software that you load onto your computer that takes you through a
series of questions to compile your return. Although it does not feature
the professional review, it will still help you maximize your
deductions.
The main difference between an online tax product and tax software is
that you must be connected to the Internet while you use the online
product. You will create a username and password and will connect to the
program through your Internet browser. Sometimes you will be able to
download information from previous years or even W-2 information rather
than having to retype it. While I personally prefer an online tax
service, you have a wider range of options with the stand-alone
software.
Other tax programs can be purchased from many different sources.
Amazon offers TurboTax Basic 2005 Win/Mac
and
TurboTax Total Tax Solution Deluxe 2005 with State Win/Mac both new and used. Walmart.com
and Target.com
also sell various tax programs. Looking for something a little more low tech? How about a good
old-fashioned book? Taxes 2006 For Dummies (Taxes for Dummies)
details all of the 2005 tax changes and provides advice on
deductions and how to negotiate with the IRS. Another
best-selling tax guide is J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2006: For Preparing Your 2005 Tax Return (J.K. Lasser) .
It contains an index of deductions, usable forms, tax changes,
investment strategies, and more.
And after all of this, don't forget about your state taxes!
Visit your local library or your state's website for state-specific
information. Many of the programs listed above will help you file your
state as well as your federal return for little or no extra cost.
Whatever you choose, just make sure that you file. If you owe, you are
better off filing and working out a payment plan than letting it build
up and paying penalties in the years to come. And if you are owed a
refund, why let the government hold it for one more minute?
Tricia Meyer
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