Tax Preparation & Linux

[Roger Oberholtzer]

In Sweden, they encourage on-line preparation. So, the Swedish tax folk
have a web site where you do this. And, according to Swedish law, it is
OS agnostic. I do this from Mozilla each year. Of course, in Sweden,
much is reported. So, they nicely (or not, depending on your POV) fill
in what they already know. Just change to suit. It covers 90% of the tax
reporting done.

I also fill in a US tax form (haven't lived there in over 20 years - but
I have kept my citizenship). The process all seems so old fashioned.
Paper forms. Tables. This form references that. It takes me more time to
tell the US that I owe no taxes that it takes me to do a proper tax
report in Sweden.

When will the US ever break into the modern computer age?

BTW, you can even complete your taxes in Sweden via SMS from your mobile
telephone. I admit that one seems one step too far.

On Sat, 2005-01-15 at 09:58 -0500, Kurt Wall wrote:
> The question of tax prep under Linux comes up here periodically.
> 
> ----- Forwarded message from chris319 <chris319 at pobox.com> -----
> 
> > From: "chris319" <chris319 at pobox.com>
> > To: moneydance-info at moneydance.com
> > Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 22:54:59 -0800
> > Subject: Re: [moneydance] UPDATE: Tax Preparation & Linux
> > X-Mailer: Courier 3.50.00.09.1098 (http://www.rosecitysoftware.com) (K)
> > 
> > Naturally CompleteTax renders correctly with IE and I have been using it with
> > Firefox, both under Windows. I need to fire up my Linux box and try it with
> > some Linux browsers. Mac users should check it with Safari, etc.
> > 
> > The pdf output of CompleteTax runs 46 pages in my case and contains all kinds
> > of nifty supporting statements. It is very comprehensive. It does not have
> > direct form entry but you can use their quick navigation feature to get to
> > the areas for income, deductions, investments, etc. and bypass the interview
> > steps. I actually went through the interview process and it wasn't too bad
> > because they put several related questions on one page, which is VERY
> > convenient. Editing entries is not difficult with the quick navigation
> > feature.
> > 
> > www.completetax.com
> 
> ----- End forwarded message -----
> 
> Kurt