tax

Prepare and file your taxes electronically for free with eSmart Basic

If your federal or state taxes are easy to figure out, it hardly makes sense to pay someone else simply to file your returns. One option is Liberty Tax Service's eSmart Basic Service, which offers some advantages over other e-filing options we've tried, starting with the obvious one: It's free. The Basic online filing service has other things going for it, as well, including the ability to import data from competing tax software such as TurboTax, H&R Block at Home, and TaxAct; free technical support via Chat; and free CPA support if you're audited. … Read more

N.Y.'s highest court: Your Internet tax break days are done

New York state's highest court today ruled that out-of-state online retailers must charge state tax on New York State customers. Now it gets interesting since the 4-1 judgment by the New York State Court of Appeals makes it all the more likely that the question will get an airing, sooner rather than later, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Along with New York, eight other states have similar laws on the books ending the hidden tax break people got when buying products from companies on the Internet. Those statutes require the states in question to collect sales taxRead more

File your 2012 federal income tax from your Android phone with TurboTax SnapTax

Taxpayers who file the 1040EZ income tax form have always had it easier, at least when it comes to the paperwork. They've long enjoyed the ability to file electronically, for instance. Things just got even easier for 1040EZ users, thanks to TurboTax SnapTax, a free Android app from one of the biggest and most trusted names in tax preparation, especially online tax prep and e-filing. With SnapTax, you can file your 2012 federal income tax returns using your Android smartphone, or tablet, or any device running Android, so long as it has a high-resolution camera. Simply take snapshots of … Read more

Senate embraces Internet taxes

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly today to endorse levying Internet sales taxes on American shoppers, despite warnings from a handful of senators that the proposal is antibusiness, harmful to taxpayers, and will be a "bureaucratic nightmare."

By a vote of 75 to 24, senators adopted an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to eventually usher in the first national Internet sales tax.

The vote follows a week of fierce lobbying from the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represent … Read more

Calculate your Canadian federal and provincial payroll taxes with WinTax Calculator

No one likes to pay taxes, eh? Translated from the original Canadian, that reads, "No one likes to pay taxes." While totally lame, our joke hinges on a fact of life for millions of people: They're Canadian. Specifically, they live, work, and pay taxes in Canada, a place so like its noisier neighbor to the south that it's all too easy to forget that lots of things are done differently up there. Such as paying taxes. WinTax Calculator from HRIS Consulting is a free tool for calculating Canadian payroll taxes. It can determine your tax on … Read more

Internet tax proposal up for a vote in Senate this week

Internet tax supporters are hoping that a vote in the U.S. Senate as early as today will finally give them enough political leverage to require Americans to pay sales taxes when shopping online.

Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are expected to offer an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution this week that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to usher in the first national Internet sales tax.

"We're working overtime in pushing this, talking to our members, activating our grassroots," says Stephen Schatz, a spokesman for … Read more

TurboTax Online Deluxe 2012

TurboTax is big in tax software, so we were interest to see how their online tax service compared to similar services from other big names in the tax prep game. TurboTax Online offers five options: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, and the new Military Edition. The Deluxe edition is the most popular. Why? Maybe its mission: Maximize your deductions. TurboTax Deluxe 2012 is ready to help you prepare and file your 2012 taxes. Better yet, it's ready for the IRS: One of the advantages of online tax tools from trusted services is their ability to handle changes in … Read more

Manage payrolls and more with Payroll Mate 2013

Small and medium-size businesses do all kinds of different things, but one thing they have in common is they're in business. Something else they have in common is payrolls. Meeting them, managing them, recording them -- no wonder so many business owners and accountants always seem worried! It's a lot of responsibility. Payroll Mate 2013 from Real Business Solutions can help. It handles just about every part of the payroll process except providing the actual pay (sorry -- that one's still yours!) for a reasonable price. It can prepare payrolls, calculate taxes and withholding, print paychecks, create … Read more

Express Tax Refund's embedded browser taxed our patience

The ability to electronically file your federal and state taxes may be the nearest thing to pleasant in the whole taxpaying experience, except for getting a refund. To e-file your taxes, you need some form of tax software. You have many choices, including some free tools (usually just for federal taxes) as well as shareware e-filing tools and on and up to major personal finance and accounting packages, some of which might cost more than your tax bill. RT Software's Express Tax Refund is typical of tools offering one-stop e-filing, with a secure, Web-integrated interface and functionality, step-by-step operation, … Read more

File your homeowner or investment income taxes online with TurboTax Deluxe 2012

TurboTax is big in tax software, so we were interest to see how its online tax service compared with similar services from other big names in the tax prep game. TurboTax Online offers five options: Free, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, and the new Military Edition. The Deluxe edition is the most popular. Why? Maybe its mission: maximize your deductions. TurboTax Deluxe 2012 is ready to help you prepare and file your 2012 taxes. Better yet, it's ready for the IRS: one of the advantages of online tax tools from trusted services is their ability to handle changes in … Read more