This isn't really a tax question, but I'd be interested in the experience with preparing returns on the IRS site -- as opposed to the commercial software?
A few years back I was involved in a state bar association pro bono program which prepared returns for the working poor, trying to keep them out of the clutches of those store-front loan sharks. I was never certain, but I think we may have been using software provided by the IRS, and it seemed reasonably easy to use.
Maybe you are thinking of TaxWise, a commercial package the IRS has contracted for use in its volunteer programs?
For those volunteer preparers registered in one of those programs, there's a few tests to pass, and TaxWise makes available TWO -- TaxWise on-Line.
Some people, especially "working poor", cannot open checking accounts because banks won't serve them (due to reporting by Telecheck, ChexSystems, etc).
Did your pro bono association offer the ability to direct deposit an IRS refund onto a pre-paid debit card at no extra cost for such people, within the IRS 8-15 day payment window (i.e. not a loan)? Helping them get a paper check from the IRS a month or two later, which then results in hefty check cashing fees from store-front payday loan/check cashing operators, hardly seems an improvement.
-Mark Bole
Good question. Around here the pro bono tax prep is done through the local community credit union (see
R's, John
I tried to do mine that way last year. It wasn't really on the IRS site, it was a link from there to another site, the "fill in the forms" option. I gave up on it shortly after I started. I couldn't find a way to include a required dotted line entry on line 7.
Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD
I've had only one experience with the IRS fill-in-the-form site, and it wasn't good. A client came to our AARP/TCE site to get a state return prepared after he used the IRS site for his federal. The copy of the federal return that he presented was awful -- arithmetic errors, tax equal to taxable income, etc. There was also no clear indication that the return had indeed been filed and/or accepted.
We prepared an amended return and a paper state return. Unfortunately we'll never know how it turned out.
Yes -- TaxWise -- that's the program we used. I found it pretty good.
We were mainly concerned with getting the earned income tax credit and the dependent child credit. As I recall, the best refund I got was over $4,000, for a single mother of three whose income was around $20,000.
It was a real educational experience in the socioeconomics of the inner city.
I was only involved in preparation, but I think there was some effort to get bank accounts for these people, or some other means of getting the refund other than in paper checks.
I liked the the Free File Fillable Forms offered last year. These present the basic tax forms in an active fashion- calculating the numbers that need to calculated for you. The possible danger compared to consumer tax passes is that you could overlook a form. Turbo Tax tries filling out all relevant forms in the background and prints for you if it thinks its necessary to file one. These include AMT, estimated income penalty, retirement accounts, etc. The consumer softwares also present the tax task in a more coherent category manner rather than by tax form. This may be better for beginners. If one's economic life hasnt changed drastically since last year you'll may just need to fill out the same forms last year. I lost patience with Turbo Tax because they are constantly popping requests for new services at additional cost. Plus when I tried to estimate the 2009 on the 2008 software, they want ten bucks to start a new return.
BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.