Webware

Posts to CitizenQuasar Twitter page.

(Credit: Screenshot by Steven Musil/CNET)

An Oklahoma City man who allegedly threatened on Twitter to turn a tax protest into a massacre has been arrested on suspicion of making interstate threats in what is believed to be the first federal prosecution based on posts made to the micro-blogging site.

The FBI arrested Daniel Knight Hayden, 52, after agents identified him as Twitter user CitizenQuasar. Using the micro-blogging site, Hayden allegedly threatened to start a "war" against the government at the Oklahoma City Capitol where a "Tea Party" tax protest was planned.

"START THE KILLING NOW! I am willing to be the FIRST DEATH!," read a message posted at 8:01 p.m. on April 11, which was followed by, "After I am killed on the Capitol Steps, like a REAL man, the rest of you will REMEMBER ME!!!" Another post said: "I really don' give a (expletive) anymore. Send the cops around. I will cut their heads off the heads and throw the(m) on the State Capitol steps."

Hayden directed many of his tweets toward another Oklahoma City man he erroneously thought was an organizer of the protest. Wired tracked down Earl Shaffer, a 68-year-old retiree who Hayden allegedly tweeted about, including posts with his phone number.

"He seemed to know stuff about me, but I don't know how or why," Shaffer told Wired. "He called me a few days before that tea party and let me know somehow he got my name as one of the organizers. I don't have the energy."

Shaffer told CNET News that he has never met Hayden and is unnerved by the situation.

"I have no idea who this guy is," Shaffer said. "It is very much a concern that he mentions my being killed."

One of the last messages posted to the site on April 15 says CitizenQuasar is "Locked AND loaded for the Oklahoma State Capitol. Let's see what happens."

Hayden was arraigned on April 16 and released to an Oklahoma City halfway house, according to various media reports.

The U.S. intelligence community has expressed concern that terrorists might use Twitter to coordinate attacks. A draft Army intelligence report prepared by the 304th Military Intelligence Battalion and posted to the Federation of American Scientists Web site examined the possible ways terrorists could use mobile and Web technologies such as the Global Positioning System, digital maps, and Twitter mashups to plan and execute terrorist attacks.

Aircell, the company that offers Gogo Inflight Internet service to airline passengers, announced on Thursday that based on internal research, Gogo customer visits to NCAA-focused sites increased 953 percent during the first and second rounds of NCAA Tournament play.

Visits to sports-focused sites in general were up 123 percent from February. The most visited NCAA site on Gogo was CBSSports.com (Disclosure: CBSSports.com is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News.)

Real-estate search site Trulia announced Thursday that it set new records for site traffic in the first quarter of 2009. According to the company, visits were up 40 percent year over year, and property views increased by 50 percent over 2008. The site's overall page views increased 63 percent in 2009. Is Trulia's success an indication that the real-estate market is coming around?

Glu Mobile, a provider of mobile games, has debuted 30 titles on the newly launched BlackBerry App World. The 30 titles, which focus mainly on games, include Brain Genius 2, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and others. The titles are available now in the BlackBerry App World. The same apps are already available in the Apple App Store.

Online research company LexisNexis announced on Thursday that it has signed a deal with the Internal Revenue Service that will make it the exclusive provider of a "comprehensive set of online tax research solutions."

Under terms of the deal, LexisNexis will provide the organization with its Tax Center and Tax Advisor services, giving the IRS better information on finding tax errors. IRS customer service agents, revenue officers, attorneys, and auditors will have access to the services.

(Credit: CNET)

Preparing your taxes online offers some advantages over doing them on the desktop--you don't have to wait around for installations and updates, for one--but for taxpayers like me, there are certain rewards to desktop tax apps like TaxCut (review) and TurboTax (review). As part of CNET's tax coverage this year, we wanted to compare not just TaxCut and TurboTax, but also the benefits of filing taxes online versus filing with desktop software.

The benefit of desktop tax software boils down to two points: the number of e-files you get for your money and where the software stores your return. Desktop tax software offers the greatest flexibility on both accounts.

