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There are three main processes or activities involved in Preparing and E-filing Tax returns at a VITA Site.

•      Creating and preparing a Tax Return.

•      Getting E-files to the EFC and then to the IRS

•      Tracking status of returns and Reporting on site productivity

TaxWise is the software package that helps us support these activities.  In its basic form, TaxWise could be viewed as a three-tier architecture consisting of the User Interface, the Application, and the Database.

In a standalone TaxWise Desktop installation, all three tiers are on each workstation.  Information associated with the returns prepared on the workstation is saved in the local workstation database.  We back up and restore returns onto the transmitting computer that holds the site database for all the returns prepared at the site.

In the standard Networked TaxWise Desktop recommended by CCH/UTS, the machine acting as TaxWise Server shares the whole drive or volume on which the TaxWise UTSxx Directory is located.  (Actually TaxWise Server is a bit of a misnomer since the UTSxx\DATABASE Folder is managed by the appropriate ODBC drivers, and a few files on the top-level of UTSxx are used;  TaxWise does not need to run on the Server machine).  Sharing requires providing full control privileges to all users on the network, and means that the site database is exposed to all of them.  The User Interface is on the workstation on which the tax return is created and prepared.  The application files are loaded from the server over the network, and the information associated with each return is stored in the site database.  Connections are held open for the duration of the return preparation.  A break in the connection may result in database corruption, loss of data and frustrated tax preparers and taxpayers.  We found performance was slow and connections unreliable because real time interaction is required between the site database and each client workstation for preparing returns.  This occurred with TaxWise Server running both on a Windows XP Pro and a Windows Server 2003 machine.

In the TaxWise Online configuration, the User Interface is the web browser on a workstation connected to the internet.  The application runs on the server computer across the internet, and all information associated with the site returns is stored on the main Database.  This configuration requires no special software installation on individual workstations connected to the internet.  Adequate performance requires a recommended minimum internet connection rated at 800 kilobytes/sec which is approximately 6.4 Megabits/second.

TaxWise Online works well in an environment with a reliable high-speed internet connection.  It is not suitable in an environment where the bandwidth and QOS to the internet is limited, or if there is no internet access.

At VITA @ Milpitas Public Library site, volunteers use a number of laptops to prepare and E-file tax returns.  The Library IT policy does not permit connection of non-library equipment to the wired LAN Network, and  we do not have access to desktops or computers that are already on the library networks for the extended hours during which we serve taxpayers.  For several years, we used the standard Networked TaxWise Desktop for our operations.  To avoid exposing the full shared C drive of the TaxWise Server machine, we installed the TaxWise software on a shared N: drive on the Server Machine, and mapped the N: drives on the other workstations to this shared drive.  This worked well for a small number of workstations, but difficulties came with expansion.  The large number of network cables to be set up reliably got into the way of working, and people kept tripping over them.  To mitigate the situation, we installed a local TaxWise on the C drive of each workstation on which returns were prepared, and then backed up and restored onto the shared N: drive through the network on which the e-files were generated and the DCNs assigned, running both systems at the same time.  We used both wired and encrypted wireless LAN for this purpose, and reduced the number of network cables considerably.  This arrangement worked well in past years, but fell apart in 2009 (2008 Tax Year) due to a change in the TaxWise software.  Two separate installations could not work in harmony on the same machine at the same time, and required running the TwTech/setup.exe on a drive before running TaxWise from that drive.

The communication problems did not appear during initial setup of the network prior to the tax preparation season. It only became a problem during the tax preparation session when about an hour into the session, individual workstations lost connectivity even though the shared drive looked like it was mapped correctly.

When using the networked installation, it is necessary only to update the server with TaxWise updates.  The local installations needed individual updating.  To make use of the network and avoid moving a USB flash drive from machine to machine, we set up a separate Windows SharePoint Web server from which it was possible to download scripts and files onto each machine.  In 2009, the TaxWise Server and transmitting computer was a Windows Server 2003 machine named snow-white running Web Sharepoint Services (WSS) 2.0.  The dedicated SharePoint Website for the VITA site was also named snow-white (with apologies to the evil stepmother and the seven dwarfs who did not have machines named after them!).  Snow-white was the server used to update the individual workstations and act as the print server of the network.

