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By Richard Morochove
First published March 18, 1999
Cheap and cheerful. That's how I'd describe this year's crop of programs that can help you prepare your personal income tax return.
There are few major changes this year in tax software, other than what's needed to keep the calculations straight. However, for the first time, there is an attractively-priced program for small business owners.
If you'd rather not get involved installing software you use only once a year, take a look at the web-based service provided by GriffTax Inc. at www.grifftax.com. You enter data using a reasonably up-to-date web browser. The GriffTax server then performs the calculations and shows you summary information, including the bottom line tax you pay or refund you'll receive.
If you like the size of your refund, or even if you don't like it, you can pay $10 to download your complete tax return in a file you can view and print using the free Adobe Acrobat reader program.
GriffTax also sells a more conventional tax preparation package for the Macintosh only, $40 for personal use.
HomeTax, now owned by CCH Canadian Ltd., offers scads of prizes you could win this year, such as a printer, digital camera, notebook computer or a vacation down south. It includes a demo of MS Money and 10 minutes of prepaid cellular phone time. By the way, HomeTax also prepares your tax return ($24.95 suggested retail price after $5 rebate).
HomeTax makes it easy to import data if you use a personal finance program to track your income and expenses. It supports all the leaders including Intuit's Quicken, MS Money and the Royal Bank's Managing Your Money.
HomeTax's features and interface are little changed from last year, but it's a solid Windows program (3.1, and 95/98) at a reasonable price. And don't forget those prizes!
CanTax ($31.95 SRP after $5 rebate) is another program now owned by CCH Canadian. It's a tad up-market from its HomeTax cousin, offering more business-related and planning features, such as an Employee Benefits Planner where you can learn what the value of employee benefits really mean to you. However, there are no instant win prizes.
CanTax boasts that it's Year 2000 compliant, which I suppose is aimed at those who file their returns really late. The program includes both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98 versions.
Intuit Canada has delivered three members of the QuickTax family this year: Basic, Deluxe and Home & Business. All are available for Windows 3.1 and 95/98 and Deluxe also comes in a Macintosh version ($34.95 SRP).
The basic version of QuickTax ($29.95 SRP) comes on diskettes, for the CD-challenged. It offers three ways of preparing your tax return. In addition to the form-by-form and interview methods, QuickTax offers a new SimpleSolution method this year.
SimpleSolution provides three common taxpayer profiles: student, employee and senior. You are asked only the questions that pertain to your profile. For example, students are asked questions about education, but seniors are not.
Other new features include a Telefile summary. If Revenue Canada invites you to Telefile (file your return using the telephone), QuickTax prints out a summary of the information you need to key in over the phone.
Telefile isn't the same as EFILE, the electronic filing of a return using a computer. You can't EFILE from your home PC. However, you can bring your information slips and tax return on diskette to an authorized EFILE preparer who'll charge you a few bucks for the privilege of receiving your tax assessment and refund, if any, a few weeks earlier.
QuickTax's Deluxe version ($39.95 SRP) on CD adds multimedia help including video clips and electronic books of tax advice. I think this version provides a good mix of capabilities and ease of use that's best suited for most taxpayers.
New this year is QuickTax Home & Business ($79.95 SRP), aimed at the self-employed and small business owners. This version prepares the corporate T2 tax return in addition to the T1 personal tax return, which makes it a great value for incorporated small businesses.
Finally, there's CoolTax, the bargain of the bunch since it's freeware. You download it from the web site at www.cooltax.com. You won't find dazzling multimedia video help in this program, but the price is right.
CoolTax is a cut-down version of TaxByte, a program from FLS Research aimed at professional tax return preparers. This means CoolTax will handle the tax calculations and printouts you require, but it isn't the easiest program to learn. It helps if you know something about the tax system. CoolTax is available only for 32-bit versions of MS Windows (95/98 and NT).
You'll need to get a new version of a tax program each year, to keep up with changes in tax rates and deductions. Tax software can save you time calculating a return, particularly if you do more than one. Most tax packages let you prepare between 15 to 18 returns, more than sufficient for most families. CW
Richard Morochove, FCA, is a Toronto-based computer consultant.
Copyright ©1999 by Morochove & Associates Inc. All rights reserved. This work may not be copied or distributed by any means without our prior written permission.
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