Storage

Storing your tax return on your computer means that your paperwork is always accessible, no Internet connection required. Saving the return locally also makes it easier to import the previous year's information into a competing tax-prep app, which can cut back on retyping the same information year after year.

TaxCut Online offers options for importing last year's return. Most rivals' online returns can't be included.

(Credit: CNET)

TurboTax Online does let you save your tax return to your computer's hard drive, a perk that makes it easy to import a TurboTax return of any sort to competing software the next year. TaxCut Online, however, saves your return only on its secure servers (or as a nonimportable PDF document). To switch tax brands, you would need to start a return from scratch.

How e-filing affects price

At first glance, desktop tax apps appear to cost more than the online versions, but the list price typically only includes the federal return. Once you add the price of a state return and the value of multiple e-files, you may find the boxed software to be a better deal. Both TurboTax Deluxe and its online counterpart cost $60 for the federal and state returns combined. The difference between the two? You get five free federal e-files with the desktop version, and one federal e-file plus one state e-file with the online software.

Similarly, TaxCut Premium + State + E-file costs $50 for the federal and state return on the desktop and $70 for the online version. If you were to pay to file your state return electronically with the desktop software, the price would even out. TaxCut mirrors TurboTax's e-file allotments.

Households can share a single state return without an additional charge.

(Credit: CNET)

With either tax brand, households can get greater value from desktop software when you account for those five free federal e-files included in both TurboTax and TaxCut's desktop software. If you prepare taxes online, you must pay for each federal and state return before you can file. On the desktop, you can prepare multiple federal and state returns with the same software, saving money if you split the cost among a few people. (The majority of users filing in multiple states will need to buy an additional state return.)

For example, Grandma needs to claim her Social Security income, Mom and Dad need to file their joint return, and Jr. has to report earnings from his after-school job. With one desktop app, the family can file its respective federal returns electronically and can share the state return software. They can save themselves an additional $20 per head if they snail mail the copies of their state return instead of paying an e-filing charge. (Note: The family in question would have to create and file their returns on the same computer to share the state return.)

The reusable nature of the desktop tax apps make splitting the cost a better deal for a household filing two or more federal returns. However, single or married taxpayers who only need to file a single federal and single state return can benefit from online tax-prep, especially since the included e-filing will save them from having to print, compile, and sign a small pile of paperwork.

Look for these stories in CNET's Tax Guide:
-TurboTax Deluxe 2008 in-depth review
-TaxCut Premium + State + E-file 2008 in-depth review
-Photos: TurboTax versus TaxCut
-Video: TurboTax versus TaxCut
-Comparing the online tax apps
-Photos: Throw your own tax party

April 15 is quickly approaching, which means we all need to buckle down and spend a Saturday preparing our taxes. I prepare my own taxes, and I know all too well how hard it can be to find the right program to help out. Let's look at four online tax preparation software packages that are good places to start.

H&R Block TaxCut Online: Powerful, but not ideal
H&R Block may offer its tax services in franchised locations across the U.S., but it also provides its software online. And although those who are less knowledgeable about tax law shouldn't have too much trouble preparing their taxes with the company's TaxCut Online software, there aren't enough options to justify using it if you file a complex return.

TaxCut Online is free when you e-file your federal taxes, but just like every other service in this roundup, it charges you to e-file your state taxes. With TaxCut Online, that will run you $29.95. Aside from the free edition, TaxCut Online is also available in Basic for simple returns for $14.95 or Premium for those who have more complicated returns for $39.95. Neither of those fees include the state e-file charge.

TaxCut Online makes the hard stuff simple.

(Credit: H&R Block)

I created a fake return (without filing) to evaluate each service and found that TaxCut Online works beautifully for those who have simple returns. In a matter of seconds, I was able to work my way through wage income, interest, and basic deductions to create a return. It was quick and easy.

But when I tried to create a complicated return that featured the sale of a home, self-employment income, and investment income, TaxCut Online proved to be a relatively useless tool, at least compared to TurboTax Online. It didn't maximize my tax credits, it failed to provide me with enough control to pinpoint specific deductions like self-employment insurance, and it delivered a tax liability that was almost $1,000 higher than the figure TurboTax Online calculated. That said, its "Worry-free Audit Support" tool came in handy and its error correction feature fixed mistakes it found along the way, which certainly helps put the mind at ease.

