2007 H&R Block TaxCut State Program Windows Edition ReadMe File Contents 1. Using TaxCut State Programs with Federal TaxCut 2. State Forms 3. Instructions for State Forms 4. Purchasing Additional State Programs 5. Customer Support 6. State Filing and Payment Deadlines for the 2007 Tax Year 7. Electronic Filing Information 8. State Electronic Filing Changes 9. Workarounds and Other Notices 10. Printing 11. Keeping Your Tax Information Secure 12. Thank You 1. Using TaxCut State Programs with Federal TaxCut You must first use the Federal edition of TaxCut to create a federal tax return file - even a blank one - before you can use the state program. We strongly recommend that you complete your federal tax return before beginning your state return. Much of the relevant tax return information from the Federal edition of TaxCut will flow into your state return. The state interview takes you topic by topic through the tax forms in your state tax return and makes sure that you don't miss anything. 2. State Forms The following state forms were not finalized at the time we released the state program update: CALIFORNIA Form 3526, Investment Interest Expense Deduction Form 3540, Credit Carryover Summary Form 3800, Tax Computation for Children Under Age 14 with Investment Income Form 3801, Passive Activity Loss Limitations Form 3803, Parent's Election to Report Child's Interest and Dividends Form 540X, Amended Individual Income Tax Return Schedule G-1, Tax on Lump Sum Distribution Schedule S, Other State Tax Credit ILLINOIS Form IL-4562, Special Depreciation MICHIGAN Form MI-1040X, Amended Income Tax Return Form MI-2210, Michigan Underpayment of Estimated Income Tax NEW YORK Form IT-201-X, Amended Resident Income Tax Return Form IT-360.1, Change of City Resident Status Form Y-203, Yonkers Nonresident Earnings Tax Return SOUTH CAROLINA Form SC 1040-V, Individual Income Tax Payment Voucher Form SC 1040ES, Individual Declaration of Estimated Tax If you need these forms to file your return, you must update TaxCut again before filing your tax return. All final state forms will be available via download by February 15, 2008.* For more information, check our Web site, www.taxcut.com. To download the latest update, simply go to the Tools menu and select Update TaxCut. * This release date is approximate and is dependent upon an individual state's tax forms release. For more information, check our Web site, www.taxcut.com. 3. Instructions for State Forms All instructions for state forms are final in this version of TaxCut. 4. Purchasing Additional State Programs Click the State tab in TaxCut, and follow the instructions. 5. Customer Support We provide a variety of resources to help answer any questions you may have about TaxCut. Help Central is the first place to go. Our extensive help system is the primary resource for answering your product-related questions. Go to the Help menu, and select Customer Support. If you cannot find the answer to your question in TaxCut's Help Central, visit our Web site at http://www.taxcut.com/helpme for a variety of free support options, including: - Answers to common questions about how to use the program, the status of your order, or problems downloading from our online store. - Solutions to TaxCut-related technical issues. - Free customer support options including chat and phone. Telephone Support: For free telephone Technical Support on product-related questions, call 1-888-4TAXCUT (1-888-482-9288). For quick, easy access to our Customer Support Services, connect to the Internet, go to the Help menu, and choose TaxCut on the Web, and Online Customer Support. Program Updates (http://www.taxcut.com/updates): Check this page for the latest information about TaxCut program updates. You can download the latest update from within TaxCut by clicking Update TaxCut on the Tools menu. 6. State Filing and Payment Deadlines for the 2007 Tax Year Most states follow the IRS' filing and payment deadline (for paper returns and electronically filed returns): midnight April 15, 2008 The states that have filing deadlines other than April 15 are: Delaware - April 30, 2008 Hawaii - April 20, 2008 Iowa - April 30, 2008 Louisiana - May 15, 2008 New Mexico - April 30, 2008 (electronically filed returns only) South Carolina - May 1, 2008 (electronically filed returns only) Virginia - May 1, 2008 For further information on your state's filing deadline, go to http://www.taxcut.com/taxcut/state_irsinfo.html. This page contains links to all states' Department of Revenue Web sites. 7. Electronic Filing Information Electronic filing is enabled in this program. Here are some helpful hints and reminders to make electronic filing easy. - We recommend printing and reviewing your return before filing it electronically. This will allow you time to ensure that you have entered all the information before transmitting your tax return. - You should update your TaxCut programs before sending your return. We'll remind you when you get to the File tab. - Not every tax return can be filed electronically. In fact, the IRS and some state taxing authorities do not accept some forms electronically. TaxCut will guide you through the qualification process of your electronic return. 8. State Electronic Filing Changes For tax year 2007, Oklahoma now allows you to electronically file your state return separately from your federal return. This means that only Arkansas and Hawaii require you to electronically file both your state and federal returns together. 9. Workarounds and Other Notices NO SUPPORT FOR PAID PREPARERS TaxCut State programs do not support individuals who are paid to prepare another taxpayer's return or who are paid to electronically file another taxpayer's return. 10. Printing We recommend that you print a test page from your tax return before your taxes are due. This lets you resolve any possible printing problems before filing your taxes. To print a test page, do the following: 1. From the File menu, select Print. The Print dialog box opens. 2. Under Select What to Print, select the Selected Forms option, and then My Forms. 3. In the Included in Print Job box, select one form from the list by clicking on it. 4. Click Print. If you have difficulty printing and cannot resolve the issue, use the Save as PDF option on the File menu and print the PDF. 11. Keeping Your Tax Information Secure Recognizing the importance of security to our TaxCut clients, we are sharing the tips below to help you ensure that your personal tax information remains private. The more you know, the better equipped you are to protect your privacy. When you use an H&R Block tax program on an Internet-connected computer to prepare and file your taxes, the electronic filing process transmits data in encrypted form to the Internal Revenue Service. As a result, those transmissions are secure. But you might be surprised to learn that the home or office computer where your return was prepared may not be as secure as you think. Consider this: - If you do not have an active firewall on your computer and/or network connection, hackers may be able to inspect the contents of your hard drive. - If you do not have up-to-date anti-virus software on your computer, your machine could be infected with a virus or similar malicious software that gives third parties access to your passwords and other files. - If you have accidentally or unknowingly downloaded "spyware" to your computer, you could also be transmitting your personal information to third parties. - If you have an Internet file-sharing program such as Kazaa, Limewire(r), or Bearshare(r) on your computer that is used to exchange music and other digital content over the Internet, you may be making all or part of your hard drive's contents available to others. As a result of using H&R Block's TaxCut software to prepare your taxes this year, you may have stored your personal tax information on the computer used to prepare the return. We encourage you to ensure that the folder where this information is stored is not shared and/or is password protected by your TaxCut program. This extra precaution only takes a moment, and helps ensure that other users of your computer cannot open and view your tax file without your permission. For more information about how to determine and set folder properties, check your computer operating system's built-in Help files or check with the operating system vendor. Microsoft information is available at http://www.microsoft.com. 12. ...and thank you for choosing H&R Block TaxCut! $Revision: #55 $ $DateTime: 2008/01/08 15:47:14 $