You simply call the toll-free number that's posted in your TeleFile tax package and the program automatically figures the amount of your refund or balance due, based on the information you enter. The phone call takes about 10 minutes. You don't need a personal computer. The program does all the math. File from just about anywhere, anytime.
Some people are just plain used to going straight to a tax pro.
Bill McCloskey, a media relations director in Washington, D.C., has been going to his accountant for 25 years. He sends me a planning document in December and I fill in the blanks. At this late stage, however, don't count on taking your paperwork to an accounting firm with the hope that they can submit your return on time, says Mike Crombie, a certified public accountant with Gould Eisele Crombie LLP in New York City. We've already got about 150 difficult returns that have been here since March. That's what Mark Gillespie, a television producer in New Jersey, plans to do.