GLEN COVE COMPUTING NEWS

Welcome to the April issue of Glen Cove Computing News. This issue's feature article The Taxman Cometh is for all you procrastinators who still haven't done your taxes. In this issue of Glen Cove Computing News you'll also find:

• Tax Resources
• GCC Tech Tips
• Internet Site of the Month
• Cartoon of the Month
• Internet Technology of the Month

Today is April 1, 1997. T minus 14 days until the dreaded April 15th Income Tax deadline. I'm sure many people have already completed their taxes by now. If you are one of these people do not read the rest of this article! Also if you've got the money to spend, run don't walk to your local tax preparation office or accountant. Really, if you're financially well off there is no reason for you to do your own taxes. It's complicated, time consuming, and it will take years off your life. So anyone making over $200k reading this article should stop reading and go check your stock portfolio. Now that we've gotten rid of those annoying people let's concentrate on how the rest of us can get our taxes done before the IRS comes looking for us.

Okay you've got fourteen days to get your taxes done and you don't know where to start. Hopefully you have most of your receipts, W2's, and other tax forms stored in a shoebox or folder somewhere. It's time to get them out and organize them. Once you've accomplished that go to your local computer software store and buy a Tax Preparation package. I used Kiplinger TaxCut to do my taxes this year and after only two weeks of pulling out my hair I am ready to send out my returns. Actually TaxCut is a good choice if you don't need any bells or whistles with your Tax software. The interface and the QA (Question and Answer) Interview module are excellent. There's also an Audit Buster which reviews your return, checking for missing data, pointing out possible deductions, and flagging entries that might set off alarms at the IRS. What TaxCut lacks is an extensive help system which means that you'll need to find alternative sources for tax help. I had a question about how to determine the amount I could claim as a deduction for my vehicle licensing fee. I searched throughout the TaxCut help system, but couldn't even find where the deduction should be claimed. Luckily a call to the IRS (800) 829-1040 cleared up the confusion. Staples is currently selling the Federal version of TaxCut for $14.99 and the State version for $19.99. They also offer a $10 rebate on the Federal version, so your price is a whopping $4.99! If you're willing to invest a little more money, and remember it is tax deductible, buy a copy of TurboTax Deluxe ($49.95). TurboTax Deluxe comes with a more extensive help system, a slew of tax tips, and lots of bells and whistles.

Once you've got your tax preparation software installed, the rest is a breeze right? Well not exactly. There really isn't a definitive tax preparation software package available that will answer all of your tax questions. When you run into an unanswerable question with your Federal return follow these instructions:

• Check out pages 34 & 35 of the Federal 1040 booklet to see if your question can be answered by the IRS' Tele-Tax service. The Tele-Tax service provides recorded answers on a number of topics and can be reached at (800) 829-4477. You can also use the Tele-Tax service to check on the status of your 1996 refund.

• If you find that your question(s) can't be answered by Tele-Tax, it's time to move on to the next level of support. You can speak directly to an IRS agent by dialing (800) 829-1040. The service is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. I was able to get through in only 10 minutes on April 1st, but wait times will increase as we get closer to the deadline.

• If you're not able to get through to an IRS agent or you're unlucky enough to have a question on the weekend, check out the IRS web site. The Digital Daily features about 600 business and individual tax forms for 1996, answers to 150 frequently asked questions, a summary of tax rule changes, and other information. You can also check out the Yahoo! Tax Center which provides helpful hints for personal and business taxpayers and info on tax law changes. If you're still not able to find the answer to your question, I hope you have a friend who's an accountant!

Okay so now your Federal return questions have been answered and you're done. Not so fast, you still have to do your state return. It's hard to believe but the California State return is even more confusing than the Federal return. Here's what you do when you run into an unanswerable question on the California state return:

• Check out the back page of the California Personal Income Tax Booklet to see if your question can be answered by the FTB's F.A.S.T. (Fast Answers about State Taxes) Phone Service. The F.A.S.T. service provides recorded answers on a number of topics and can be reached at (800) 338-0505. You can also check on the status of your 1996 refund and order state and federal tax forms.

• If you find that your question(s) can't be answered by F.A.S.T., it's time to move on to the next level of support. You can speak directly to an FTB agent by dialing (800) 852-5711. The service is available Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. To avoid delays call before 10 am or after 6 pm.

• If you're not able to get through to an FTB agent or you're unlucky enough to have a question on the weekend, check out the California Franchise Tax Board web site. If you're still not able to find the answer to your questions, pray that you haven't alienated your accountant friend by asking him for help on the federal tax return!

