2009 Tax Return…are you Ready?
The 2009 tax filing is quickly approaching, right on the heels of our economic OUCH. Nobody really wants to deal with this, and many because of how much the economy has hurt many of us. But, regardless, it’s something anyone who makes more than a few thousand dollars a year must to for the legal purposes.
I HATE doing my taxes. Let me rephrase it: I hate it so much I pay someone else to do it, and it’s very expensive. I don’t know if it’s really worth it. BUT, I am one of those people who wants to blame someone else if something goes wrong. If I wasn’t such a stickler for that very purpose, I would be doing my taxes online, with a program that is easy to use.
In checking out some of the sites and having used some myself (years ago), I can say that after all the reviews and such, I really think it’s a good idea to just file online. Reason being is i had gotten rid of a computer long ago that had my tax information on it and I realize that probably wasn’t such a good idea for the security purposes. Turbotax does allow you to purchase the software. BUT if you are a person who isn’t so paranoid, 1040.com website will work much better for you. And these would be great eligible parties for this type of tax filing software:
- Has fairly easy taxes (either little to no itemization or large medical bills, or don’t own a home or
- Doesn’t own a home or does little itemization- you can only file EZ if you aren’t a homeowner.
- lived in the same state all year
- has had no marital or other major changes in the 2009 year
This particular company, 1040.com has been in business since 1992, and is the one I did more research on and know people who are using it. They are all online and provide you an easy to follow set of questions as you use it for your tax filing. A few items I’d like to mention: all their information is done through a SECURE SOCKET LAYER (you can see Https in the URL field once you start filling out the information). This means your information is secure and encrypted. That is most important. You need to be able to trust that all your information is not open for public viewing.
In getting started, you will need to create a profile. Credit Card information is taken much further along so you can get a slight feel for how things work. The cost is really minimal (when you consider spending close to $200 when you pay for an accountant). about $15 for everything, AND you can submit your taxes online for free to either the IRS for federal or state. You also get information and future tax change notifications.
One, thing you do need to make sure you are set up for this to work, so use either Internet Explorer 6.0 version or Firefox.
Also, if you get any errors, you need to make sure you allow pop ups and are cookies enabled. Most computers already have this if you haven’t made specific changes.
Also, if you have a comment on your experience, please feel free to do so!
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