Contact R&G Brenner to Trade in Your Software

One of the most popular applications for home computers has been tax preparation software packages which walk people through the relevant tax forms and help people complete them properly. The idea has been around since the 1980s, long before Internet, and represents one of the most successful consumer software success stories. However, the introduction and subsequent popularity of tax preparation software packages, like TurboTax or TaxACT, has been something of a mixed blessing for American taxpayers.

On one hand, it cannot be denied that these programs have proven themselves extremely useful for many people. Most of the programs walk the user through each line of the tax form, explaining what number goes where to find these numbers. Similarly, most also include automatic calculators that add up the amounts entered as the user goes, reducing the opportunities to make mathematical errors on the tax form. Further, most highlight which lines are required and which are optional, thereby reducing the opportunity to accidently leave required lines blank and make other common mistakes.

On the other hand, these programs are not actual tax advisors, so they only help people to the extent that the user asks for. That is, these programs do not know which deductions and credits each user may qualify for, so unless the person using it knows what to ask for these programs frequently result in people paying more taxes than they should. Further, these programs have allowed many non-professionals to market themselves as tax preparers, since all they have to do is follow the program instructions, resulting in a large number of people selling tax preparation services that really have no idea what they are doing. This last has become such a problem that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is now considering setting up a licensing and registration process for people wishing to sell tax preparation services.

Needless to say, one of the biggest losers from the rise of these software programs has been the professional tax preparation industry. The software leads many people to believe that the software is all they need to maximize their tax situation, which is simply not the case in reality. Further, the large number of people using software packages in order to sell tax preparation services for considerably less than the professionals has resulted in making the true professionals look overly expensive. However, as with much else in life, you generally get what you pay for and this applies to tax preparation services as well.

Like it or not, the American tax code and its associated regulations is extremely complex and it takes the services of a true expert to understand all the opportunities it presents. In fact, most experts spend years learning all the different provisions and this expertise is a marketable commodity. Unlike a software program, a real expert knows what to look for and what to ask for, as well as what can be claimed and what cannot, and this is what people pay for.

Obviously tax preparation companies have a vested interest in showing people how much better their services are than the software and winning people over, and some companies – like R&G Brenner – offer aggressive promotional options in order to show people the advantages of professionals.

 R&G Brenner offers a software “trade in” whereby customers can receive a reduction in their fees of an amount equal to the fair market value of whatever tax preparation software program they bring in. basically the customer brings both their tax software program as well as their last return completed using the software to any of R&G Brenner’s offices. There, an expert will review the customer’s return for free and if he discovers a way that the customer could have gotten a larger refund or had a smaller bill, R&G Brenner will point this out to the customer. If the customer chooses to take advantage of the opportunity and pays to have their taxes done professionally, the final bill will be reduced by the fair market value of the software program brought in. the exact details of the program are on the website: www.rgbrenner.com.

Have a tax question? Ask one of our tax professionals.