Basically, federal income tax is the percentage that the federal government takes from an individual's or business' earnings. The amount of that percentage will be based on the amount one earns. This percentage will be the payment of the citizens of the United States to the various services the federal government provides, like construction of roads, schools and other infrastructures intended for the general good of the public.



Federal income tax covers areas of concerns like import duties as well as the taxes being paid certain commodities and those asked of from employers and employees. Computing for your annual tax returns can be an added confusion from the already convoluted world taxation.

Regardless of how much the concepts are presented and how much detailed the explanations are, most of the laymen will surely get confused on what they are doing when they accomplish their tax preparations. It is therefore quite a bit unfortunate that tax preparations is required by law and one could be imprisoned for not filing a proper one.

To assist taxpayers in preparing their annual dues and forms, a number of software manufacturers have developed tax preparation software that will assist taxpayers. By purchasing the software, one can easily calculate their income tax returns avoiding the hassles of computing manually or hiring expensive professionals to prepare their taxes for them. The various tax software programs available are able to calculate quickly and accurately the taxpayer's annual returns, estimates, extensions as well as amended returns.

Not only can the software prepare straightforward tax returns but they are well capable of providing the needs of those big insurance companies and C-corporations whose tax returns are a lot complicated with various return types like the 1120, 1120-L, 1120-PC, 1120-F and 1120-RIC to accomplish.

Regardless of the manufacturer, what the software does is that it streamlines the calculations. By doing so, the processing is made simpler especially through the aid of computers. Tax software can even perform a full-blown, one-step consolidation.

But for the year 2006, initial reviews indicate that the best federal income tax software so far is the TurboTax by Intuit. The software was reviewed to have a rather easy interface and quite powerful computation tools. Following Turbo Tax in terms of popularity is the H&R Block's TaxCut.

It is said that the TurboTax has an edge over TaxCut on the areas of complicated tax preparations especially when it comes to filing a Schedule C. Moreover, with the Turbo Tax upgrade, users can now complete W-2 and 1099 forms for employees. But these are just two of the wide number of tax software available today.

There are several electronic income tax filing software programs now available for you. Different programs offer a number of features that allow you to make your tax preparation and filing more efficient and convenient. Here are some of the basic electronic income tax filing software features that you might encounter as you check out the different software programs available for you out there.

1. Interview Mode- this feature found in most electronic income tax filing software programs provides a step by step guided interview that asks you all the pertinent questions as the program automatically fills out your tax return depending on your answers. With this feature, it is like having an accountant by your side helping you out filling out your return forms step by step.

2. Automatic Rollover Feature- it can sometimes be troublesome trying to fill out returns with data that you have already filled up last year. With an electronic income tax filing software program with his feature, you never have to again fill up previous data into your current income tax return. Such information is rolled over from the previous year, sometimes including prior year balances, prepayments, overpayments and other important data. All you need is to add up new data for the current tax year.

3. Comprehensive Error Checking - this feature allows you to reduce the number of errors on your income tax return. You may commit a number of errors by doing your tax returns manually. Some errors may escape your notice but can cause great complications later on. With an electronic income tax filing software program, you never have to worry over this as the powerful software will ensure that you eliminate committing as little errors on your tax return as possible.

4. Complete Tax Return Templates- eliminates the need for you to look for the right forms when you need them. Most electronic income tax filing software programs already have a list of complete forms that you may need in your different tax situations. A guide is also usually available to help you in using the right federal forms to fill out.

5. "What If" Scenario Feature- this is especially helpful if you wish to know how your tax returns will fare out when you find yourself in a different situation. Some income tax software programs offer you comprehensive predictive techniques in a wide range of what if scenarios to show you where you stand on your tax situation.