- Okay we've gone through these two examples
of a Form 1040, and I've talked about them
and I've talked about themas if we're going to be
as if we're going to be writing these numbers
writing these numbersdown on a piece of paper.
down on a piece of paper.
Well it shouldn't surprise you to learn
that you don't have to do that.
The government itself atIRS.gov has a free site
The government itself at irs.gov has a free site
that allows you to do your income tax forms online.
You just type in the numbers.
All the arithmetic and all ofthe tax bracket calculations
All the arithmetic and all of the tax bracket calculations
are done for you automatically.
In addition to the IRS.gov free site,
In addition to the irs.gov free site,
there are commercial sites available.
I went to PC Magazine and saw their listing
and saw their listingof the top three sites
of the top three sites that will help you
that will help you throughyour income tax filing.
through your income tax filing.
They are TurboTax, H&R Block, and TaxAct.
Remember, whether you do your taxes yourself,
or you use one of these online services,
or you have a paid tax preparer help you,
you still need to understand the process.
You still need to understand the ideas
of standard deductionsand itemized deductions
of standard deductions, and itemized deductions,
and tax credits.
You don't have to fill out the forms yourself,
you don't have to do the math yourself
you don't have to do the math yourself,
but you still need tounderstand the process.
but you still need to understand the process.
And you now have the tools to understand this process
of filling out a basic income tax form.