posted by Savanah on Jan 14
The post holiday season can be quite a downer. It’s not just the post-fun funk that can develop. There’s also the cold, the snow, the cloudy days of winter stretching out for months to come. On top of that, people start receiving income statements in the mail and realize that it’s time to face up to their 2010 income taxes.
Even people who expect to receive refunds usually dread actually sitting down to pull together tax documents and fill out their forms. For most people, the process is simple, but the forms are filled with legalese and weird calculations. Even with the guides provided by the IRS, filling out the forms can take several hours, depending on how complicated an individual’s tax situation may be.
Those with computers and internet access have the option of filing their taxes online. This saves on paper and postage and makes it easier for the IRS to process the forms. Many states have also jumped on the bandwagon and accept or even encourage e-filing. Many tax preparation sites offer free 1040 tax preparation and free e-filing to all but those in the highest income brackets. It may take a few hours to work through all the questions on a given site, but since they do all the calculations and help identify deductions and credits that filers may miss on their own, it’s well worth the effort.
