When it number to giving Uncle Sam his due , we ’re make do with an embarrassment of rich . Want to use an online avail to prepare and file away your tax return ? You ’ve got at leastfive online taxation preparation sitesto beak from . More comfortable with traditional background product ? I ’ve looked at bothTurboTax Premiere 2011from Intuit and At Home Premium 2011 from H&R Block . And if you ’re turning to an iPhone or iPad for an increase identification number of day - to - sidereal day tasks , tax app makers have something to offer as well .
BothIntuitandH&R Blockhave a stalls of iOS offerings aimed at satisfy on - the - go tax preparers . I ’ve looked at the major apps from each company , with standalone reviews ofIntuit ’s fluid tax apps for the iPhone and iPadandH&R Block ’s iOS apps . Here , we ’ll summarize the review article of those apps , with an eye toward finding which one good suit your need .
Both Intuit and H&R Block offer like apps direct at two case of tax filing clerk — a basic iPhone app that targets anyone preparing a unsubdivided 1040EZ class and a more fully featured iPad app that covers more complex situations .
TurboTax SnapTax
iPhone apps
TurboTax SnapTax
Intuit’sTurboTax SnapTaxuses the built - in camera on your iPhone and iPod touch to help simplify the datum entry unconscious process of file a 1040EZ takings . You rupture a pic of your W-2 , and SnapTax scans the document to deplumate out income and other pertinent information . After answering some personal question , you should be capable to file your taxes from the app — adopt you ’re eligible to file a 1040EZ . Otherwise , the app directs you to theTurboTax websiteto polish off off your return .
SnapTax ’s W-2 photo scan is a clever feature that ferment with variegate degree of accuracy in my examination . On a solid - sized W-2 , the app pulled in selective information ; alas , much of it was faulty . On a horizontally tailor W-2 , SnapTax only successfully gathered entropy one out of 10 scans . Fortunately , you could manually correct and enter W-2 info with slight effort .
H&R Block At Home 1040EZ
More thwarting was the fact that SnapTax does not save any information if you do n’t create a loose TurboTax account or if you are in the thick of entering datum , get distracted for a moment , and the gimmick goes to catch some Z’s . And again , if your tax return is more complicated than what the 1040EZ allows , you ’ll need to plan on finishing that recurrence elsewhere . ( The app does make good use of the Safari Mobile River browser app in this instance . )
H&R Block At Home 1040EZ
Like SnapTax , H&R Block At Home 1040EZaims to complete your 1040EZ taxation class . Before you’re able to apply the app , you first need to create an H&R Block account . strangely , if you have an be business relationship that you ’ve create at H&R Block ’s internet site , you will not be capable to use that with the app . Likewise , once you ’ve converted the smartphone account you ’ve create on your phone to an online account , you may no longer practice it on your phone . Unlike SnapTax , you ca n’t finish your taxis on the Safari web internet browser with H&R Block ’s iPhone offering .
TurboTax 2011 for iPad
Still , At Home 1040EZ has a distinguishable reward over the TurboTax app when it comes to photograph and scanning W-2s : It worked perfectly every fourth dimension , no matter how my W-2 was oriented . If you sleep together you ’ll be register a 1040EZ , At habitation ’s more consistent scanning may make it a respectable choice for simple returns ; TurboTax SnapTax does provide more flexibility with its ability to complete more complicated returns online .
iPad apps
TurboTax 2011 for iPad
iPad exploiter will find Intuit’sTurboTax 2011to be an iOS doppelgänger to the desktop edition of TurboTax Deluxe , both in features and functionality . Like its background sibling , TurboTax 2011 walk you through an interview process that is designed to determine what forms you need for register your revenue enhancement . Once the audience is over , you begin entering line item for your income , witholding , and deductions . The program work out perfectly from start to finale .
I could n’t automatically import any of my W-2 or banking information into TurboTax 2011 — that was also an emergence for me when I try out the background interlingual rendition — but the overall process was so gratifying and the data entry was so easy , that fact that I could n’t spell datum was n’t a problem for me .
H&R Block At Home Free Edition
The app is a devoid download : You only have to give when it ’s filing time . Filing fees for TurboTax 2011 start at $ 30 for a Union return ; if you are required to file State Department taxes , you will involve to pay for a state filing as well .
H&R Block At Home Free Edition
Like TurboTax 2011 , H&R Block’sFree Editionis a free iPad download , where you only have to pay at the point when you charge your regaining . At Home Free Edition walk you through a abbreviated personal questionnaire to help determine whether or not your tax can be completed using the app . While the questionnaire was easy to use , I found that its questions were not as unclouded or as obvious as the I posture by TurboTax . In fact , I ’d make out my intact regaining before realizing that I had not entered any K-1 information and that I was also missing some other form as well . In fact , since these questions were n’t obvious during the interview process , it would have been possible for me to complete and register my coming back without any clue that there was info I had n’t entered .
H&R Block ’s Free Edition supports more complicated revenue enhancement returns , but the app hides these deluxe characteristic by default . Once I was able to locate the options for adding K-1 entropy and other similar sort , the H&R Block app made it percipient that I was no longer able to apply the free interlingual rendition of the app and offered me the alternative of download the other forms I needed . I was n’t call for to pay for anything at the time I download the forms , but the app made it clear that for file these returns I would have to pay a lower limit of $ 20 .
H&R Block at Home Free Edition will do a fine job of plow your taxes , but the burden is on you to ensure that you have discharge the interview process in such a way that you have answered all the questions necessary to dispatch your take . It ’s a fine option , but I recall TurboTax Deluxe for the iPad seems to be the safer choice for the uninitiated taxation filer .
[ Jeffery Battersby is an Apple Certified Trainer , ( very ) smalltime actor , and regular contributor to Macworld . He write about Macs and more at hisblog . ]
