Use TaxActOnline.com and save your brain cells for more important things!
Written: Apr 12 '04 (Updated Jan 13 '09)
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Pros: it did all the math for me!
Cons: I wish I'd known it would do all the math, before doing it myself...
The Bottom Line: (_!_)
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| pnutmom's Full Review: TaxAct for the Web |
Now I love my husband, but he can be really lazy sometimes. Like when it comes to doing our taxes this year for instance. I finally got tired of waiting for him to get around to it, so he said "well, why don't you do them?" Me?! Is he kidding??! I hated math in school, and he actually wants to trust me with something this important?!! Yes, yes he does. So, I sit down at the dining table, with what seems like a thousand 1099 forms, W-2s, child tax credit instructions, what have you... It takes me about two hours to finally get them finished...I'm pretty proud of myself, but I'm praying that all the numbers are right! Since we actually get a refund this year, we decide to e-file so we'll get the refund faster. If you go to the IRS's website (www.irs.gov) you can get a list of websites that are authorized e-file providers. I answer a few personal questions, and find out that we can file, completely for free - woo hoo! - at www.TaxActOnline.com. (Not everyone will qualify for the free e-filing. In some cases you may have to pay the $7.95 fee).
When you first log on to TaxActOnline.com, right at the top of the page, the site tells you how many days you have left to file. As of the date of this review, it's 3 days. If you're starting a new 2003 return, you have two choices from TaxActOnline: the Standard edition, which is free, or the Deluxe edition, which costs $9.95. Both versions have a step-by-step interview for completing your taxes, up-to-date tax law changes, and the ability to e-file. If you use the Standard edition, e-filing may cost you that $7.95, whereas e-filing with the Deluxe edition is free. The Deluxe edition also allows you to import data from your TaxAct 2002 Online Return, includes tax help from J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax Guide 2004,and I believe it also can pin-point areas where you may qualify for a deduction. If you've already started a 2003 return, just enter your username and password in the log in box on the right side of the screen. The main page of TaxActOnline also has links for checking your e-file status, general information, and service & support.
Since we have a basic return (no business expenses, medical bills, etc) to deduct, I opted for the Standard edition. Clicking on that Start button led me to a screen with three choices: starting a new 2003 return, starting a new 2003 return using my 2002 data (obviously in order to choose this option, you had to use TaxActOnline the previous year when filing), or continuing a 2003 return I started earlier. If you're starting a new return, you'll have to read and either accept or decline TaxActOnline's Online Usage Agreement and Limited Warranty before continuing. I accepted, and was then taken to the Registration screen. You have to enter all the typical registration details: choose a username and password, email address, birth date, city of birth, and Social Security Number (not required, but recommended).
After registering, you'll finally be taken to the main menu of TaxActOnline where you can begin your return. There are seven steps you'll have to complete: Basic Information, Life Events, Federal Q&A, State Q&A, Review, Filing, and Next Year. These are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain them the best I can remember!
Basic Information: This is where you enter the personal info (name, Social Security Number, birth date, address) for the main filer (in our case, my hubby), and the joint filer, if applicable. You'll be asked for your filing status (Single, Married Filed Jointly, Head of Household, etc). If you have dependents, that information is entered here as well.
Life Events: This section asks for specific events that may have happened in 2003, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of any dependents, etc.
Federal Q&A: This is the longest part of the return, and it's broken down into several different sections. You will need to have all of your forms (W-2, 1098, etc) handy because TaxActOnline will ask for Employer and/or Lender ID numbers, along with some other specific information. You start with entering your employment information. There's one main difference between online filing and the paper filing. With the traditional paper filing, you add all your wages, taxes paid, etc together and enter the total number on the tax return. With TaxActOnline, the information from each employer is added individually. Let's say you worked for 2 companies. You'll enter all the required information from the first company, and once you're done, TaxActOnline will ask if you have anything additional to add. Click on the "add new..." button, and you'll go through the same process, only with the info from your second (3rd, etc) employer. Make sense?? It may sound complicated, but this was so much easier than I thought it would be! TaxActOnline tells you exactly what it needs in each field, and where you can find that information on your forms (box 7, 12a, etc). If it asks for information that you didn't pay (like Social Security Tips, Local Income Tax) then leave that field blank. Once you're done entering employment information, TaxActOnline will ask about any personal property tax you may have paid, along with real estate taxes, or mortgage interest and points. Just like the employment info, TaxActOnline will let you know exactly what you need to enter, and where that info can be found on your forms. There are also sections to claim the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Credit, medical deductions, etc. If you're not sure whether you qualify for certain deductions, don't worry! A great feature of TaxActOnline is that it will ask you specific questions and automatically determine if you may be eligible for that specific item.
State Q&A: Once you're done with all the Federal Q&A, you move on to the State Q&A. Living in Texas, we didn't have any state income taxes to report, so I was pretty much able to skip this section.
Review: The Review is just that - you can review your personal info (name, address, SS # to make sure it's correct). This is where TaxActOnline totals everything up for you, so you can see total wages paid, taxes withheld, interest paid, etc, along with the amount you owe (which hopefully is nothing!), or the amount of your refund.
Filing: Once you've ok'd your return, it's time to file! You have the option of either printing out your return and mailing it to the IRS, or e-filing which automatically sends your return to the IRS. If you e-file, you will still have to print out the signature sheet and mail that to the IRS however. I still need to print that, so I'm not sure exactly what it looks like! If you do e-file, within 24 hours you should get a confirmation email saying your return was in fact sent. 48-72 hours after that, you'll receive an email letting you know whether your return was accepted or rejected by the IRS. If it was accepted, the email should tell you when you can expect your refund. Actually, if you owe, you'll probably have to pay when you submit the return. If your return was rejected, you'll have to double check it and find out why (I don't think the email will tell you). Our return was submitted, accepted, so now we're just waiting on our money. Woo hoo!
Next Year: This isn't really a required step, it's just information regarding TaxAct's 2004 planning tools.
One gripe, and some helpful tidbits: The one thing that did annoy me were the sporadically-placed ads wanting me to upgrade to for the Deluxe version of TaxActOnline. However, seeing as our taxes were done for free, I can't really complain about those ads too much. There are a couple of other things to mention. While working on your return, you can stop and save it at any time, and come back to finish it later. You don't have to finish it all at once. Also, if you look near the top right-hand corner of your screen, you'll see what the current total is of your tax return - whether you're getting a refund, or owing.
Things I'm not sure on...: I did not have to use the Service or Support features for TaxActOnline so I don't know how helpful (or not) they may be. Also, while our taxes were simple to prepare, if you have a lot of deductions, you may be better off having them prepared by a professional. Not that this website will screw you or anything, but all the questions you'll probably have to answer may be more of a headache than you want to deal with! The site isn't very graphics-heavy, and we have cable internet, so it loaded pretty quickly for me. If you have standard dial-up, it may take a little longer for you.
All in all, I was surprised at how easy this was! I just wish I had known sooner that TaxActOnline.com would do all the math for you!! I wasted those two hours doing the taxes by hand. But hey, as it turns out I did them right, because my numbers were the same as TaxActOnline's! I will definitely be using this site next year!
Thanks for reading (and hopefully you'll be getting some money back!)
© MH 2004
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): free
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pnutmom
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