As Americans head into one of the busiest weekends for preparing taxes, Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) today joined Congressman Charles B. Rangel, Representative from the 15th Congressional District, to tell taxpayers about a program that donates Intuit's popular Quicken® TurboTax® for the WebSM service to lower income taxpayers. The Quicken Tax Freedom Project, available at www.quicken.com/freedom, donates online tax preparation and filing services to individuals and families with annual adjusted gross incomes of $25,000 or less. According to IRS statistics, approximately 60 million Americans qualify for the Quicken Tax Freedom Project.
"The first weekend in February is the first big tax preparation weekend of the season, and we expect a lot of taxpayers will be preparing and filing their tax returns over the next three days," said Steve Bennett, Intuit's president and CEO. Bennett joined Congressman Rangel at a news conference today at Harlem's Dunlevy Milbank Boys and
Girls Club to launch this year's program and help taxpayers prepare and file their returns. "It's great to join Congressman Rangel to let lower income Americans know about this free tax preparation and filing program. Taxpayers who use our electronic filing service can get their refunds back about three times faster -- a significant benefit, especially for lower income people."
This year, Intuit expanded the Quicken Tax Freedom Project, raising the income eligibility by $5,000 over last year. Last year, Intuit donated more than 764,000 federal and more than 375,000 state tax returns through the Quicken Tax Freedom Project.
"I'm delighted to welcome Intuit to Harlem today and join its efforts to work with local community groups to help bridge the 'digital divide' and bring meaningful Internet services to lower income people," said Congressman Rangel. "I'm pleased that Intuit will be working with community organizations in the 15th District throughout the tax season. The Quicken Tax Freedom Project demonstrates the power of businesses, government and the community working together to provide important services to our country's citizens who need them the most."
Easy and Accessible Tax Preparation
Intuit's donated online tax preparation and filing service can be accessed from any computer with Internet access. The growing acceptance of the Internet, combined with increased Internet accessibility through a variety of public locations, has made preparing and filing taxes online a fast, convenient option for more and more Americans.
Taxpayers without a computer can access the free program from computers at their local public library, school or community center. The American Library Association reports that nearly 95% of public libraries now offer their patrons free Internet access.
TurboTax for the Web is easy to use and requires no special tax expertise. Using a simple interview method, TurboTax walks taxpayers through their tax return step-by-step and automatically calculates the correct tax, reducing arithmetic and other errors and automatically identifying deductions for which the taxpayer qualifies. Eligibility for the
Quicken Tax Freedom Project is determined by users' actual tax information as entered into TurboTax for the Web program.
Faster Refunds
Preparing and filing taxes online is fast, convenient and easy. Once a taxpayer has finished preparing their return, they can quickly and easily file their return electronically or they can submit their return by mail. By electronically filing their returns, taxpayers can receive refunds in as little as 10 to 21 days, compared to the six-week average for returns filed by mail. Taxpayers can also prepare and file their state tax returns electronically with 38 states and the District of Columbia.
The Quicken Tax Freedom Project was recently awarded the 2000 Council of State Governments' Public/Private Partnership Award. The prestigious award recognizes the program's support of state revenue departments' goals of increasing electronic filing and Intuit's commitment to assisting citizens in bridging the 'Digital Divide.'
