H&R Block TaxCut 2007 Federal Program Windows Edition ReadMe File Contents 1. Forms and Worksheets 2. IRS Instructions 3. IRS Publications (Premium version only) 4. Getting Your State Program 5. Customer Support 6. Filing and Payment Deadlines for the 2007 Tax Year 7. Electronic Filing Information 8. Workarounds and Other Notices 9. Printing 10. Changing Your Monitor's Screen Area (Screen Resolution) 11. Viewing and Printing the ReadMe File 12. Keeping Your Tax Information Secure 13. Thank You 1. Forms and Worksheets All forms and worksheets are final in this version of TaxCut. 2. IRS Instructions All instructions are final in this version of TaxCut. 3. IRS Publications (Premium version only) The publications that the IRS has finalized and released are available online. Publication 17 is final. 4. Getting Your State Program Click the State tab in TaxCut, and follow the instructions for: - Installing a state program if you purchased a TaxCut edition that includes a state program, or - Purchasing a state program or additional state programs. All TaxCut state programs are now available. For more information, check our Web site, www.taxcut.com/updates. 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 can't 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. Filing and Payment Deadlines for the 2007 Tax Year - The IRS filing and payment deadline: For paper returns and electronically filed returns, and paper extensions and electronically filed extensions -- April 15, 2008 - The IRS filing deadline with an extension: For paper returns and electronically filed returns -- October 15, 2008 7. Electronic Filing Information Electronic filing is enabled in this program. State programs with e-filing enabled are now available. 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. Workarounds and Other Notices PROBLEMS DOWNLOADING THE UPDATE If you're having problems downloading an update using TaxCut's automatic update process from within the program and your system's Internet Options' proxy is set to "Use automatic configuration script," do the following: 1. Select Proxy Settings from the Tools menu. 2. Click the "Use the system automatic proxy configuration script" radio button. OR Go to the Update Center and download the update at: http://www.taxcut.com/updates E-FILING OVER A NETWORK THAT REQUIRES AUTHENTICATION TO USE THE INTERNET Users Affected: You are affected by this problem if you meet all the following conditions: - You access the Internet through a proxy server, - You enter a user name and password to access the Internet, and - You want to file electronically. If you must enter a user name and password to gain Internet access, especially from your place of work or school, you may rely on a proxy server. If you have an individual local dial-up, cable, or DSL Internet account, it's unlikely you use a proxy server. Problem: TaxCut does not support e-filing over proxy servers that are configured to require user name/password authentication. Solution: If you have access to another computer that does not connect to the Internet over a proxy server, you can still e-file your return by following these steps: 1. Install the TaxCut federal and state programs on the computer from which you plan to e-file. 2. Move a copy of your 2007 return file from the computer with which you created it to the computer from which you plan to e-file. Most users accomplish this by saving a copy of their return to some sort of removable media (such as a CD, thumb drive, or some other storage device), and then copying the file to the computer to be used for e-filing. To do this: - Open your 2007 return with TaxCut, and select Save As from the File menu. - Click the Browse button to navigate to the drive that you are using to save the file. - Click Save, and keep the saved return file handy for loading on the other computer. The name of your return file is a combination of what you saved it as and the file extension .T07. For example, if you saved your return as MyTaxes, the name of the file would be: MyTaxes.T07 You can also use Windows Explorer to copy your return file. If you accepted TaxCut's default folder recommendation, TaxCut places your return in the following location: My Documents\TaxCut (Windows 2000 and XP) Documents\TaxCut (Windows Vista) 3. Make sure you are connected to the Internet, and open TaxCut on the computer from which you want to e-file. 4. Open your 2007 return by selecting Open Saved Return from the File menu, navigate to your return file and select it, and then click Open. 5. Click the File tab and follow the instructions to file electronically. Notes: - The fee for e-filing shown on the second computer may be different from the e-filing fee shown on the first computer. - You can check your e-filing status only