| TaxWise is Tax and Accounting software used by tax
professionals and accountants. One use is for preparing tax returns on the
computer. By contractual agreement between Universal Tax Systems
(now CCH)
and the IRS, it is the software used at
VITA (.. er, VRPP) sites. TaxWise differs from
the tax software such as Intuit or TaxCut used by individuals since it
is designed to deal with and manage large numbers of returns.
Since speed of data entry is important, the emphasis is on minimizing
number of keystrokes and instructions to read during tax
preparation.
The major version number is 22 for 2008 (the 2007 tax
year). Minor revisions are of the form 22.xx where xx increments
sequentially by 1 from 01 throughout the tax season.
Several components of each return prepared:
- The "return" is a binary file stored
in the directory of the user of that TaxWise installation, and
includes the taxpayer return information
- The E-file is created after
TaxWise finds no more mistakes. It is a binary file stored within the TaxWise directory, and ready for transmission to
the IRS and the State. E-files are not created
for paper returns
- The actual data of the return, and the summary of
transactions involving E-files with the TaxWise Electronic Service Center are stored within
a database in TaxWise
There are two versions of TaxWise
available:
- In the Desktop version, the Client
(Workstation) portion and the Server portion both run on a LAN, or
even in a single machine, and does not require an internet
connection for tax preparation.
- In the Online version (TaxWise
Online, or TWO), the Client is
a Web Browser (such as Internet Explorer), and the server is located
on the internet. Data for a tax return cannot be entered into
the online version if there is no internet connection. Since
data is stored on a remote server managed by UTS on the internet, it
is unlikely that the returns will be lost due to disk crash or hardware
failure because the remote server is most likely backed up
regularly. In addition, the software can be used on any
machine with a supported Web browser and connected to the internet.
It is important to know which version of
TaxWise is used at a site, so you can take the appropriate TaxWise
training. Entering the data in each version is different, and
training for one version generally is not relevant for using the other
verion.
Most VITA sites use the Desktop version,
with a full copy of TaxWise loaded on each desktop or laptop.
Tax returns are prepared on individual machines, and files are
transferred by floppies for printing, e-file transmission
or backup. These are
standalone TaxWise installations in a non-networked environment.
Since the newer laptops do not come with floppy drives, another
possibility is to use USB thumb drives. At some sites, the desktops or laptops
are part of a
Local Area Network (LAN), using shared printers over the LAN.
The full copy of TaxWise is loaded on each desktop or laptop, and
these are standalone TaxWise
installations in
a networked environment. A few sites use
Networked TaxWise, where all
return information and the database for the site are maintained centrally
on one machine (the TaxWise Server). Sharing
printers is easier since files are transferred over the LAN.
TaxWise State and Federal updates are installed only once on the
TaxWise Server rather than on individual TaxWise Workstations.
A one time installation of the user interface is required on
each individual laptop connected to the
server. One such site is the
VITA Milpitas
Community Library site. Networked TaxWise can be over a wired
LAN, or over a wireless LAN (WLAN). |