Once you've finished both your federal and state returns make sure that:

• You attach the appropriate copy of your W-2s, 1099s, etc. to your return.
• You send in all the forms and schedules necessary for your return.
• You sign and date the return. Remember your spouse also must sign if you file jointly.
• You put enough postage on the envelope.
• You make a photocopy of your returns. If you forget and need a copy, the IRS will charge you $14 for a copy of your federal return. The state of California will charge you $10.
• You file the 1040PC federal form, as it prints on one page and saves trees. It's not always possible to file the 1040PC form, but your tax software will determine if you're eligible.
• You entered your RTN (Routing Transit #) and Account # for direct deposit of your federal refund. Of course this only works if you're actually getting a refund.

Finally you should remember that there's only 379 days until your 1997 tax returns are due! Maybe next year you'll have your taxes done by the end of February or maybe you'll hit the lottery and hire someone to do your taxes. Hopefully by that time the hair that I pulled out doing this year's taxes will have grown back. Happy Tax Season!

• Barry Rubin's Home Page: Links to sites for all fifty states, with a graphic indicating which ones provide their tax forms in Adobe PDF format, via fax, or through telnet.

• California Franchise Tax Board: Download 1995 & 1996 California forms and publications.

• Conductor: Home of the Kiplinger TaxCut Support Page.

• The Digital Daily: The Internal Revenue Service's home on the World Wide Web. It has loads of IRS information for individuals and businesses, tax faqs, statistics, and regulations.

• H&R Block, Inc.: The country’s largest tax preparation firm.

• Intuit Personal Tax Home Page: Here you'll find support for TurboTax and MacInTax.

• Tax Sites Directory: Links to tax sites in twenty categories including academia, associations, and policy groups.

• TaxWeb: Download over fifty federal forms and link to states for theirs. You can also check on recent or pending federal and state tax laws.

• Yahoo! Tax Center: Helpful hints for personal and business taxpayers and info on tax law changes.

• You may already know how to resize columns in Exchange, Find and Explorer (when you select View/Details), but here's a twist you may not know. If you double-click on the border, Windows will automatically resize the column to the narrowest width that will still show all the data in the column.

• Icon Type Too Big or Tiny? Wish you could make your icons just right? Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties, then the Appearance tab, then the Item menu. Scroll down and select Icon from the list, and then choose the font and size you wish from the pick lists.

• You could change the name of everything on your Desktop except the Recycle Bin-until now. Launch the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing REGEDIT in the Run dialog and clicking on the OK button. Drill down the following path: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, CLSID, {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} and change the Default value from "Recycle Bin" to the name of your choice.

• Here's how to put top-level Start menu items in the order you want and also launch them with keystrokes: Right-click on the Start button and select Open. Rename each item by placing a number in front of it. Now you can open the Start menu by pressing Ctrl+Esc, and launch a program by pressing its associated number.

The Internet Site of the month for April 1997 is World Wide Waiter. The World Wide Waiter is the first service to allow customers in California and beyond to place takeout and delivery orders over the Internet with no extra charge! The service is now available to receive your takeout and delivery orders online for 60+ wonderful Bay Area restaurants with over 550+ locations. Right from your desk you can browse the selection of menus and have your order sent directly to the restaurant of your choice with no extra charge to you! You can even specify if you want take-out, sit-down, or delivery (if it's available).

You can save your favorite orders on World Wide Waiter for near instant replay with just 2 mouse clicks. Simply place your order as usual, and then on the final checkout screen you will be given the option to store your customized order. Bookmark your saved orders and replay one in under 30 seconds! You can also schedule when you would like to pick up the order. This works out great for me as I'll schedule the order before I leave for work in the morning and then pick it up that night. I'm happy to report that this service works as advertised. If you do try out the World Wide Waiter please enter my username (tmartini) in the "referred by" field when you register. It's nice to get credit for something. 8-)

The Internet Technology of the month for April 1997 is PassKeeper 1.2 by Brad Greenlee. PassKeeper is a FREE Windows utility that allows you to keep a list of accounts with usernames, passwords, and notes. This list is stored in a secure encrypted format.

This is a neat utility that fills a growing need. The developer wrote PassKeeper to keep track of the many different "accounts" he had across the Net. I have about 20 different accounts with varying passwords that I have a hard time keeping straight. Before I got PassKeeper I kept my passwords in a PGP encrypted text file which was secure, but not very convenient to access. PassKeeper is available in both a 16 bit (Windows 3.x) and 32 bit (95/NT) version. Both versions can be downloaded from the PassKeeper home page. Highly recommended.

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