Re: Tax software for Debian (Lenny)?
On Fri, 5 Feb 2010 23:35:26 -0500 (EST), Mark wrote:
> I've done the typical Internet scrubbing and didn't find anything specific
> to tax software for Debian (something similar to TurboTax, for example). I
> found a few interesting options but nothing in the official Debian
> packages. Here's what I have so far as options (on-line versions), any
> insight into the most Linux/Debian-friendly one of these? I live in the USA
> and run Lenny on the machine I"ll do my taxes with.
>
> -taxact.com http://www.taxactonline.com/
> -taxslayer.com http://www.taxslayer.com/
> -taxgeek (looks a couple years old) http://taxgeek.sourceforge.net/
I'd go with the online software. That way, you're never out
of date. I've used both fileyourtaxes.com and taxact.com.
You have to enter fileyourtaxes.com from the IRS web site
"free file" link or else they'll charge you. But I don't
remember them having any ads. And you have to be below the
income limit (I think it's $50,000/year) to qualify for a free
return. I used it to file a tax return for myself the first
year, before the income limit was put on. After the income
limit I used it only to do my kid's returns. One nice thing
about this company is that their server is in California;
so the e-file date/time stamp is California time. If you live
in the eastern time zone, you can e-file as late as 2:59 AM
on April 16 and the e-file date/time stamp will say 11:59 PM
on April 15. You filed on time!
Since I'm over the $50,000 limit, I use taxact.com. You don't
have to enter that site from the IRS free-file link to get
free filing. But they have three options. I forget what
they're called, but I think its like basic,
advanced, and premium, or some such thing. Only basic is free.
And you will be encouraged at several points along the way to
upgrade to advanced or premium. Resist the temptation.
Basic can handle just about everything. You will also be
encouraged to let them prepare your state return too.
They charge for that as well. In my state, the state government
has a free web site for state income tax preparation; so
I always decline taxact's offer of state tax preparation.
My municipal tax return can be filed online free as well,
using a third government-sponsored web site.
I have to key everything in over again, of course, but once
the federal return has been prepared, it really doesn't take
too long to do the state return. This site also has ads,
mostly for their advanced and premium filing services.
But I put up with it to get free filing.
As I recall, both sites whine about an unsupported browser.
Neither one of them likes Epiphany. And you have to go through
some extra steps of "are you sure you want to use this
browser anyway?" But Epiphany under Lenny worked fine last
year.
That reminds me. I need to get started on my taxes. :-(
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