from the copy of your return that you initiated electronic filing from, and not from the original copy. If you don't have access to another computer with non-proxy Internet access, you must file a standard paper return. MICROSOFT MONEY 2006 NEEDS AN UPDATE Users Affected: You are affected by this problem if you are importing information from Microsoft Money 2006. Problem: Your Money 2006 program needs an update for TaxCut to import your Money data. Solution: The Financial Imports section will guide you through the necessary steps to update Money. IMPORTING MICROSOFT MONEY 2005, 2006, 2007, OR MONEY PLUS FILES: ADJUSTMENTS MUST BE MADE TO MONEY FIRST Users Affected: You are affected by this problem if you are importing information from Money 2005, Money 2006, Money 2007, or Money Plus. Problem: TaxCut isn't importing all the information contained in the Money file. Solution for Money 2005, 2006, 2007, and Money Plus: Follow these steps to correct this problem. To import your 2007 tax information from Money: 1. Open Money. 2. Click Taxes, and then click Tax Tools. 3. Select Export to Tax Software. 4. Choose the tax year 2007 on the first screen, and click Continue. 5. On the second screen, select the categories that you want to import, and click Continue. 6. Open TaxCut if it isn’t already (don't use the Money link to TaxCut). You can either close Money or leave it open. 7. Follow the interview to the Import Data from Financial Software section. If you haven't already imported last year's tax return, make sure that you do it before you import the financial information from Money. 8. Continue through the Import Data from Financial Software section following the instructions in the interview. IMPORTING LAST YEAR'S TAXCUT OR TURBOTAX RETURN If you used TaxCut to file last year's return, look in the following location: My Documents\TaxCut (Windows 2000 and XP) Documents\TaxCut (Windows Vista) By default, the 2006 version of TaxCut saved returns there. If you saved your return to another folder but can't remember where, follow these steps to locate your return: 1. Click the Start button, and then click Search. 2. Select "All Files and Folders." 3. In the "All or part of the file name" text box, enter the following text: *.T06 (TaxCut) OR *.TAX (TurboTax) 4. In the "Look in" drop-down list, select My Computer, and then click Search. To import a TaxCut or TurboTax file from 2006: 1. In TaxCut, select Import Last Year's Tax Data from the File menu. 2. In the Choose File to Import dialog box, navigate to and select your 2006 return, and then click Open. REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S INFORMATION If you want to review entries you imported from last year's return, we recommend that you review them from the Review Last Year's Data report. To display the report, select Review Last Year's Data from the Reports menu. PLAYING TAXCUT MOVIES If TaxCut displays a blank square on an Interview screen where a movie should play, you probably don't have the correct version of the Flash movie player installed on your system. You can still continue to use TaxCut, but you won't be able to view any of these movies. To correct this problem: 1. Click the icon on the top left of the blank square that displays in the Interview. 2. When the error message dialog box displays, click Yes to go to the Adobe Web site. 3. Follow the instructions to download and install the most recent version of the Adobe Flash Player. OR Simply go to: http://www.taxcut.com/redirects/2007/flashplayer.html and follow the instructions for downloading and installing the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player. 9. 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. 10. Changing Your Monitor's Screen Area (Screen Resolution) To run TaxCut, your monitor's screen area (screen resolution) must be set to 800 x 600 pixels or higher. If it isn't, TaxCut won't start. To change the monitor's screen resolution: 1. On the Windows Taskbar, click the Start button, and then click Control Panel. 2. In the Control Panel, double-click the Display icon. 3. Click the Settings tab. 4. Slide the arrow for "Screen resolution" to the right until it shows 800 x 600 or a higher screen resolution. 5. Click Apply, and then click OK. 11. Viewing and Printing the ReadMe File You can view the ReadMe file installed with the program at any time by following the steps below: 1. On the Windows Taskbar, click the Start button. 2. Point to All Programs, TaxCut 2007, and then click H&R Block TaxCut 2007 ReadMe. To print a copy of the ReadMe file: - With the document open, click Print on the File menu. 12. 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. 13. ...and thank you for choosing H&R Block TaxCut! $Revision: #81 $ $DateTime: 2008/02/12 11:32:37 $