By Colby Horton
Shop Site of the Month
Arlington Heights Ford - Arlington Heights, Ill.
www.ahford.com
This site provides professional graphics and quick load time. A video section, appointment scheduler and a “Net Call” center puts this site on the cutting edge of technology. You can search for new and used cars or even receive a price quote for building your own Ford.
Web Wise
E-Filing Your Returns
Beginning in January, more than 40 million tax packages started arriving in mailboxes across the nation. Filing annual tax returns is something that millions of people dread due in part to the amount of stressful and time-consuming hours spent preparing for the April 16 deadline. However, filing taxes electronically can save some time and help you receive your refund in a timely manner.
This year, millions of taxpayers can file taxes electronically without submitting any paperwork. Using the Internal Revenue Service Web site (www.irs.ustreas.gov), taxpayers can self-select a Personal Identification Number (PIN). This PIN, along with adjusted gross income and tax amounts from last year's tax return, will serve as an electronic signature for an e-filed tax return.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index survey shows that the overall customer satisfaction score for electronic filing was 75 last year. This is compared to a score of 48 for paper filing. Taxpayers find that electronic filing has many advantages. One advantage is the ability for quicker refunds. Intuit, an e-finance corporation and creator of TurboTax for the Web, says that by electronically filing returns, taxpayers can receive refunds in as little as 10 days, compared to six weeks for returns filed by mail.
Another advantage is the accuracy rate of filing electronically. Any math errors are caught automatically, reducing the chances of getting an error notice from the IRS. In addition, e-filing your taxes provides an IRS acknowledgment that the return has been accepted within 48 hours.
Although filing your taxes online is quicker than its paper counterpart, suppose you're still crunched for time. Many companies such as H&R Block and Staples will figure your taxes and file them online for you. In fact, the IRS has provided a new checkbox authorization to its online tax forms that provides a communication link between the agency and the person's tax preparer. Taxpayers may check this box to authorize the IRS to discuss processing problems over the phone directly with a person's paid preparer. Because of this checkbox, the number of IRS letters to taxpayers is significantly reduced.
Net Numbers
More than 35 million tax returns were filed electronically this past year, and the IRS expects the number to top 42 million this year.
Source: Internal Revenue Service
ASA Web Ways
ASA's Information Center
The most popular feature of the Members Only Area of the ASA Web site is the Information Center database. The Information Center houses almost 5,000 abstracts focusing on such topics as business management, business statistics, career opportunities, legal issues, education/training and industry surveys. The database is broken down into four major categories: general information, automotive services, mechanical services and collision services. A convenient search engine is also provided to help you find the pertinent information you are looking for. This database is updated each week and you can easily request additional information on abstracts by using the convenient “shopping cart” feature. Articles and reports are e-mailed, faxed or mailed to ASA national members free of charge. To enter the Members Only Area, type in your ASA member number into both the name and password fields when prompted.
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Net Worth is written by Colby Horton, ASA's electronic communications manager. He can be reached at (800) 272-7467, ext. 234, or by e-mail at colbyh@asashop.org.
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