E-filing: a practice in patience

by Becky Bosshart

After an hour and a half of attempting to file my taxes online I am bleary eyed and irritated. And my taxes are not filed.

My desk is covered in tax forms, past returns and press releases telling me how "great, convenient, wonderful" filing your taxes online can be.

My experience wasn't as easy as the "hit the send button," (that's a quote from the IRS).

Actually, I do want to hit something, and it's not the send button.

Filing your taxes online for free through the IRS Web site starts out simple, and if you have a fast Internet connection and a couple of hours to wait, I'm sure you will successfully navigate all the pages. But at my work computer on a Friday night, I spent most of my time staring at a blank screen and watching the little "work in progress" timer spin around.

There's nothing that can make a person more depressed about life than eagerly watching a spinning timer and then being cast into an abyss of disappointment every time ANOTHER blank screen pops up.

One point is worth noting when you use the IRS Free File. The IRS doesn't actually offer the service, you have to choose an Internet company through them, and some of them could charge you. When choosing a company, be sure to link to their Web site through IRS.gov. You may not get the free offer by going directly to the company's Web site.

If you're like me and get overwhelmed when offered more than five choices (one company is called TaxSlayer and I presume the operators creep through cemeteries with wooden stakes looking for tax evaders), the IRS will recommend sites based on your tax status.

The first site I tried was Online-Taxes.com. First, you breeze through a user's agreement that no sane person would actually read because it's longer than the Good Book. I'd like to say that I know more about this site, but I didn't get much farther than that. Whenever I started entering my information (name, social security, those important things) the screen scrambled or jumped around. I spent 22 minutes, 49 seconds on that site.

Then I tried H&R Block. It offers the "Young Adult" tax program ($14.95) or "Premium" ($19.95) tax program, but the Free File is on the left. I went there. And that's where I spent the remaining amount of my evening of torture.

John Bullis, the CPA who I interviewed for my tax story, said that the number of people who e-file will probably increase as time goes by "because most young people are comfortable with computers and some of the older people are not."

Older people are the smart ones.

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Attention brand selective, cost-cutting smart shoppers: The Nevada Appeal will begin a new monthly feature called "Shopper" for those who want to sharpen their consumer skills. If you want to share your shopping preferences, and any consumer tips, contact business reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212. The feature will focus on what you buy and why.

Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.