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Doing your taxes is an arduous task. W-2s, 1099s, other forms whose names probably mean something to someone somewhere but whose numerical ciphers are near impossible to deduce for the everyman. A Internet tutorial series by butterscotch.com.

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If you track your household budget using software, you may be able to import your financial software data into TurboTax to eliminate some tedious data entry. Filing your taxes online is easy and by importing your financial data right into TurboTax.

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Every tax season, the question I get most is “Should I just pay someone to do my taxes?”. Every year my answer is the same, “it depends”. There are many factors that should be considered before making the final decision to tackle the tax beast. In the end, the decision is yours. Let’s talk about what to consider.

First off, how complex are your taxes? If you are single, rent your home, don’t have many deductions and don’t have any special tax circumstances, the decision is easy. You simply go online to a site such as TurboTax and take advantage of free federal filing. State filings usually have a small cost, but that is pretty standard. The best part about using a site such as TurboTax is that when you go to do your taxes next year, they will copy over as much information as possible from this year’s tax return. They will also help you make all the decisions about your return. They ask you all the right questions and your answers tell them what they need to know. You’ll never touch a 1040 form again.

Most people do not have it so easy when it comes to this decision. Taxes get more complex with the more deductions and sources of income you have. If you own a rental property, have deductions for child care, medical expenses, own your home, or have income from stocks and bonds (If you made money in this market, I want to meet your financial advisor!), you may not be filing the simplest tax forms. If your deductions total enough, you will want to itemize your deductions instead of taking the standard deduction. In English please?! The government sets a baseline for how much the average person spends in a year that would be tax deductible. This amount is called the “standard deduction”. This amount is about $5,500 this year for those filing single. In other words, if you don’t have any deductions, you get to claim the standard deduction. If your deductions total more than $5,500, it is in your best interest to list out all of your deductions and get the higher deduction amount.

So a good question to ask is whether you will be taking the standard deduction. If not, how complex are the deductions you will list out? Losses on investments and rental properties are much easier to list out than entering data from a form 1098 for the interest on your mortgage. The same applies to the income side. Entering a W-2 is much easier than entering all of your purchases and sales of your favorite stock. If you still have a favorite stock. The best approach is to gather all the necessary information. You will want information on all the money you made, all the interest that was paid to you, all money you contributed to charity, and all other deductions you may have. If you think there is a chance that you may be able to handle it yourself, remember that you can enter your information on TurboTax without having to pay anything. You only pay if and when you get through the process and decide to actually file your return. You may find that it is a very manageable process. If it gets too complex, you might want to gather all of your paperwork and start the hunt for a quality tax preparer. Just beware of the fact that anyone can call themselves a tax preparer. If your taxes are complex enough to need professional help, make sure you don’t trust just anyone.

Happy Tax Season!

Every year, we citizens of the United States have to “pay our dues” so to speak, in the form of filing our income tax documentation with the federal, state, and in some cases, municipal government. For many years, people and businesses have filed their taxes with the government using the post office. Taxpayers could (and still can) obtain the required forms for their claim at their local post office, then take them home where they can be prepared by themselves or by a professional tax specialist with services such as H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt.

Many people who do their own taxes get many of the benefits of a professional tax preparer by using tax software to prepare their tax documents and transmit them to the government using the internet.

Using tax preparation software is an excellent, efficient way to do your taxes and can help you get your taxes filed as quickly as possible. All of the forms that you could possibly need to file your taxes is included in the major tax preparation software packages. You can opt to digitally complete and transmit your forms via the software interface using fully digital documents (you will still need to file the hard copies with your W2 forms as well, but your claim is considered received when the digital files are transmitted and accepted) or you can complete the forms using the software and it’s helpful wizards, and then print the forms using the tax software in order to fulfill your tax requirements the old fashioned way (with a little help from digital era technology.)

Whatever way you choose to use it, tax preparation software can be a very convenient way for you to take control of another aspect of your financial destiny without having to learn complicated accounting procedures. There are several reputable software packages out there such as Quicken, TurboTax and Microsoft Money that can help you get started in the world of digital tax filing.

The Tax Save 2007 Open Enrollment period beqins on October 1, 2006 and ends on October 31, 2006. TaxSave Opero Enrollment is y’our opportunity to save tax dollars in the 2007 tax year with the Premium Option Plan and the two Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) – the Unreimbursed Medical Spending Account and the Dependent Care Spending Account

Enrollment in the Premiun Option Plan component of TaxSave is automatic every year. The Flexible Spending Accounts require active enrollment each year. There are a variety ot easy ways to enroll.

You may enroll over the phone by calling Horizon BCBSNJ’s automated voice response system at 1-800-2244426 (October 1 – October 31, 2006).

You may enroll overthe Internet during the same time period at: www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/taxsave.htm and follow the link to the Horizon BCBSNJ Web site.

You ean enroll by obtaining an enrollment kit from your benetits administrator. These forms must ba postmarked by October 31 , 2006, in order to enroll for the 2007 plan year.

TaxSave and Domestic Partners and Dependents Age 23 to 30

State employees are able to add a same-sex domestic partner to their SHBP medical and dental insurance coverage, and New for the 2007 plan year, Chapter 375, PL 2005, permits continued SHBP medical plan coverage for certain dependents unti! their 30th birthday

However, before any premiums that the employee pays for the domestic partner or over-age dependent coverage can be made on a pre-tax basis under the Turbo Tax Save Premium Option Plan, the domestic partner or over-age dependent must be able to qualify as a “tax dependenf’ of the employee for federal tax filing purposes – under Internal Revenue Code Section 152.

Similarly, the domestic partner or over-age dependent must qualify as the employee’s tax dependent before an out-ofpocket medical expense incurred by the domestic partner or dependent can be reimbursed under the Unreimbursed Medlcal Spendlng Account. See IRS Tax Topie 354 – Dependentsfor addjtional information on the requirements for establishjng dependent status for federal tax purposes.

If the domestic partner or over-age dependent is not a “qualified tax dependent” of the employee, any premium deductions made for the domestic partner’s coverage must be made on an after-tax basjs and funds in the Unreimbursed Medical Spending Account cannot be used to cover the domestic partner’s medical expenses

The big news about Intuit’s TurboTax line this year is the development of specialized versions. In addition to Basic, Deluxe, Premier, and Home & Business, there are now versions for serious investors, retirement planners, and Spanish speakers. All of these programs’ features (minus the Spanish version, which is most similar to Basic) appear in Turbo Tax Premier ($59.95 list), which we review here.

TurboTax Premier looks and acts much the way it has in the past. You can import figures from numerous suppliers of W-2 and 1099 information, which should eliminate all-too-common data entry errors for those whose firms participate. Importantly, payroll-services giant ADP has been added this year, bringing the total number of firms to more than 50.

A new feature called My Tax History brings more data in from your previous year’s return to help save you time (though you still need to review it for accuracy). In the interview mode, you can select a split screen, with the current form showing below. Questions and explanations appear in the main interview window, with fields or check boxes for your responses. FAQs appear in the right pane, and your current tax score (amount of refund or obligation) appears above.

Turbo Tax Premier again offers live help advice, which is now available at a flat fee of $19.95 for up to 10 minutes (last year the rate varied depending on the consultant). More information about the financial professionals you deal with is provided this year, as well as ratings from past users. For $39.95 (for the 1040ez only, or $59.95 with Schedules C, E, and F), you can zap your return to a tax professional, who will review it and return it with remarks (but, as with TaxCut, not sign it as a preparer). There’s also a link to the TurboTax technical-support site.