tax

You've got just over a month to file your annual tax return, meaning the time has come to start shopping for a deal on tax software.

I have something of a love/hate relationship with TurboTax, but it's been my go-to product for the last several years. Warts aside, it gets the job done.

And today it'll get it done a little cheaper. For a limited time, you can save up to $20 on TurboTax Online. That means $34.99 for for TurboTax Online Premier and $54.99 for TurboTax Online Home and Business. Both versions include … Read more

It's incredible what technology permits us to do. It's easy to assume that iPads and iPhones are just glorified gaming devices, but as the technology advances, so too do they have their uses. When you think about it that way, it's not necessarily surprising to see such a wonderful rendition of the award-winning TurboTax software delivered in the TurboTax 2012 app for the iPad. The folks at Intuit seem to understand the attraction of tablet computing because the interface for TurboTax is clean and intuitive, easy to use, and offers multiple reference points when you get stuck. … Read more

With changes to tax law occurring on an annual basis, piled on top of changes in your personal life and income, it's hard to know exactly how much money you will owe or be owed on any given tax return. There are some tax refund calculators online, but they are not always up-to-date, and even when they are, they are not necessarily easy to use. So the TurboTax TaxCaster from Intuit is a pleasant surprise and one of the most effective ways to estimate your future liability or refund with the IRS. The app doesn't require any personal … Read more

Microsoft may be in a bit of tax trouble in Denmark over an acquisition it made more than a decade ago.

Denmark-based news outlet DR is reporting today that officials in that country are investigating whether Microsoft used certain techniques to save itself billions in taxes. According to the report, after Microsoft acquired financial software company Navision in 2002 for $1.3 billion, it sold off its enterprise resource planning and accounting divisions to an Ireland-based Microsoft subsidiary. That subsidiary is apparently owned by other Microsoft companies in Caribbean tax havens, effectively allowing it to shift Navavision's profits overseas … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- How a movie changed one man's vision forever.

- Google's stock breaks $800 for the first time.

- Report: OfficeMax, Office Depot discussing merger.

- Microsoft moves Outlook.com out of preview.

- Dow 14,000: Stocks near new crest.

- Middle class remains stuck.

- Free File: Do your Federal taxes for free!… Read more

A group of Republicans and Democrats yesterday reintroduced a federal bill that could cost online retailers and customers more money.

The Marketplace Fairness Act would allow states to require online vendors to collect sales and use tax on certain out-of-state purchases. Only businesses with less than $1 million dollars in annual U.S. sales would be exempt.

The bill was debated by the Senate last year but went nowhere. Now a group of 35 House members and 18 senators are trying again. And they're optimistic the bill will pass this time, according to The Hill.

The bill's top … Read more

Amazon and Overstock are duking it out with New York state in a court battle over the issue of collecting sales tax.

In a case being heard by the State of New York Court of Appeals, attorneys for both retailers claimed yesterday that a 2008 New York law requiring them to collect sales tax on online purchases is unconstitutional, as reported by Reuters.

A 1992 Supreme Court decision found that retailers can't be forced to collect sales tax on out-of-state purchases unless they have a physical presence in those states. But the New York law skirted that decision. The … Read more

Another state will soon be reaping revenue from Amazon as the Internet retail giant has agreed to begin collecting sales tax from consumers in Connecticut.

Amazon will begin collecting the state's 6.35 percent sales tax on items bought on the site from within the state in November, state officials announced today. Kevin Sullivan, Connecticut's commissioner of Revenue Services, told the Associated Press that Amazon's tax collection will add $8 million to state coffers the first year, with $13 million to $15 million in the second year.

Amazon has also agreed to invest $50 million in Connecticut … Read more

A couple of senators in Washington want to make sure people in the U.S. never have to pay taxes for Internet access.

Passed in 1998, the Internet Tax Freedom Act prevents federal, state, and local governments from collecting sales taxes on the use of e-mail and other types of Internet access. The bill is due to expire November of next year.

New legislation introduced yesterday by Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) and Dean Heller (Nev.) is designed to extend the ban indefinitely. The Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act would stop governments from imposing new taxes on Internet access.… Read more