E~file Your 2011 Tax Return: How to E~file Your Taxes
Tax season is upon us. This means that you are either preparing a tax return by yourself or hiring a tax preparer to do it for you. For years you may have prepared and filed your returns on paper, the traditional method. You may have gone to a tax preparation office, driving numerous miles just to complete and file your return. Perhaps you are tired of preparing your tax return this way. Do you want an easier and faster way to do this, without the hasile of paper files and driving to tax prep offices? Then this may be the year to efile your tax return. The IRS highly recommends that you efile rather than traditionally file your taxes. In America alone, two-thirds of taxpayers already efile.
You may be thinking, “Why efile?” Well, here are some reasons you may want to electronically file your tax return:
- You can get your tax refund faster than with a paper tax return (usually in half the time)
- You can have a more secure tax return submission process online than if it was mailed (the IRS will keep your information private)
- You can file early to initiate refunds before tax season peaks in April. You can also check your tax return and tax refund status online, from anywhere and at any time throughout the year.
- You can get a more accurate tax return (1% error rate vs. 20% with traditional tax returns)
- You don’t have to drive to tax preparation offices-everything you need is online
- You can avoid IRS penalties
- You can eliminate paper returns completely-no more trips to the post office and no more paper waste
Do these sound like great reasons to efile your tax return? Well, read on to find out how to efile your taxes-it’s easy!
How to Efile Your Tax Return
Completing and efiling a tax return is simple. Just follow the four steps below to complete the process:
Receive Your W-2 and Other Important Tax Documents
Before you start completing a tax return, you should make sure that you have all your important tax documents with you. These documents include your W-2 form (s), wage statements, and tax statements. You should receive your W-2 by January 31. If you have not received your W-2 by that time, contact your employer and request a copy of the form (allow a reasonable amount of time for the employer to make the form available to you). Call the IRS if you still have not received your W-2 by February 15.
You should also have information about your income and interest, as well any credits and deductions you are qualified to take. Other documents that can be useful when completing your tax return include last year’s tax return, social security numbers, dependent information, and bank account numbers.
Begin an IRS efile Tax Return
Create an account on an online tax service website like efile.com. You will answer a few, uncomplicated tax questions, and your answers will help the website’s software choose the right forms for you to fill out. In addition, the software will complete all math calculations for you accurately.
To help you complete your tax return, an online tax service often has the following options available:
- A tax guide, which usually provides links to pages discussing various categories (tax extension, credits, deductions, etc.)
- Access to important deadline schedules and forms
- Help links, which often include pages to frequently asked questions about taxes and returns
- Customer support (ask your tax question(s) by emailing or calling a tax professional, or email or call the website if you have a question or concern about the software)
Whenever you get stuck completing your return, or if you need a break, you can always stop what you’re doing online and go do something else. Just log out of your account and do anything: do more tax research, drink tea, walk the dog, etc. When you are ready to log back into your account, you can continue where you left off.
Efile Your Tax Return
When you complete draft copies of your tax return, you can review and print them for your personal records. You can print our current tax year returns, even after they have been efiled, through the end of December. When you are ready to efile, you can click on “file your return” and your return will be directly sent to the IRS electronically. You could also print out your return and mail it to the IRS, especially if you need to file an amended return, which is not accepted electronically.
If you expect a refund, you have two options to receive it:
- Have it directly deposited into your bank account
- Have a paper check mailed to you
You have two options to pay for your efile tax return:
- A basic federal return is free, but a low fee often applies to state tax returns
- To pay for a federal/state Premium eFile tax return, you can either use e-Collect to deduct your tax preparation fee from your refund or you can pay by credit card
Check/Print Your Tax Return
You will receive emails notifying you about your tax return efile status. These email notifications include alerts to correct your tax return or to check your filing status. It is also a good idea to keep your ID and password for your tax service website account so you access, keep, and print your efiled tax return until December of the current tax year for free. That way, you can easily import, review, and edit the information from this return to a new tax return for next year. You can even check your income tax refund status online. You can’t do any of these actions on paper!
If you choose one thing to do differently this tax year, it should be the way you file your return. When you efile your tax return, you save time, money, and paper. You will also gain your refund faster and greater ease of mind (no penalties and online help with your tax return). What have you got to lose, except the stress of filing a tax return?
If you have any tips on the efiling process, please reply to this post!
Bio: Jacquelyn works and writes for efile.com, a company that provides an online platform for tax return preparation and secure electronic filing. They aspire to be a less expensive and more user-friendly alternative to the big online tax companies, with all of the same capabilities and more benefits. Find out about the benefits of efiling.
© 2012, Bruce Mc. All rights reserved.