Typically, a Windows server runs DHCP server services for the network.  In our situation, the DHCP server on snow-white was disabled, and we used the DHCP server of a network router to manage the IP addresses of the local network.

This setup simplified initial installation and subsequent updates of TaxWise on each individual workstation.  For initial installation, the workstation was connected with a network cable to the LAN, and once network connectivity was established, we installed TaxWise Desktop directly from a copy of the TaxWise CD on Snow-white.  Multiple simultaneous installations were possible depending on the LAN network load.  The wireless connectivity was set up on the LAN using either the built in or an aftermarket network adapter card.  The encryption key for the wireless network was copied directly from snow-white over the wired network connection, and entered into the configuration screen to set up the wireless connection.  The final check was to disconnect the network cable and verify that the system was up and running.

On a weekly basis, the standard site startup operating procedure on each workstation was to check  that encrypted wireless network connection was established for each workstation, and then to hit snow-white’s homepage.  If the workstation could see the home page on snow-white, it meant that both network connectivity and http protocol were functioning properly.  When the wireless connection was established, but we could not hit the snow-white SharePoint site, in most cases it was because the wireless connection manager had connected to a different wireless network.  By changing the connection to the right network, it was possible to access Snow-white.  In a few cases, this did not solve the problem, but required either disabling and enabling the wireless card, or restarting Windows on the workstation.

The frustrations became intolerable when the wireless network connectivity and http protocol were working, we could hit the snow-white SharePoint Website, but could not obtain access to the contents of Snow-white’s shared N: drive on which the TaxWise Server UTSxx directory was located, even though Windows Explorer showed that we were connected to the drive.  We never could determine the cause of this failure.

In addition, information from the technical coordinators of AARP indicated that due to the 10 machine connection imposed by Windows XP Pro, it was just not possible to have more than 10 machines using the standard Networked TaxWise Desktop configuration recommended by UTS.

The network architecture has now evolved to what we call the HTTP Networked TaxWise Desktop installation as follows::

1)    Snow-white is a Windows Server 2003 laptop which provides general services to the network.  The TaxWise Server is located on snow-white. The primary human interaction with snow-white is through the SharePoint Web server from which it is possible to download updates and installations scripts onto each of the client workstations.  Snow-white is also a print server for pooled network printers.

2)    Each machine is an independent installation of a local TaxWise Desktop, with the same user accounts set up on all the machines.  Returns are prepared on the individual machines and the e-files created and the returns printed.  Naturally the starting DCNs of each machine is different.since the machines are all independent.  If the return is backed up and restored on snow-white without generating an e-file or the dcn, it is possible to then generate those on snow-white.

3)    By using the document upload capability of SharePoint, it is possible to set up a list of records so that each backup set can be saved and managed with a time, date, and identity of the uploading workstation.  Since this kept a complete history of the dates of each of the backups, it was possible to reconstruct the sequence of operations to bring the state of the returns to a desired date, and to restore returns out of sequence.

4)    Data is transferred by uploading backups using http and Internet Explorer which is the web server fully supporting SharePoint. The same functionality could also be obtained using ftp connection which loses the advantage of managing the meta information.

5)    Snow-white SharePoint web includes scripts for managing and changing the defaults on each of the client workstations.  It also updates all the TaxWise user accounts and passwords on each of the workstations. We did not try it this time, but it is conceivable that we could use the script to clean out all the returns on each workstation at the beginning of each session.

6)    All changed returns during the session were uploaded to snow-white at the end of the session.

7)    Workstations could access snow-white’s console using Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) (2 simultaneous connections)

The basic concept of the system is to use operating system server technology to manage the data of multiple TaxWise Desktop installations instead of using the Networked TaxWise Desktop.