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{summary} April is around the corner, and before you know it your taxes will be due. I think most people will agree with me when I say that tax season is no fun. For most parents, taxes are an unwelcome intrusion that takes away time we would otherwise be spending with our children and spouses. Filling out paper forms takes too long and hiring someone means less of that rebate can go in the college fund. Lucky for us, we live in a time where our other spouse- our home PC- can assist us. More and more Americans are using technology to make their lives easier at tax time. According to the IRS, 2006 saw more than 73 million Americans file their tax returns electronically. Web sites provided by organizations ranging from the IRS to the CPA Board allow time-constrained people, like parents for example, to file their taxes quickly and comfortably at low or no cost. As a Geek Squad Agent and father, I don't have time to complete pages of paperwork and I'd rather not pay the extra money to hire someone to do my taxes. With the right direction, I'm able to utilize my technology to find the tools I need to complete my taxes quickly and hassle-free. The Internet offers a number of ways for people to do their taxes on their own. Here are some quick tax tips to ensure that you receive many happy returns: 1. Plan Ahead: PCs and laptops come standard with software that rarely gets activated, but can make life run more smoothly. From Intuit's Quicken to Microsoft's Money, options abound: If self-employed, calendar your tax year in advance so that quarterly payments and forms are submitted on time. You can even program email reminders so that you don't miss a deadline. Catalog receipts and deductions via spreadsheet throughout the year so that tax time doesn't become overwhelming. Utilize financial software that speaks directly to your bank, making checkbook balancing, bill paying and record-keeping simple. {pagebreak} 2. Head to the Source: www.irs.com. Free and fast (with high speed Internet), irs.com provides a Tax Help Center, Personal Finance Center and a Tax Forms Center, offering tips on everything from back tax help to tax payment plans to online forms. The site also lists the IRS "Dirty Dozen," the top twelve scams to watch out for when preparing your taxes. 3. Do Some Research: www.taxsites.com. This site offers consumer product reviews and free demos on tax preparation software for individuals, families and business professionals. Remember, it's always safer to go with software whose name you're familiar with. And if you decide to hire a tax preparer, you can also do a simple Google search to find information on whether your tax preparer is licensed and if they have a history of negative complaints. Remember, each state has its own official board of accountancy and their Web site addresses usually end in .gov or .us. 4. Get Prepared: Gather your tax information around you so you don't have to stop and search for a missing document. Head to IRS-recommended "Free File Alliance" sites like www.efile.com or www.eztaxreturn.com to get started. These sites are secure and offer step-by-step instructions. 5. Hit Send: The IRS will provide an official acknowledgement that your return was received. You can request direct deposit for quick access to your return, or authorize an electronic funds withdrawal from your savings or checking account or use a credit card if you owe money. 6. Save Data Delete Stress: Back up, back up, back up. Accidents will happen, but losing a year's worth of tax records should not be one of them. Purchase removable media such as floppy disks, CDs, DVDs or even an external hard drive and regularly copy important information accordingly. 7. Protect Your Returns: The only thing worse than no tax refund would be losing your financial records to a virus or inadvertently sharing those records with the outside world. - Protect yourself and your system with the latest anti-virus/anti-spyware software such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee VirusScan Plus. - Install effective wireless security and firewalls - Create passwords in combinations of numbers and letters and change them frequently Now that the computer allows you to do more than just office work, I realize how important it is to find out what resources are available online to simplify and expedite everyday tasks. Remember, it is never too late to learn to safely and securely navigate your way online whether for easy tax filing or simply for fun. Trent Kannenberg is a Deputy of Special Operations with Geek Squad, a 24-Hour Computer Support Task Force. He is based in Minneapolis, MN. http://modernmom.com/546/