But I can't even recommend using TaxCut Online if you file a basic return. It's too expensive. Nor do I recommend using TaxCut Online if you file more complex returns. TurboTax Online is a much better alternative.

TaxAct Online: Simplicity is king

When I first started using TaxAct, I was impressed by its simplicity. It doesn't feature all the extras you'll find in more capable products and it's obviously designed for someone who wants to get their taxes filed as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you want to find obscure tax code topics, you won't find it in TaxAct. It's simply not that kind of preparation tool.

Quick and easy is TaxAct's motto.

(Credit: TaxAct Online)

TaxAct comes in three versions: Free, Deluxe, and Ultimate. After you e-file your state taxes (for free), it will cost you $13.95 to file federal. The Deluxe and Ultimate versions will both run you $16.95. That's a fair price for what you're getting with the software.

When I prepared my basic return on TaxAct Free edition, it couldn't have been easier. I input the wages, interest, and other data and within 30 minutes, TaxAct had my return ready to be e-filed with the government. The refund it calculated was exactly the same as the refund the other tax preparation solutions determined.

But as good as TaxAct was on my basic return, it was equally poor on my complicated return. Inputting self-employment income and expenses was too difficult, and the software's import feature, which attempts to find tax data from your banks and employers, was useless; it found nothing. Once I finally completed the return, it calculated a tax liability that was more than $2,500 higher than what I calculated with TurboTax Online. Suffice it to say that TaxAct Ultimate is best-suited for someone who has wage income, owns a home, and hasn't sold any investments over the past year. Anything more than that and the software becomes difficult to use.

Is TaxAct worth the $13.95 it charges for the basic edition with state e-file? You bet. It's simple, it's quick, and most importantly, you can't screw anything up. But if you have a complicated return, don't waste your time trying to save a few bucks on TaxAct. You'll lose more when you file your taxes.

Digitization has a disruptive effect on a wide range of industries, from music to software to publishing to...you name it. If it can be digitized, it can be disrupted.

It's therefore encouraging to see the music seemingly converging on a cool new-old model: an ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers)-like tax from one's Internet service provider that allows unlimited downloading of music.

Gerd Leonhard's recent presentation on the subject is the best I've seen yet, one that I'd recommend you review, even if you never stray from the software world to think about music:

Leonhard argues that digitization has made a control-based music economy impossible, forcing the industry to seek other ways to monetize music--ways that conform to digitization's abundance, rather than to the old idea of scarcity.

In a sign of things to come, the Isle of Man just approved "a single blanket fee (that) will cover unlimited download activity for all 80,000 or so...residents," as Ars Technica reports.

This follows a new trend toward "free" services, in which the music industry hides the cost of the music in the price of a separate service or device. It's oddly similar to trends I'm seeing in software.

This isn't the only model. As the Future of Music blog points out, some musicians, like Corey Smith, are finding that giving away music to drive more concert ticket sales can be a winning recipe. But while $4.2 million last year for Smith is a great return for an individual artist or band, it's not a great way to build an industry. I'd liken it to "lifestyle" software businesses that generate great revenue for their founders but provide little in the way of equity for other participants in the company's success.

So I think the "adoption tax" model is promising. The future is flat-rate: you subscribe, you forget about paying for individual transactions, you enjoy more music than you ever have before.

A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.

The prices for Intuit TurboTax and H&R Block TaxCut have shifted significantly, making it tough to tell how much you'll actually pay to file 2008 returns using their software or online services.

Among the good news is that both brands now offer free federal electronic filing, which has cost up to an additional $20 in the past. But some users of the market-leading TurboTax desktop software are venting bitterly on online forums about Intuit's new charge of $9.95 for each federal return prepared beyond the first user, whether those returns are filed via Web browser or snail mail. Some are threatening to migrate to H&R Block TaxCut, which on Monday introduced federal e-filing for up to five users with each purchase of its desktop product.

