TaxAct is giving customers free access to a proprietary tax-analyzer that suggests how to get bigger refunds while adding to their retirement savings. The software tool, called My Tax Plan, is free to all online TaxAct filers, including those who use TaxAct Free Edition.
The free downloadable report from My Tax Plan provides access to expert-level tax knowledge and insights into often-overlooked strategies to pay less taxes.
Here’s how it works: After a customer e-files, My Tax Plan analyzes this year’s tax return and presents a customized list of tax-savings opportunities to increase next year’s refund. Those same tax-smart choices also have the potential to help filers improve their overall financial health in several ways.
For example, if a typical filer contributes $1,000 to a traditional IRA, that not only allows them to make next year’s refund over $200 better, but it’s a step toward building a retirement fund of $100,000. That’s assuming the filer makes the $1,000 contribution to a traditional IRA every year for 30 years at an average annual return of 7 percent. The power of tax-deferred compounding is real in this scenario, and My Tax Plan scans for a number of similar tax-savings possibilities.
“TaxAct is on a mission to help Americans recover more of the money they overpay in taxes. But it’s not enough to just help them find all the credits and deductions available when they complete their returns,” said Curtis Campbell, president of TaxAct. “We’re taking things a step further by providing free guidance when it matters most and in a way that helps set filers up for future financial success. That time is after they file, because in our view, tax season doesn’t end on April 15 – it’s all year long.”
