State allows online filing - without a tax preparer
A big change for 2008 on the Massachusetts return involves a new way to file your return.
Starting this year, you will be able to fill in and file your state return directly online without tax preparation software or going through a paid preparer or Internet tax firm.
The state's new WebFile program doesn't provide advice or other hand-holding, but it will do math and check for some common mistakes, says Massachusetts Revenue Commissioner Navjeet Bal. People reporting capital gains or self-employment income won't be able to use WebFile this year, but she says the program will eventually be broadened.
One benefit of online filing, Bal says, is faster refunds - typically, according to officials, in two or three days as opposed to perhaps several weeks as the season wears on. "Getting cash into taxpayers' hands faster in this day and age is a good thing," Bal says, adding that fast refunds can reduce the lure of a refund anticipation loan that some people use to borrow against a coming refund.
Department of Revenue spokesman Bob Bliss says that despite a budget squeeze, the state's finances are on track to cover all requests for refunds.
People who owe tax can use Webfile to complete their return and then send in a check or have the tax automatically taken from a bank account.
Online or not, it pays to be alert. "People do their federal return and then assume the same provisions apply for the state," says Fred Brewitt, a Marlborough enrolled agent, a category of federally authorized tax practitioner.
Deductions for deposits to IRAs, for example, are not allowed by the state even though you may qualify for them on the federal form. On the other hand, the state doesn't tax Social Security benefits, but depending on your income the feds may.
