Filing Taxes? There's an App for That

Paying taxes just got a little bit easier this season—well, the filing part, at least. Today TurboTax announced the immediate availability of SnapTax Mobile, the first ever, start-to-finish app for filing from your phone. Leveraging your mobile phone's camera and wireless connection, the app provides Android and iPhone users with an easy way to file, from anywhere.
"SnapTax offers an entirely new and unique way to file taxes," explained Barry Saik, vice president of product management for TurboTax. "Now, millions of taxpayers across the country can do their taxes easily and accurately from their mobile phones in just minutes. SnapTax is the next innovation from TurboTax that revolutionizes how people tackle the annual task of doing their taxes."
Unveiled last year, SnapTax enables customers to snap a photo of their W-2 with their mobile phone's camera. The software uses optical character recognition (OCR) to translate the image into text and populate the tax return. For every step of the process, there's a running tally of the refund or taxes owed. After a few simple questions, users can review their return. If everything checks out—no pun intended—users can electronically submit their federal and state tax return by tapping the "File Now" button. It makes filing taxes look, dare I say, fun.
SnapTax is available free for immediate download in the Apple App Store and Android Market. When it comes time to file, there's an introductory price of $14.99, which includes federal (1040EZ) and state preparation and e-filing. Now if only TurboTax could release an app for balancing budgets.