Please file online, please, please, please, file online....please take my survey

April 30th is coming - but there's still time yet. I'm curious how many people are going to file electronically and what software package they are going to use to do it. To try and gather some truly scientific data on the subject, I have prepared a 3 question survey. Please click here to complete it.

I've been using tax software since the Cool Tax days back in 1999 and net-filing since they would let you if you farmed. Now they're begging you to file electronically.

Along the way Cool Tax was transformed into Tax Whiz - then Tax Whiz got vacuumed up by Intuit, so I went along with that for a while. Can't remember when I first started having to pay for it (tax software I mean). Then a couple of years ago, Intuit made a change to Quick Tax. They "repriced" it, sent me a disk with a bunch of fancy new product options, and somehow turned the task of determining whether or not this year's version was adequate for the 4 or 5 returns I needed to do into a Herculean undertaking for one engaged in the CGA program and working full time.

I couldn't make heads or tales of Intuit's website, I thought they were trying to tell me that it was now going to cost me eighty bucks for a product that would produce two tax returns and didn't have all the forms I needed. I spent an hour (or so it seemed) trying to figure this out, all the while repeating mantra-like I'm not stupid, I'm not stupid. So that was going to be up $40, couldn't tell whether or not it had what I needed, frustration-induced psychological trauma gratis. So I surfed over to CRA's website and discovered that there were now a bunch of inexpensive netfile offerings to choose from. I chose one and haven't looked back.

I note that there are a number of similar offerings for tax preparers also

So, back to the reason for my survey, I'm quite curious as to what inroads recent competitors have made in the income tax software marketplace - if you would indulge me by responding to my survey, I'd be most obliged.  Just click here.

I'll get back to you and let you know what I find out.