See important note at the end of the newsletter.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, TurboTax software firm Intuit will unveil an iPhone application that allows users to quickly file state and federal taxes by snapping a photo of their W-2 form.
The program relies on optical character recognition software to process tax form data. Users answer a handful of prompted questions, review the displayed information and click "send" to file.
"We weren't really sure whether people would take this seriously and actually finish their taxes on the phone" says Barry Saik, vice president of product management for TurboTax. "You can take the view that this is kind of a crazy thing to try to do."
TurboTax's vice president is absolutely right, this is a crazy thing to do. You do not get the best tax refunds by relying on off the shelf tax software for your tax preparation. These companies are not interested in minimizing your taxes, they are interested in selling you a tax program.
Important Note:This week, our firm will be sending out electronic tax organizers to all our clients. To get the best refund, please be diligent in filling out and sending back. And always remember, friends do not let friends use TurboTax.
