Minnesota, USA April 8, 2011- As we sit in America, we are anxiously waiting to hear what happens to the Government in its tension filled decision making on Government Spending. If an agreement cannot be made within the next few hours, a large amount of services will be forced to shut down while other services will continue running on I.O.U. - I Owe You-'s. April 18 is coming up quick and the crunch for filing our taxes is closing in. Unfortunately, one of the services that could be hit is the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) which would not be allowed to process tax returns that filed the traditional way rather than the electronically. For those who do not have any special circumstances preventing the electronic filing, e-filing with direct deposit is the best option as there will not be a huge delay in returns.

 

 

I have unique situations which prevents me from being able to e-file my state taxes; however, I had the joy of filing my federal taxes this way. Over the years, I experimented with the several online software programs available that allowed me to do this for FREE! I never had to pay any fees for my returns, although I would have loved the convenience of doing all of my taxes online even if there was a cost for the state returns.

To give you a little motivation, I will give a review on some Online Tax Software to help you choose which you will use this year to get this dreaded - yet loved - task done! It cuts back on the time spend and maximizes that overall money return!

My Favorite Pick: TurboTax

When it comes to this time of the year, this is generally my pick because that my needs are small; I only need the free federal tax return filing and that is it. Mainly I use this because it is the easiest to use and it is the most dependable. I also love how easy it is to find tips in the help section that apply to anything I could need. For those who need to also file for a state, it is only $39.95 per state.

Cheapest - Next Best Option: TaxACT

The best package deal if you are looking to file both federal and state taxes; no matter the package, it currently costs $17.95 for federal plus state filings. It definitely beats the prices of up to $75+ like some of the others on the market. It is just as good as TurboTax, except it does not have as highly rated customer support. If you do not have any basic questions, TaxACT should more than good enough because you will be able to fly through all of your taxes.

Traditional Meets Digital: H&R Block (At Home)

If you always felt comfortable going to H&R Block to have your taxes filed before, maybe you would feel more comfortable trying a software provided by it. It currently offers a variety of packages that are deeply discounted which includes: Basic, Deluxe, Premium, and even Premium & Business. I cannot guarantee that customer service will always be better than anywhere else; it is likely that a local office could answer some of your questions when it comes to the software.