Ut-oh! Time for taxes again! With the economy struggling, I know most of us can’t afford to pay someone to prepare our returns. Lucky for us, with the technology of the internet, filing your taxes is as easy as ever. But there is overwhelming choices in software! Which do you choose? Some helpful tips!

The e-filing software you choose will depend on the uniqueness of your tax situaton. For our most complex of tax filers, those of you with privately owned businesses or a great deal of investments, you will want to choose software that allows you to easily track deductions. Top choices for this are TurboTax (premiere edition: $24.95 state, $59.95 fed) or CompleteTax ($44.90 state, $29.95 fed). These programs are easy to use and   extremely accurate in their calculations.

Now for you less complicated filers, go with regular TurboTax ($29.99 state, free fed), H&R Block at Home ($49.95 state, $19.95 fed) or TaxAct ($13.95 state, free fed). These walk you through the 1040EZ and other easy forms. With a few answered questions and quick calculations, you can be sure that the information you are sending is accurate and complete. Who doesn’t like one less worry?

**Bonus!** Most of these online softwares offer direct deposit. No more waiting for the mailperson to bring your refund check!

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The easiest and most affordable way to file your tax return is to eFile. Last year, over 72 million people filed their taxes online using the IRS efile. eFiling is safer and more accurate than mailing in a tax return — instead of relying on the postal service, your return is transmitted electronically directly to the IRS.

We recommend TurboTax and H&R Block at Home to efile your taxes.

With online eFile, you can get your tax refund quickly. Most efile solutions now offer direct deposit — so your tax refund will be automatically added to your bank account in as little as 8 days.

There are various tax services that offer free efile of your Federal tax return. You should expect to pay a small amount to eFile your state return. TaxAct offers free federal efile, and State efile for just $13.95.  Taxact does all the calculations for you — all you have to do is answer simple questions about your income.  Spend a little more, and receive advanced features for additional tax assistance frome TurboTax and TaxCut from H&R Block.

Read full reviews of tax software and compare all tax programs.

So, you’re eager to get your tax return in so you can get that big refund. Or maybe you want to save yourself from stress of filing a last minute tax return. Well, good news, you can start filing your taxes as early as January 1. The leading tax software, TurboTax and H & R Block at Home, are now available for download.

In order to file your taxes, you’ll need your W2 or 1099 forms from all employers you’ve worked for in the past year. Businesses are required to mail these by the end of January — but you may receive these earlier if you employer’s accountant is really on top of things. Once you have these forms from your employer, you can efile your state and federal taxes online. Note that some efile programs (such as TaxAct), will not be available until the second week of January.