What’s the biggest single problem for taxpayers during filing season? Getting Internal Revenue Service staffers to pick up the phones and answer their questions. And what’s in store for taxpayers this year? Longer waits on the phone and less help, according to the latest annual report to Congress by the Taxpayer Advocate ...

Do you need year-round tax help? Then you probably need an accountant. In this guide we break down what an accountant can do for you, whether you need one or not and how to choose one. We also provide a cheat sheet of the questions you should ask when interviewing an accountant.

Lovely W-2 forms are starting to hit mailboxes across the country. This form is the key to filing your taxes if you work for someone else - so it's important for you to understand what your W-2 means. The folks over at Intuit provided us with this nifty diagram showing the "Anatomy of a W-2". Here it is for your viewing ...

Tax-preparation services are like those auto tune-up centers at malls—except they’re good with numbers.

So, what if you just filed this year’s taxes and realize that you’ve made a mistake? And just to be safe you decide to go through past years’ taxes and realize you’ve made mistakes on some of them as well.

The level of tax-prep assistance you need will depend on the sophistication of your finances and investment returns.

A rundown on the 1040ez, 1040a and 1040 federal income tax forms.

(Originally posted 2/28/2008). A few weeks ago we promised to review all of the free federal tax software that the Internal Revenue Service and 19 tax companies provide taxpayers who make $54,000 or less a year ($56,000 in 2008). True to our word, three FiLifers who qualified for the Free File service gathered together their tax ...

Questions to ask tax prep service providers.

Which tax-prep service you choose will depend on whether you want a person helping you one-on-one or easy-to-use software.