But bargain shoppers shouldn't assume that makes TaxCut the better deal of the two. After scrutinizing the tax-prep prices, we've reached a more complicated verdict. TaxCut's sticker prices are cheaper all around. However, once you add fees for state returns, TurboTax online looks like the winner in terms of affordability, as it's slightly less expensive for the majority of users, who file only for themselves. TaxCut for the desktop, on the other hand, is cheaper than most editions of the desktop TurboTax.

Due to Intuit's new charge for federal returns beyond the first user, it might seem that the desktop editions of H&R Block TaxCut would be cheaper for those filing for two or more people. It gets more complicated if you have to wrangle with returns in multiple states.

What you'll pay ultimately for do-it-yourself tax preparation depends on your specific needs. To find the right product for your situation, scroll down for the charts below, which show the hidden fees in both the online and desktop editions of both brands' tax-prep tools.

We tallied the totals for one user filing federal and state returns electronically. Click chart for larger version.

(Credit: Elsa Wenzel/CNET Networks)

Simple tax prep for one user
The entry-level price gaps are modest if you're filing alone, or jointly, say, as a married couple. But keep in mind that the supposedly "free" online editions of both services aren't so if you need state filing, which costs close to $30. Once you add state prep and e-filing to the entry-level Intuit TurboTax "free" edition, it's $4 less than its H&R Block TaxCut counterpart. The stepped-up TurboTax costs the same as H&R Block TaxCut Basic + e-file, with state filing included. Drop the state feature, and TaxCut is still just $5 more than TurboTax. And for the Basic desktop products, TaxCut also costs roughly $4 more than TurboTax.

Therefore, if you're a longtime, solo user of an entry-level TaxCut tool, there's little compelling financial reason, or none, to switch to TurboTax. But the difference of $5 or less could make or break the deal for some users. The online options are also the best bet in this case, since they're designed to serve one return.

At the same time, don't rule out a third option: services from small-fry brands. In particular, we've found the Web-based TaxAct from 2nd Story Software excellent for the past several years. It costs as much as $13 less than its bigger-name rivals: $16.95 maximum with all e-filing included. Plus, TaxAct could be a great option for college students because it bundles help for FAFSA loan forms.

Tax prep for one user with investments
Graduate to the more sophisticated desktop options, and TaxCut is more attractive for the pocketbook. The Premium editions of the desktop TaxCut run from $34.95 to $84.85 and are roughly equivalent to the desktop TurboTax Deluxe at $59.95, or Premier at $107.90.

The brand comparisons become uneven as the prices climb for either the desktop or online applications, so read their product descriptions to find the features you need. For example, both of TaxCut's Premium editions offer help with investments and rental property, which are absent in TurboTax Deluxe but included in its Premier editions.

Tax prep for more than one user
The online tax-prep services are built for one user, so buying software in a box or via download will likely be more convenient for those who manage taxes in-house for the whole family. In this case, H&R Block TaxCut for the desktop could be the budget deal because it includes federal e-filing for five returns, the government limit.

However, fees for state filing lurk beyond the prices on the box. That's obviously not an issue for residents of Nevada, Florida, or other states that don't require returns. But if you've worked in more than one state in 2008, the filing fees can pile up.

For example, TaxCut charges $29.95 to prepare a federal return for each state, plus $19.95 for state e-filing. What if you need to file in, say, New York and New Jersey? If you're using H&R Block's $19.95 TaxCut Basic for the desktop, in the end you could pay close to $120.

Intuit TurboTax Basic for the desktop, on the other hand, would cost roughly $136 for the same scenario. It charges $34.95 for preparing and $17.95 for electronically filing each state return. Some editions of TurboTax, however, include preparation for one state.

In either brand's case, if two unmarried people use the same tax-prep service to file individually in the same state, then they only pay for one state return. TaxCut may ask for another $19.95 per person for state electronic filing, and TurboTax would request another $17.95.

The hotly-contested $9.95 fee for additional federal returns from TurboTax, by the way, does not apply to married couples filing jointly, since they're dealing with one return. Similarly, people filing jointly with TurboTax or TaxCut need not pay an additional fee for state filing as long as they work in the same state.

The highlighted totals show how much one person would pay to prepare taxes using these Web-based services, including state and federal electronic filing. Click chart for larger version.

