Tax preparation is the act of calculating one’s own income tax. Today tax preparation is fairly easy to use for most individuals. It has be done by the tax filer himself, with the help of a CPA, by a tax preparation business, or with the help of tax preparation software or services available online. There are many places online that offer free use of their online tax preparation software. Online tax programs have been specifically designed for ease of use, accuracy and maximum tax savings.
When you prepare your taxes online there are usually three main areas the tax program will need to gather information about.
- The first area is your personal information such as, address, social security number, date of birth, marital status and dependents.
- The second area of the tax preparation program will be about your income such as salary, wages, tips, interest, investments and any other sources of income you had.
- The third area of the tax preparation program will be about tax deductions and tax credits such as your home, you and your family, cars, education, charitable donations, medical expenses, taxes paid, retirement, investments and employment expenses.
Once you’ve completed the three main areas of information it will be time for the tax program to make it’s calculations. After the calculations have been made you will have a chance to review and edit any areas you choose. This can be very beneficial in some cases as you may decide to itemize versus taking the standard deduction.
Well, so far everything has been free for your online tax preparation and you might even qualify for free tax filing, but even if you don’t, the fee for filing online is usually quite small.
The days of income tax preparation with pencil and paper are long over. You can actually sit down at your computer and do online income tax preparation in about an hour depending on your situation. Stop wasting time running around the old-fashioned way of doing taxes and save time by doing it online. Today it’s possible to prepare and file your income taxes online quickly and easily. Whether you need to file a 1040ez or need to file an itemized tax return, online income tax preparation is the modern way to do your taxes.