TaxGaga.com

Who would not want to save money on their taxes?

You may be surprised that some people think it is more patriotic to pay more tax than others. Though most of us are now watching our finances very well and would appreciate a tax tool that will help us save a few bucks.

So the following are my picks for best calculators and tools to help you save money.

Quicken Tax Tools – Simply Google “Quicken Tax Tools” and you will find some very comprehensive tools to calculate what Uncle Sam is going to be expecting from you.

Google Docs – Even if you do not have any spreadsheet software on your computer you can now easily create some pretty good ones with Google Docs. Their spreadsheet has steadily improved to the point that it is quite a serious tool.

Google Search – You would be surprised how many professionals are using Google to begin and sometimes end their tax research. Though a word to the wise is that do not always consider that everything that is on the web has been fact checked and is current.

All the tax tools though will not help if you do not have some good information to work with. So make sure to document all your deductions during the year so that it will make tax time easier.

You may be surprised how many good choices there are for free software on the web to do your accounting. Though it will take time to download and install them it is very likely to save you money in the long run.

Lastly please remember that though we all like things that are free yet sometimes you get what you pay for. So it may very well be worthwhile to pay a CPA such as myself to prepare your taxes.

Many people waste money every year by paying an accountant to do what they can easily do themselves. If you know how to choose a good income tax preparation software, you will be able to easily fire your accountant with no worries.

1. Do you want an online based software, or one that installs on your computer? Both have their pros and cons. An online software doesn’t take up any space on your hard drive and once you have saved your tax return you can go back to it from any computer. I have had to do this multiple times. A lot of the time, you can get an online based software for free if you are just doing the basics.

Some people are worried about safety, and would rather their information be kept only on their computer, this is understandable considering identity theft. It truly depends on what you are most comfortable with.

2. Do you require any ‘specialty’ filing? Usually this means anything beyond a 1040. If you don’t know what than means don’t panic. Once you have answered the software’s first several questions you will know what you need to fill out. ‘Specialty’ filing includes self-employed, small business, very large incomes, and some other irregular situations.

Make sure the software you choose supports whatever you need. There are many free online income tax preparation software programs, but you may have to pay extra to file some of these more elaborate forms.

3. Does it support federal and state tax forms? In most states you will be required to fill out an income tax return. Most income tax preparation software programs will do this filing for an extra fee, but make sure to double check. There is nothing worse than filling out your entire federal return only to realize you are going to have to use a different software to fill out an entire state return.