Home Improvement and Real Estate

The IRS opened this year's efile tax return filing season on January 17 2012. It can cost 100's of dollars to have your income taxes prepared and filed for you, but if you want to reduce the cost of income tax preparation.

Instead, fill out the application using estimated numbers from your W-2, your year-end pay stub and last year's tax return. Check the "will file" box and the Department of Education will e-mail you a reminder in April to update your application.

If you want to know where your tax refund stands prior to filing your taxes, you can use TurboTax's TaxCaster, now also available on the iPad. The app uses the same tax calculator found in TurboTax's desktop software—enter in basic information and the

If you can't wait to find out to know how much your refund will be, worry not; there are a number of online tax refund online estimators that you can.

Unlimited access – get answers 24 hours a day, seven days a week If you find yourself working on your tax return over the weekend, there's no need to wait to get a form or an answer to a question. Visit the IRS website; it's accessible all day,