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Friday, Intuit's TurboTax will release SnapTax, a new mobile application that allows taxpayers who file a 1040EZ to prepare and file their federal and state income taxes on their smartphones. Customers can download the app for free, but will have to pay $14.99 to file their tax returns....   >>>

Friday, Intuit's TurboTax will release SnapTax, a new mobile application that allows taxpayers who file a 1040EZ to prepare and file their federal and state income taxes on their smartphones. Customers can download the app for free, but will have to pay $14.99 to file their tax returns.

The app uses optical character recognition technology to fill out users' tax returns. Once users take a picture of their W-2s with their smartphones, the app will automatically transfer information to the relevant lines on Form 1040EZ. After customers answer a few questions, they'll have an opportunity to check the return for accuracy before they file.

Like traditional tax preparation software, the app will display the amount of the refund. The process should take 15 to 30 minutes, says Bob Meighan, vice president of TurboTax.

More than 22 million Americans are eligible to file a 1040EZ, an abbreviated tax form available to taxpayers who claim the standard deduction, have no dependents, and earn less than $100,000. Taxpayers who file the 1040EZ are "really the young and mobile crowd," and many of them have never used tax software, Meighan says.



The paragraphs above have been taken from Physorg.com, "Use smartphone app to file taxes" written by Sandra Block. It's been linked below, so click through to read more. | image is from flickr user http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabofr/ made available through a Creative Commons license.