Ah, tax time. That wonderful time of year when everyone is either cursing or loving the IRS, depending on whether they have to pay in, or they get a refund. While there aren't many ways to make taxes less onerous, there is one very good way to make filing them less of a hassle. Stop filling out all those endless paper forms. E-filing is the answer!
Tax preparation sites like TurboTax will walk you through every step of the process, attaching all the forms needed with your return. You answer the questions posed to you, and the process is completed painlessly through the website. No more making sure you have all the forms, no more transposing numbers that you've entered, and no more hassle of filling out those pesky worksheets! The site will take care of all of it for you. Some companies even offer their W-2s online and e-filing sites can go retrieve them, making your work load even lighter. These sites will import all information from your federal return into your state return, too.
E-file sites are very good at math, even if you're not. You don't have to do any of the heavy lifting; all that math is just zapped into the forms, and the site does the rest! There are even options to chat with a tax professional on most sites, and they can help clarify anything you may not understand. This is usually a free service, and very helpful if you're a first-time user.
Speaking of free, the IRS offers a free-file program. If you go to their site, you can find companies that offer free e-filing. Filing your federal taxes online doesn't even cost anything if you meet certain income guidelines. Some states also offer free e-filing for taxpayers, making the whole process free and simple.
Returns that are processed online are handled faster, making a quick refund very likely. Paper returns that are mailed in can take three weeks or more to be processed, while online returns are processed in a matter of days. Online filers often have their refund in just ten days, much sooner than mailed returns.
There are a few drawbacks, especially if you're not very computer literate. Navigating through some of the sites can be daunting, and slow typists may find that they're sitting in front of the screen far longer than they'd like. There are, however, some programs that help people file their taxes online, free of charge. If you choose to have your taxes prepared by a professional, some will charge an additional fee for the e-file service, although most taxpayers qualify for the IRS free-file program.
How you file is up to you, but you do have a choice. For more choices Visit: http://onlineformguide.com/.
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