in article 050f3dca-386a-4bc6-92c9-a33bb11b5ff0...oglegroups.com,
grandpasteel[at]gmail.com at grandpasteel[at]gmail.com wrote on 3/21/09 12:24 AM:

- quote -

industry, exactly what kind of help are you requesting from this group of
professionals who provide tax help for free during their busiest time of
year?

Uncompensated advice guaranteed correct or double your money back

Frank S. Duke, Jr. CPA
Cincinnati, OH USA

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

On Mar 1, 1:21 pm, robert.armen...[at]gmail.com wrote:
- quote -

17,18,19,20 MAR 2009

The Free File Fillable Forms, laboriously reached from www.IRS.gov, no
longer permits the "Create An Account" function.
The registration screen is cut-off at the bottom and the limp HELP
desk can only suggest that I try the F11 key or the TAB key. I have
tried to register using a W98SE, then a WinXP, using IE and then
Firefox, then a new Macbook using Firefox. Same problem each time:
can't reach then SUBMIT portion of the form.

My feeling is that the very lucrative tax preparation alliance is
terrified that if the IRS actually allows taxpayers to prepare their
own filings online using linked tax forms, their phony biz model
tanks. The only reason the tax prep industry exists is because of the
tax code complexity - the very thing that computers are designed and
so adept at handling.

BTW, the H&R Block tax prep software is designed to collect personal
data and build a personal information file on each user and is only
peripherally associated with taxes. Their "Privacy Notice" is
laughable consisting of assertions as to how carefully they handle the
unlimited amount of personal data, including medical info, they
collect together with assurances that the data will only be used and
revealed inside their own organizations and to any company with which
they are affiliated or associated and for any purpose that they deem
legitimate.

I am still waiting for an answer from IRS tech Help on the Create An
Account problem but suspect that I will not get an answer before the
15apr deadline.

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

robert.armengol[at]gmail.com wrote:
- quote -

Last I read at the official web site, the existing Free File Alliance
agreement ends this Oct 15th, coinciding with the end of e-filing for
2008 tax year.

-Mark Bole

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

Free File has been a disaster for me. First, it took four weeks for
the IRS and Free File Alliance to correct a software mistake that
caused all tax returns using Schedule C to get rejected. Then, when I
finally filed my return, a different form was deleted without my
knowledge, costing me more than $1,000 in my refund. Now, I have to
file an amended return by mail -- more paperwork and more delays. The
IRS help desk is a contradiction in terms and the Free File Alliance
provides zero customer service. I was able only to speak with a PR
flack who confided in me that providing this wider service is not
something the alliance ever intended to do. They are now stuck with it
but don't have the resources to properly support it.

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

- quote -

I could only get the first four pages to print. That left out the D.
Help desk email said to call IRS. HA!

Efiling gave a 103 error - "W2 tax doesnt match".
Googling tax archives found that was a mistake in
a previous vendors' software, that may have been repeated in FFFF.
It may not have caught an estimated tax payment or there was
an identity theft problem (someone used by SS for income).
So I just mailed them in. I was hoping for a faster refund.

The FFFF work mostly as advertised - free, does your arithmetic for
you, and gives almost the same answer as Turbo Tax. FFFF rounds
to the dollar as you enter numbers. TT adds numbers together first,
then rounds.

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Charles Packer" <mailbox[at]cpacker.org> wrote
- quote -



Thanks for the update.



--
Paul Thomas, CPA
Watkinsville, Georgia

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

Anybody trying the new "Free File Fillable Forms"?
Have you tried to print your accumulated work yet?
The print process doesn't work as stated. As of
this morning, you can still print only the 1040 itself,
not any attached forms. I've called the help desk
and then gone two rounds in e-mail dialogue with
them. The second time their canned instructions
were detailed enough to make me think that they
were written for different displays than what I
was seeing. A final call to them confirmed that
there were "programming issues" related to
printing that were being addressed, and that I
should wait a few days before trying again.

--
Charles Packer
http://cpacker.org/whatnews
mailboxATcpacker.org

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >