Taxes, taxes, taxes

I have seen several articles for year-end tax planning. I was happy to receive notice from TurboTax that their 2005 software should be available for downloading in a couple of weeks. I like to do a quick run-through with estimates as early as possible to see if I will owe or how much I’ll be getting back. My main concern the past couple of years has been the Alternative Minimum Tax, which has been an unexpected pain.

Browsing around a couple of different tax preparation software sites, I see they have some good resources online. Check these out at your leisure:

Turbo Tax

H&R Block’s TaxCut

TaxAct

The IRS has been adding to their site, and the opportunity to download tax forms or publications is a blessing for me. I remember having to go to the public library for these or request forms by mail.

By the way, did you know the IRS has a mission statement? From their site:

Provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.

This mission statement describes our role and the public’s expectation about how we should perform that role.

In the United States, the Congress passes tax laws and requires taxpayers to comply.
The taxpayer’s role is to understand and meet his or her tax obligations.
The IRS role is to help the large majority of compliant taxpayers with the tax law, while ensuring that the minority who are unwilling to comply pay their fair share.