Dailytaxtips’s Blog

Forget that paper tax return! Electronic filing, online tax preparation and online payment of taxes are getting more popular every year. If you have wondered about efile, here are the answers to frequently asked questions. This article will explain: why efiling is a good idea; which states let you efile; how much efiling costs; how soon you’ll get your refund.

Why efile?

Here are some reasons why electronic filing makes sense for most taxpayers:

    *  Fewer mistakes. Using tax software such as TurboTax substantially reduces errors. According to the IRS, more than 17% of income tax returns prepared on paper have mistakes, such as missing information or taxes calculated using the wrong tax tables; half of those errors cause folks to overpay their taxes. But less than 1% of returns prepared electronically contain errors. If there is a mistake on your return, the IRS can detect it and send back an error report in as few as 48 hours so that you can quickly fix the problem.

    * Speedier preparation. You can get the job done a lot faster if you tackle it with your computer. Filing from your computer saves you the trip to the post office, too.

    * Faster refunds. If you send in your return by mail, you can expect to wait up to six weeks for your refund. But last year, folks who used TurboTax to efile their returns and elected to have their tax refunds deposited directly into their bank accounts had their refunds in 8 to 15 days. If, however, you still prefer to send the IRS a paper return, TurboTax gives you that option.