The thread below, titled "Who we are -- sharing" has an interesting discussion of the early days of tax prep, when "overlays" were used to make copies of the return... so I thought I'd start a new thread on a related topic.
One client from last year had been doing his return himself, by hand, for many years. I did his return for the first time last year, and filed the return electronically. This year he called me, and said he hadn't received a tax package from the IRS. The reason, of course, is that he filed his return electronically last year.
Which makes me wonder how long it will be before paper tax packages disappear entirely. Or, to put the question differently, will electronic filing become mandatory for individuals?
The programs that supply tax forms to libraries and post offices appear to be dying a slow and painful death. We have seen the demise of Package X. For those that choose to do their own returns, Free File has become more accessible each year, and consumer software has dropped in price dramatically.
At the risk of stating the obvious, our entire society, in every area of life, is moving in a "paperless" direction. This is especially true when it comes to functions that involve money and finance. For example, when I registered for Part I of the EA exam, I noticed that the program run by Prometric simply does not accept paper checks as payment. If you complete the registration process online, the only accepted form of payment is a credit or debit card. Electronic check payments are accepted, but only if you register by phone.
For college students, the paper financial aid application is virtually extinct. It is still available, but almost no one uses it.
At my "day job," during the annual benefit election window, benefit elections can only be made online, through the company's secure web platform. Ditto for changes to my Form W-4.
I have often speculated on whether I will live to see the day when paper checks simply no longer exist.
(I'm 39 years old.)
Others have speculated on whether there will come a day when currency no longer exists, and all money is transferred only in electronic form.
I am not entirely comfortable with some of the processes that have become electronic-only, with no paper confirmation. But I'll leave that rant for some other time.
I'll conclude my rambling with this:
I would like to believe that within my lifetime, an original IRS tax package, in mint condition, with a blue Form 1040 or a pink Form 1040A, even for 2007 or other recent years, might have genuine value as a collector's item.
One client from last year had been doing his return himself, by hand, for many years. I did his return for the first time last year, and filed the return electronically. This year he called me, and said he hadn't received a tax package from the IRS. The reason, of course, is that he filed his return electronically last year.
Which makes me wonder how long it will be before paper tax packages disappear entirely. Or, to put the question differently, will electronic filing become mandatory for individuals?
The programs that supply tax forms to libraries and post offices appear to be dying a slow and painful death. We have seen the demise of Package X. For those that choose to do their own returns, Free File has become more accessible each year, and consumer software has dropped in price dramatically.
At the risk of stating the obvious, our entire society, in every area of life, is moving in a "paperless" direction. This is especially true when it comes to functions that involve money and finance. For example, when I registered for Part I of the EA exam, I noticed that the program run by Prometric simply does not accept paper checks as payment. If you complete the registration process online, the only accepted form of payment is a credit or debit card. Electronic check payments are accepted, but only if you register by phone.
For college students, the paper financial aid application is virtually extinct. It is still available, but almost no one uses it.
At my "day job," during the annual benefit election window, benefit elections can only be made online, through the company's secure web platform. Ditto for changes to my Form W-4.
I have often speculated on whether I will live to see the day when paper checks simply no longer exist.
(I'm 39 years old.)
Others have speculated on whether there will come a day when currency no longer exists, and all money is transferred only in electronic form.
I am not entirely comfortable with some of the processes that have become electronic-only, with no paper confirmation. But I'll leave that rant for some other time.
I'll conclude my rambling with this:
I would like to believe that within my lifetime, an original IRS tax package, in mint condition, with a blue Form 1040 or a pink Form 1040A, even for 2007 or other recent years, might have genuine value as a collector's item.