(Credit: Elsa Wenzel/CNET Networks)

Desktop or Webtop?
Web-based tax apps continue to attract more users each year, while sales of their boxed counterparts are virtually flat. But tax software in a box isn't disappearing from the aisles of Wal-Mart anytime soon. Many users still prefer the seeming security of storing private data on a local hard drive rather than a vendor's servers.

Among the benefits of online tax-prep options, however, is that you can start with a more basic edition and easily upgrade at any time if your return becomes more complex as you work through it. If you buy the software on a disc, you're stuck with the one you bought.

Service and support
Both Intuit and H&R Block guarantee that you'll get the maximum possible IRS refund. If you're unhappy with their products, you can demand a refund from them.

Should you need personalized assistance, H&R Block costs less. From box, TaxCut includes a live consultation with a tax professional for one topic--free in all products but the desktop Federal with e-file--then $19.95 for help beyond that. The people on the line include some 1,500 of the 120,000 agents at H&R Block's streetside offices. For similar support, Intuit charges $34.95 for the first 20 minutes and another $15.95 per 20 minutes beyond that time.

H&R Block also touts its free, live audit support, for which Intuit asks $34.95. Yet, Intuit provides a help-yourself audit support center and continues to expand peer support through its Live Community. It's similar to a question-and-answer service such as Yahoo Answers. If you trust the wisdom of the crowd--which may include fellow users with similar issues as well as bona fide experts who happen to be users--that should be good enough.

CNET reviews
The features of TurboTax and H&R Block TaxCut are so similar that anointing one as superior is a close call when we review them each year. In our tests, each tool has calculated identical refunds for our tax returns. And the look and feel of the online and boxed applications become increasingly similar with each release.

Each product--whether accessed online or installed from a disc--walks you through the filing process with relatively straightforward questions, and tallies an estimated refund as you work. TurboTax tends to have more natural-sounding queries, although TaxCut does a decent job of skirting around the jargon.

Intuit tends to be the industry leader, claiming 80 percent of the desktop tax-prep market. That's likely helped by its ecosystem of finance applications including Quicken and QuickBooks. H&R Block, however, does import data from Quicken, TurboTax, and Microsoft Money.

We'll formally review the tax-preparation tools once our 2008 paperwork is in order. Check back early in 2009 for our final verdict, which will appear on the CNET Tax Guide page.

Correction: This story initially gave an incorrect total for TurboTax Basic with e-file. The total price is $49.90. Also, the charts misidentified the number of e-filings included with the Intuit pricing listed. They have been corrected.

Although taxes aren't due until April, many people like to get an early start in step with the new year. Services from the two most popular digital tax-prep brands are available to try or buy, although state forms won't trickle in until mid-January.

As e-filing and online tax preparation become more popular, boxed applications and their Web-based counterparts offer most of the same tools and interface elements. As a rule of thumb, online products are ideal for one filer, while installed software can handle a bigger household. Although there are no revolutionary changes to TurboTax and TaxCut from what we could tell, here's a quick list of what to expect.

TurboTax:
• A new embedded peer support system, Live Community, resembles Q&A services such as Yahoo Answers.
• The new Audit Risk Meter flags potentially problematic claims. For instance, divorced parents may not know that a child can only be claimed for a credit by one of the parents. A new audit support center steps through managing one of the four types of IRS audits.
• Its Deductible, formerly a separate install, is now integrated within the software. It displays eBay market values for donated items, and it offers cost basis analyses.
• Prices haven't risen, from the free edition to the $75 Home & Business for the desktop, e-filing included in all.

TaxCut:
• H&R Block adds help for people in the military who may need to wrangle with foreign income, combat pay, and moving expenses.
• Search capabilities are improved.
• Prices range from $15 for online Basic to $90 Home & Business for the desktop.
• Includes tech support with H&R Block tax advisers. TaxCut continues to offer free telephone help with a tax adviser for those who are later audited by the IRS.

These services are sometimes so similar that last year our Editors' Choice award went to TaxCut for best tax application, but to TurboTax for best online tax service.

