| The first part of our meeting consisted of a short demonstration of
Intuit's Turbo Tax software. We were able to see how easy (and dare
I say even a little fun) tax software has made doing taxes. The software
prompts you at every turn for necessary information simply by asking you
questions about your income, expenses, investments, and other tax related
questions.
From start to finish, the average tax payer can probably complete an
entire return in just a couple of hours. All through the interview
process, you can keep tabs on what the "score" is regarding your taxes
as Turbo Tax keeps a running total of your refund (or tax debt) visible
at all times.
Another tax software product that was discussed briefly is Kiplinger's
Tax Cut. It also uses the interview type process for you to enter
your tax information.
One member pointed out that Turbo Tax can import tax data from your
Quicken files, but that you must have your Quicken configured properly
for this to work efficiently.
Next we took a look at some web sites that are good sources of information
regarding taxes, tax planning, and other tax related questions. It
is possible to download actual tax forms that you can use in your tax preparation
right from the web. However, you must use a software called "Adobe
Acrobat Reader" in order to view and print these forms. A link for
the product is listed below.
As usual our Q&A session produced some great questions and learning
opportunities for all of us. One focus of our Q&A was a quick
overview of Microsoft Works' database functions and how to use the database
to create envelopes, form letters, etc.
Tax Related Web Sites:
The IRS
Tax Help Online -- A good
source to answer some of your tax related questions.
Another Tax
Q&A and planning site
Download IRS
tax forms
Congratulations to this months
raffle winners:
Isabella won a free hour of Computer
tune-up and training and
Jesse who won a $20 gift certificate
to Cyber Exchange |
