Tax Preparation Software: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The medium is the message, it's sometimes said. Think of
Franklin D Roosevelt and his "fireside chats" to the nation. In
a pre-TV era, the radio was the perfect medium to "have a
conversation with the American people". He could get his
reassuring message right into folks' homes, and become a part of
the family. A different medium, for example a grandstanding
speech, wouldn't have got the message across as effectively as
an intimate radio chat. The medium most surely was the message.
But let's come back to the 21st.century and something close to
all our hearts: tax preparation, or, to be exact, tax
preparation software. Unfortunately, this particular medium
seems to be giving out mixed messages, although software
programmers and vendors would reassure us that we can complete
tax programs quickly and accurately, click "print" and produce a
tax return destined to meet the IRS's requirements.
Seems clear enough, so why the mixed messages? One of the main
criticisms levelled at tax preparation software is its
"one-size-fits-all" approach. Its critics, businessmen in the
main, ask how it's possible to condense an extraordinary number
of codes and regulations into a half-hour interview process.
Irrespective of the claims made by software programmers, critics
point out that only the most general set of credits and
deductions can be incorporated into tax software, which means
that you'll be the loser. It's these sins of omission, or the
questions they don't ask, which work to your detriment and the
advantage of the IRS.
Imagine this scene for a moment. A medium is holding a s