Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) today announced the launch of the Quicken® Tax Freedom Project, a public service initiative donating online tax preparation and electronic filing to lower income families and individuals at no charge. This service, which supports both federal and state income taxes, is available to taxpayers with adjusted annual gross incomes of $20,000 or less.
According to IRS statistics, more than 50 million Americans, or about 43 percent of all individual taxpayers, are eligible to participate in the Quicken Tax Freedom Project.
"The Quicken Tax Freedom Project is one program that will help bridge this country’s ‘technology gap’ by making electronic tax preparation affordable and accessible to those who otherwise may not have access to a computer or the appropriate software," said Bill Harris, president and CEO of Intuit. "We think it is important for everyone in the country to be able to enjoy the great benefits of the new digital revolution."
Intuit is offering online tax preparation and electronic filing services at no charge to eligible families and individuals through its WebTurboTaxTM product, a Web-based personal tax preparation solution that enables taxpayers to securely and quickly prepare and electronically file their tax returns via the Internet. WebTurboTax is easy to use and requires no tax knowledge or expertise. Because it is a Web-based product and is not downloaded or stored on an individual’s computer, consumers can use it securely from locations offering Internet access.
Intuit is encouraging libraries, schools, senior citizen centers and other public Internet facilities to provide eligible taxpayers access to the Quicken Tax Freedom Project. More than 6,000 of the 9,000 public libraries in America offer public access to the Internet at one or more locations, according to the American Library Association.
Harris said Intuit is also working with public-spirited groups such as SeniorNet, which provides Internet access to senior citizens at 140 centers nationwide.
"The launch of the Quicken Tax Freedom Project is an important milestone in the democratization of technology," said Ann Wrixon, SeniorNet executive director. "We are very pleased to help lower income older adults take advantage of this opportunity, and encourage seniors to visit our centers to learn about and use this technology."
The Quicken Tax Freedom Project was announced last August and is now available for public use. Taxpayers can access the Quicken Tax Freedom Project at http://turbotax.intuit.com/taxfreedom from Web-enabled PCs with Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater, Netscape Navigator 4.0 or greater, or America Online 4.0 (with Internet Explorer 4.0).
WebTurboTax features the latest in SSL encryption technology to ensure that tax filers’ returns, and all personal information associated with them, remain private and secure during preparation and transmission.
The Quicken Tax Freedom Project is, in part, a response to requests from the IRS to the private sector to help it generate more electronically filed returns. According to the IRS, electronically filed returns have a less than one percent error rate, as compared to a 20 percent error rate for manually prepared returns. Additionally, the IRS can process software generated and electronically filed tax returns much faster than manually prepared and filed returns, speeding refunds for those who are getting them.
All individual income taxpayers with adjusted annual gross incomes of $20,000 and less will be eligible under the program. All major tax forms, including 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040 are supported.
Eligibility is determined by users’ actual tax information entered in WebTurboTax. The services are available now through April 1, 1999, and will be extended thereafter if Intuit has sufficient capacity to continue the program through the end-of-tax-season peak.
