If you've ever filed a tax return, you know that understanding the IRS's forms and schedules can be challenging, and the official written instructions don't always help. The instructions are so comprehensive it's often hard to find the answer to your exact question. When you do find it, once again, the language can be difficult to decipher. From their earliest days, personal tax software developers have sought to interpret IRS-speak and make it more understandable to the non-accountant. Some of them have written and revised their content over many years to make it as clear as possible. Services like TaxAct do more. For example, they provide hyperlinks to small help windows that further explain a term or phrase. They anticipate questions you might ask and post Q&As on especially thorny topics. They try to ensure you understand the question being asked so you give the correct answer and possibly up your refund total.