Finance

4 Best Tax Accounting and Preparation Apps

By: Joseph Akintaju on March 1, 2013 @ 11:44 pm

It’s fair to say not many people look forward to doing their taxes. Hauling out a big box of receipts, trying to remember what each purchase was for, and deciding which ones are tax-deductible is time-consuming and difficult. Fortunately, tax accounting and preparation apps have been developed that can help keep track of expenses through the year, making tax preparation quick and painless.

TurboTax SnapTax

TurboTax, one of the more popular tax-preparation software solutions, offers TurboTax SnapTax for iPhone and Android. It is designed for 1040-EZ filers who do not own a home or have children. In addition, they must only have W-2, unemployment or interest income to report. The income must be less than $100,000 a year if single, $120,000 if married. It is available to be downloaded for free. Users snap photos of their W-2 and import it into the app, provide answers to a series of short questions, check the results and file electronically. While it is downloadable for free, if the consumer actually uses the app to file there is a fee of $24.99 due at the end.

TurboTax also offers a free product called MyTaxRefund which is available for mobile phones and tablets. It is available from both the iTunes App Store and the Android Market. It allows users to track their e-filed return and figure out when they will get their cash.

TaxACT Central

In November of 2011, Second Story Software released their free mobile app named TaxACT Central. It is a companion to their top-selling TaxACT desktop applications. It is designed to provide mobile access to tax information throughout the year. Features include a tax return checklist, a help center with a variety of answers to common tax questions, updates on the status of tax returns, tax tips from the best-selling tax guide by J.K. Lasser called “Your Income Tax Guide,” and a calendar with critical tax dates indicated by month, type of taxpayer and fiscal year.

H&R Block Tax Central

H&R Block’s distinctive green app for iPhone and Android gives customers of the well-known tax-preparation service the ability to keep track of their expenses on the go. Users can create their own custom checklist of tax-preparation items, get answers to common questions posed by taxpayers, and keep track of important calendar dates for tax-related expenses. In addition, they can prepare estimates of their refund with the Tax Estimator, review tax terms in a huge tax glossary, use their GPS or Internet access to determine the nearest H&R block location and even test their tax knowledge with an interactive quiz.

CCH Mobile

Complete Tax is tax-preparation software from a company known as CCH, a well-known provider of accounting and tax software for consumers and corporations. In August of 2012, they updated their CCH Mobile tax app which allows their CCH Intelliconnect customers to gain access to tax research from their smart phone or tablet computer.

The revised app makes searching for critical tax content faster than ever before. It can be downloaded to iPhones, iPads and Androids. Users get immediate access to important publications like “Tax Tracker News” and critical documents such as “IRS Code and Regulations.” Perhaps because of CCH’s experience providing tax information to important corporate clients, CCH Mobile provides access to an extensive array of tax legislation, breaking news and updates.

Tax time can be stressful for every consumer. The availability of top quality apps from a number of established tax-preparation software companies gives weary taxpayers some measure of relief. They can track their expenses on the go and monitor the status of their return right from their mobile device. While apps do not completely eliminate the need to pay taxes, they take some of the headache out of the process.

Sources:

http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/Tax-Refund/MyTaxRefund-Helps-You-Track-Your-Tax-Refund-Status-on-Your-Mobile-or-Tablet-Device/GEN80334.html

http://financialsoft.about.com/od/otherfinancialsoftware/tp/Tax-Software-Reviews-2012.htm

http://financialsoft.about.com/od/otherfinancialsoftware/tp/Tax-Software-Reviews-2012.htm

http://financialplan.about.com/od/software/tp/TPTaxSoftware.htm

http://financialsoft.about.com/od/otherfinancialsoftware/a/Readers-Review-Tax-Software.htm

http://financialsoft.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=financialsoft&cdn=compute&tm=47&f=20&su=p284.13.342.ip_p504.6.342.ip_&tt=3&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.hrblock.com/iphone/hrb_app.html

http://www.taxact.com/press/2011/press-release-11-14-2011-free-taxact-central.asp

Damon Baker is a corporate accountant and guest author at Accounting-Degree.org, a site with resources to help prospective students evaluate top-rated online accounting degree programs.

Further Reading

Leave a Reply