Re: Tax software

[Snowman]

> >OK stretching D-I-Y a bit but it is SELF assessment! > > > >Has anyone any suggestions for freeware tax return software. There are > >progs available at cost but It is bad enough having to pay tax let alone > >adding insult to injury by having to pay for the software! > > > >I tried to use the IR online site but after registration they have to > >snail mail a PIN to the applicants registered address. > > > >Not exactly user friendly arrangement. > > No, but after getting the PIN, you can fill in the form online and the > tax is calculated at the same time. You can also print out a hard > copy of the completed form. > > Regards.

I used it last year (and will again this year) - worked well, no problems (apart from saying that I owed some tax!). You can do a bit and save it, then do more later, then submit it when all done. And I think, although you'd need to check, that you don't have to submit it before the end of September if you do it online.

I think the snail mail password is actually a reasonable security feature for such an application.

Peter.

[Andy Hall]

I used the Which Taxcalc software for a few years and found it quite good when I had fairly straightforward tax affairs. Not free, but pretty cheap and in one year it did pick up something I'd missed making a saving that more than paid for it.

I now have a rather more complex tax situation and my accountant does this as well as various other financial jobs for me.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[David W.E. Roberts]

Bob, the 'snail mailing' of a PIN is a standard security arangement. It is known as an 'out of band' mechanism. i.e. if you register electronically then a non-electronic means is used to confirm you are who you say you are (or at least live at your registered address). More secure that using an email address to return your PIN. You wouldn't want someone else filling in your tax return and telling the IR you earn £500K and please come and collect the back tax :-)) The online form works well for me.

AFAIK you will still need a PIN to electronically submit a tax return from a third party package.

HTH Dave R

[David]

I agree - the IR site has had a load of bad press but personally I've used it successfully for 2 years now. (Still worth manually checking what figures it ends up spitting out though!)

David

[BigMac]

Don't believe there is any, unless you earn less than the £20K allowed by TaxCalc Lite

you only have to do it once though and it works for following years

I had a nightmare with it last year, spent hours online (only have 56K dialup and have to be online to use it) and it absolutely refused to let me submit the numbers, tried 2 different PC configurations, but their helpdesk guys never got to the bottom of it over the phone. So I resorted to downloading TaxCalc and it worked a charm. So I paid the £15 for this years CD willingly, it gives you a headstart too by opening last years file so you don't have to type loads in.

Correct

Ian

[Nick Nelson]

And don't forget that the cost of the software is itself deductable as expenses.

Nick

[geoff]

In message , BigMac writes

Doesn't the IR free CD have a tax calculator on it?