It would be wise to be online when you open one of the apps from a hard drive, because Intuit and H&R Block will continue to add downloadable updates in the coming months. Anyone worried about the Alternative Minimum Tax can expect any upcoming changes to the tax code to be reflected in the updates. We'll publish full reviews early next year.

Get the most out of your rolling tax deduction.

(Credit: BizMileTracker)

I heard the pitch for BizMileTracker at the New Tech Meetup last night. This service collects your car trip data so you can later deduct the expenses from your taxes. It sure beats keeping an odometer log in the car. Just identify your starting and ending points, and the application calculates your mileage.

You can set up repeating trips, which is handy. You can also see how much of a deduction you can claim for each trip, depending on which purpose you assign (business expenses are more deductible than medical trips, for example). The service is especially useful if you want to quickly re-create mileage logs.

The site is not integrated into other expense reporting, accounting, or tax planning products, though, so taking advantage of its data will require some extra steps on your part. And if you plan to get reimbursed for using your personal driving miles, as opposed to claiming them on your taxes, the system can't help you yet.

The site is new but pretty darn unattractive. And it really feels more like a nice feature than a complete financial product. But if one of your New Year's resolutions is to do a better job on your taxes, BizMileTracker can help. The service costs $29 a year. Unfortunately, there's no free or trial version.

(Credit: OneStatement)

While you look back at your personal financial damages and delights from 2006, the time is ripe to consider how to manage money differently in 2007. A handful of new services allow you to track spending and monitor payments and investments online.

(Credit: DimeWise)

There still aren't many independent, Web-based services for handling personal finances. Big vendors tend to take care of that business, as is the case with the leading personal finance applications, Intuit Quicken and Microsoft Money. However, while Intuit offers online backup, there's no way to remotely reach your transactions while away from your main computer (unless you use a third-party, remote access service such as LogMeIn). Microsoft Money offers online access to your account register, but that data is locked behind a Windows Live (formerly Passport) ID that you may also use for mundane tasks, such as checking a Windows Live Mail or Hotmail in-box. And frankly, sometimes I'd like personal finance software with fewer features and frustrations than the often-complicated leading applications. Although they lack the depth and breadth of Quicken and Money, these Web-based alternatives to downloadable personal finance programs offer different twists on managing your money:

(Credit: Foonance)

Foonance lets you add and tag expenses, but it sent my password--in clear text--via e-mail. Very naughty! I found no way to link to my online account as advertised, so I had to add transactions manually. There's no help page, although you can easily find an e-mail address to ask questions. The name is cute, but I can't endorse this service as it stands.

Wesabe looks promising (see Rafe Needleman's post here). It even stores your password on your desktop so that it's not floating around the "series of tubes." Wesabe lets you manage money while it hooks you up with other people in order to share investment tips. A lot of people into sustainability appear to use Wesabe. I found questions about green mutual funds and composting, for instance. You can upload QIF data from your bank and credit card accounts.

(Credit: Mo.neyTrack.in)

OneStatement is still in development, so I haven't tried it, but judging by its buttons for Reports, Budget, and Backup seen on a preview screenshot, OneStatement appears to offer traditional features that you might find in Quicken or Money.

DimeWise imports OFX files, or is supposed to. It wouldn't import mine, which only contained one month of checking account data. But if I can get it to work later, I'll see how useful its reports are. Hopefully that will happen within the 30-day free trial period, because I'm not willing to pay $5 a month for a service that has a fraction of the features found in Quicken or Money, which cost less over a year.

(Credit: Buxfer)

Mo.neyTrack.in manages accounts and projects, and it lets you create pie charts to analyze patterns. But in Internet Explorer 7, it kept sending me error messages when I tried to do simple things, such as open my main account. I'll give it more time to work out the beta kinks and will check back later.

On another note, Buxfer, iOweyou, and BillMonk let you track how much money you and other people might owe each other, which could be handy if you frequent restaurants with friends or if you share a car with someone. These are examples of sharing services that software living on a lone desktop can't provide.

So far, I haven't found an online service that looks appealing enough to convince me to drop Quicken or Money, but I plan to follow these tools more closely in the new year. Hopefully some of these beta rough drafts will improve soon.