Software Packages Can Make April 15 Deadline Less Taxing

For years, the bold entrepreneurs who built the personal computer industry have envisaged - even promised - a day when we'd see a PC on every desk in every workplace, every home. It hasn't happened yet, of course; the general population of the United States is far from being on-line. Scientists can't be blamed for this, however. Indeed, given its density of PCs, the science community probably ranks right up there with banking and a few other commercial sectors as contributing most to the fulfillment of the one person/one machine dream. Most scientists have personal computers of some kind in their homes as well as their labs and offices; they've welcomed these machines as powerful tools that greatly facilitate a wide range of tasks, pertaining not only to the gathering and manipulation of research data, but also to writing papers and a host of administrative chores, such as the tracking of daily schedules and the recording of student grades. PCs are also valuable tools in performing otherwise time-consuming nonprofessional tasks, thereby freeing up hours, perhaps days, of drudgery that are better spent in the lab or administrative office. Considering the time of year we're in - with the infamous April 15 deadline breathing down our necks - the chore of tax preparation is an example worthy of our attention. Several software companies have prepared programs that can save the busy scientist a heap of time and trouble, and here we'll discuss three of the most popular tax programs for IBM-compatible machines: Turbo Tax, Macintax, and Tax Cut. All three have gone through extensive revisions and upgrades in the past year, and all are offering new features for 1990. Turbo Tax, a product of San Diego-based ChipSoft, has long been among the leaders in the tax-preparation software world. Macintax for Windows, formerly called TaxView, is an IBM-family version of a best-selling tax program for Apple's Macintosh; it is offered by Softview of Oxnard, Calif. Tax Cut is available from MECA Software, the makers of Managing Your Money, a program that enables users to track their checkbook, stocks, and net worth. (Last year MECA offered a Tax Cut program based on one distributed by a different publisher, Best Inc. For 1990, the company is distributing a package based on a program called Ask Dan for Taxes, which first came out last year. The new Tax Cut is much easier to use than the old version, and offers some features not available in other programs.) Before you select one of these packages, it is important to understand what these programs can and cannot do. If an expert accountant has been doing your taxes, don't expect one of these programs to replace that accountant. The packages, especially Tax Cut, do offer some advice that goes beyond mere mechanics, but their forte is replacing the mundane or confusing aspects of tax preparation with something simpler and easier to use. In particular, do not expect to be given too much information on issues that may be of special concern to scientists, such as the latest wrinkles in deductions for home offices or home computers used for business. For those questions, you'll need a good tax guide. Several of these programs come with general-purpose tax guides, but you'll probably want to invest in a specialized guide like the "Tax Guide for College Teachers" (available from Academic Information Service, P.O. Box 929, College Park, Md. 20740). As the genre of tax programs has matured, the basic features of each software package have become remarkably similar to those of the others. This similarity makes the choice among the programs less crucial than it was in the past. Whereas in previous years each program would serve different needs, now all of them have the same basic features. Therefore, one's selection of a tax-preparation package for 1990 can be based less on functionality and more on such factors as ease of use. To use all the programs, you enter the information found on your W-2 form. The programs then transfer that information to on-screen facsimiles of the actual tax forms; you fill in the other blanks on screen as you would on paper. All the programs have at least some portion of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) instructions available on-line, although Tax Cut is weakest here. Tax Cut makes up for this deficiency, however, by providing advice in a number of areas. For example, with this package, you can call up a list of topics and find out the basics needed to qualify for a home office deduction. Tax Cut will also flag a large deduction that is likely to trigger an audit. These features make Tax Cut stand out as especially useful for people trying to do their own taxes for the first time - if they have relatively simple returns. However, for people whose taxes are more complicated, the lack of IRS instructions makes Tax Cut troublesome. All three software packages allow you to attach notes to any line of any schedule or form or to itemize any input; for example, if you enter a list of components (such as consultants' fees paid by different firms) and amounts, the program will automatically add them together. All the programs do some kind of checking for missing or incorrect items. Here again, however, Tax Cut is weak. Unlike Turbo Tax and Macintax, Tax Cut let through two errors I made on purpose during the course of testing the programs: failing to enter Social Security numbers for some of my children, and deducting more than 50% of my income as a charitable deduction. Once you fill out your tax forms, you'll need to make hard copies. All three programs support standard dot matrix and Hewlett-Packard Laser Jet printers. The output on a Laser Jet with Macintax for Windows is magnificent. (Of course, you may not care if you impress your IRS auditor, but what if you do taxes for your mother-in-law?) Macintax also uses a graphics mode to make all your forms - not just the main 1040 - look just like the ones that the IRS supplies. The IRS will accept this print-out instead of the form it provides, as long as you attach your address label. Similarly, with Macintax, the on-screen and printed-out forms look real. If this verisimilitude appeals to you, Macintax for Windows is a good choice. However, you should consider this program only if you already have the full Microsoft Windows package. Macintax requires Windows but does not come shipped with it. Previous versions of TaxView (Macintax's old name) suffered from very slow performance in both display and printing, even by the standards of Windows programs. Now, its performance is comparable to that of other Windows programs. The third program, Turbo Tax, has addressed some of the few annoyances of its prior versions. For example, you can now put up to five tax returns in a single directory. In addition, while the program used to have one menu with several parts, submenus now drop down into view, which you manipulate with a new set of commands that is more up-to-date and visually more attractive. For many users, support for state tax returns is an important factor influencing the choice of a tax-preparation program. With a linked state tax package, data can be transferred automatically from the federal return to the state return at a significant time saving. Here Turbo Tax, which supports more than 40 states, is strongest. Macintax is expecting to provide supplements for California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Virginia. Tax Cut is planning to offer packages for California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These state modules should be available in late March, directly from MECA. Which program is best? They are all quite functional and easy to use. If you do your own tax preparation, getting one of these packages is definitely a wise investment; the cost is offset by the time saved. The programs are close enough in quality that your decision can depend on minor considerations - such as which program you used last year, whether your state module is available, or which has the best price - rather than major considerations, like speed or ease of use. (Be sure to check the mail-order software sources, which generally offer substantial discounts.) Barry Simon is IBM Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Caltech.

Software Packages Can Make April 15 Deadline Less Taxing

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