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I believe that it makes sense to file your taxes electronically rather than on paper as long as you make sure to avoid sending your data overseas. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, that often happens and it can be a mistake because laws regarding your privacy and the safety of your data from thieves are not the same in all countries as they are here in the US. Let’s talk about what happens when you file a paper return and when you electronically file a return.

A paper return is often sent in by ordinary First Class Mail. This does not tell you when or if the return is received and it certainly does not provide proof of delivery. Services that do tell you when your return was received and provide proof cost extra. With electronic filing, you know that your return was received, you know when it was received, and you know when it has passed checks for the most common sorts of errors. If it does not pass these checks it comes back to the preparer where it can be easily fixed.  I do not often have a return rejected and in most cases when I do I find that neither the bottom line or anything I printed for the client needs to change.  In the rare event that anything the client would care about changes, I get in touch with them before I re file. With an electronically filed return you know that the return you or your tax professional prepared is the return the Government has in its computer systems. Paper returns must be manually keyed in and while this is generally done correctly, errors can and do occur and when they do the taxpayer gets a letter from the government. Nine out of every ten clients surveyed preferred not to receive letters from the government about their taxes.

So for all these reasons I believe that Electronic Filing is the safest and easiest way to file your taxes as long as you do not send your data outside the US. My clients do not have to worry about that because their data stays safely in the US.

Tags: Business Interests, Federal, General Information, Individual Interests, State //