From: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!sun!megatest!fortune!hpda!hplabs!sri-unix!Mendelson.es@parc-maxc.arpa
Newsgroups: net.micro
Title: Re: tax preparation packages
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.481
Posted: Tue Feb 22 09:16:00 1983
Received: Fri Feb 25 05:24:26 1983

This message is in response to Mark H. Mortensen's request for information on
tax packages for the Apple IIE.  Sorry for the wide distribution, but after typing
up a storm I couldn't find out how to get it through to him alone.

Mark,

I have used the Howardsoft Tax Preparer, both Federal and California State
versions, for the past two years on an extremely complex tax return.  It is
comprehensive, and works well, but it has a long ways to go in its human
interface. 

On the whole its merits far outweigh its demerits, so let me talk about them
first.  It sequences you through each individual form very nicely, but you have
to control how you sequence from form to form very carefully (see below).  As
you work through a form it permits you to build supporting schedules
beautifully.  For example, if you reach the Charitable Contributions line on
schedule A it permits you to exit Schedule A, build a complete Charitable
Contributions schedule with amounts, check number, descriptive detail of
charity, and so on.  When you have built the schedule, you exit it, and find
that you have returned to Schedule A at the Charitable Contributions line where
it picks up the total of all the contributions that you have just generated.  Later
it will print both Schedule A and all of the supporting schedules.  You can go
back and edit the schedules, and the effects of any additional or altered amounts
will be picked up in the major schedule.  In the end you get a beautiful tax
package printout out of it.

You are required to submit your 1040 on a standard federal form, but all other
schedules may be printed with computer generated text provided it conforms to
certain rules.  The Tax Preparer will print on a 1040 form, and adheres to the
rules for all other forms.  I have submitted complete returns containing on the
order of 20 pages using this technique.

Now for the bad news.  It's human interface is not the greatest.  It forces you to
go through the schedules in a very rigid sequence in order to insure that
everything stays tied together.  For example, if you found an additional
charitable deduction you would have to go through Schedule A to the charitable
deduction line, exit to the itemized schedule, add the new deduction to it, return
to Schedule A where your addition would be picked up, complete Schedule A,
and then re-do the 1040 in order to pick up the new itemized deduction total. 
That is all very reasonable, but it is time consuming, and you have to be
careful.

There are several schedules that essentially operate interactively with respect to
the 1040, and you also have to be very careful to process them in the right
sequence if you want to get correct results.   That is, you have to get to some
point in the 1040 in order to get a value that feeds forward into another
schedule.  Then you have to scroll through to complete the 1040 (with
incomplete results), exit the 1040, go to the other schedule, complete it using the
value obtained from the 1040, then return to scroll through the 1040 to the point
where you get feedback from the other schedule.   If all of that sounds a little
confusing, -- it is.  You have to understand something about how your taxes
really work if you have some complex tax matters to deal with.  But, it all
works.  For example, if you have to use form 6251, the alternative minimum tax,
you find that you need to compute your tax on 1040, go to 6251 where you pick
up the tax from 1040 as part of the 6251 calculations, then return to 1040 where
you get feedback from the results of 6251.  This kind of interaction occurs in a
number of places in a complex tax return, and you have to understand the
proper sequence or you won't get correct results.

If you have a relatively straightforward return you won't run into these
sequencing problems.  If you have a complex return you probably understand
what you are dealing with, and won't have any trouble.

If all of this sounds negative I did not intend it to be so.  I guess the best
testimonial is that I have ordered both the Federal and State versions for 1983,
my third year of use.  If you have any questions you can call me at my office
(213) 536-9520 (8:15 AM to 5:00 PM PST), or at my home (213) 981-2055 (6:30 PM
to 10:30 PM PST).  Or, you can fire away over the network.

Jerry Mendelson