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With the tax season coming to a close many people are looking for quick and free options to ensure they get not only the biggest refund possible, but also to ensure the IRS has no reason to come knocking. Here, we take a look at some of the IRSs recommended programs to complete your tax filings in 2017 for free. Do keep in mind that while most people will find some, if not all of these options free, each tax and thus payment system is different. With that in mind, lets look at the best free tax software in 2017.

Now, if youre filing and in a hurry, TaxAct may be your best free option. Of course, that does come with some caveats. For the free version, you do need to file only a 1040A or a 1040EZ, but in many cases this would be all that you would have needed in the first place. If you do instead need to itemize or file a different form (say, a 1099) then it will offer you inexpensive ways to do your taxes. The interface itself is simple and easy to use, and the guidance through the process is quite well done. If you do end up having questions regarding your taxes, TaxAct also has a great online help section, and protections available if you are audited by the IRS. If youre more curious about TaxAct, check out our full review here.

For some, the added features of tax programs nowadays can be seen as a little too involved, a bit too much hand holding. For these people, who still want a free program, Liberty Tax Service may be a good fit. Allowing for form selection for those that know what they need to file and an easy to use. As a bonus, there are multiple physical Liberty Tax Service locations available nationwide, which allow for support if needed. While not always free (as conditions do vary) many will find it cheap and easy to do your taxes through LTS if youve paid attention in previous years. While there is no option to pay any potential fees with a cut of your refund, there is a refund advance program, though do keep in mind potential interest and loan details, and that this can only be done in office.

One of the smaller names in the tax preparation game, TaxSlayer still has plenty to offer for customers, including free filings if you are below 52 years old and make less than $63,000 a year if you live in certain states. While not tax software in the most traditional sense (it being a website), Taxslayer does offer most of the features that would classify it as such and is an IRS supported option along all listed here. On the off chance you dont qualify for truly free, TaxSlayer also allows you to file your taxes to be filed and your return be charged as opposed to upfront fees, which may fit the tighter budgets or interesting situations. While not quite as chock full of features as some of the big names, TaxSlayer is good if you want to get in, get out, and get refunded in a hurry.

A big name in the tax industry, H&R Block is also pretty big when it comes to savings. With a layout that is extremely user friendly, people can feel like tax experts by time they have finished their first years filings. In terms of cost, there are plenty of savings to be had. Around 6 in 10 people who file with H&R Block will be able to do so for free, with both state and federal tax filings. This also includes Schedule A itemized deductions, which includes medical expenses, charitable donations, losses due to theft and job expenses. As if this could be any better, you can import your W-2 via a smartphone picture, and import last years tax data from nearly anywhere for free, making H&R Block a solid choice for those looking for free tax software.

By far one of the most popular tax programs this year has been TubroTax by Intuit software. Though often on the quite pricey side, for those that can qualify for the free version (1040EZ and 1040A filers) will get some of the best features available in the tax software industry. Similar to H&R Block mentioned above, importation of your W-2 through a snapshot is a breeze, and TurboTax lets you know exactly how each entry affects your returns. Turbotax also has a very handy ExplainWhy function, which gives you the rationale of how each entry affects your tax refund, allowing you to learn as you go instead of merely entering data and getting a return. As a final bonus, E-filing is free with Turbotax, meaning that instead of waiting on a check, direct deposit can be selected which may be of great benefit, considering the possible refund delays this tax season.

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The Best Free Tax Software in 2017 - Gazette Review

Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting announced on Wednesday a new agreement with the U.S. military to provide TaxWise Online 2016 software, pro bono, to volunteer tax preparers at various military bases around the world.

The military's tax programs are overseen by the IRS's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program, via the Armed Forces Tax Council, and provides free assistance to members of the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, as well as their families.

This announcement is a strong testament to the commitment Wolters Kluwer makes to working with non-profit and volunteer professional tax preparers, who collectively provide an invaluable service to millions of American taxpayers annually, stated Julie Peck, executive vice president and general manager, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, US Small Firm Division.

TaxWise Online 2016 represents a secure, cloud-based tax prep platform that offers a number of features including a library of individual and business return forms (both in English and Spanish), return statuses, reports, and client letters, to help preparers best serve their clients.

I would like to thank the Internal Revenue Service and Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting for providing military tax centers with free tax preparation software to facilitate the efficient preparation of military tax returns," said Samuel Kan, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council, per a statement. "Our military members and their families will be able to save a considerable amount of money by visiting our free military VITA tax centers across the world, rather than paying for tax preparation services that could easily cost hundreds of dollars per tax return."

For more on TaxWise Online 2016 and Wolters Kluwer, head to the company's site here.

Sean McCabe is a senior editor with Accounting Today.

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Wolters Kluwer donates free tax software to US military - Accounting Today

Mobile IRS Free File software available

The Internal Revenue Service announced that taxpayers now may use their smartphones or tablets to electronically prepare and file their federal and state tax returns through IRS Free File. The IRS and its private-sector partners who offer their brand-name software products for free now support a new design that allows for the use of desktops, laptops, mobile phones and tablets.

Access the products using mobile devices in two ways: (1) Use the IRS app, IRS2Go, which has a link to the Free File Software Lookup Tool or (2) Use the devices browser to go to http://www.IRS.gov/freefile and select the Free File Software Lookup Tool or Start Free File Now to find a software product. The IRS2Go app is available for Android and iOS devices.

Taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $64,000 or less will find one or more free software options. The Free File software allows for free electronic tax preparation and filing and direct deposit of refunds. Some taxpayers may need their 2015 adjusted gross income, if they filed a return, to validate their identities and complete the electronic filing process.

Klos Guitars launches second Kickstarter

Klos Guitars, a Provo business specializing in carbon fiber travel guitars, successfully launched its newest product last week on Kickstarter. Within just five hours of launching their Klos Carbon Fiber Acoustic Electric guitar Friday, the campaign already hit $25,000, more than its original $10,000 goal. By Tuesday, it surpassed $117,000.

Its pretty surreal, said Adam Klosowiak, co-founder with his brother Ian, of Klos Guitars.

The brothers successfully launched their original acoustic carbon fiber guitar last year, but knew they wanted an electric option.

Adam said this second guitar has all of the benefits of the acoustic model, and then some. This version has a pickup. With the pickup, he explained, players can plug the guitar into an amp for concert performing or recording.

So plugged in it has the full versatility of a full-size guitar, but, when unplugged, the guitar is still great for traveling and playing acoustically, he said.

The Klos Acoustic Electric guitar campaign still has 25 days more to go, and the potential to raise close to $200,000.

DigiCert launches certificates for IoT

DigiCert, a Lehi company specializing in scalable authentication and encryption solutions, unveiled DigiCert Auto-Provisioning, powered by Device Authority, the first weekend of February at the DigiCert Security Summit.

Device authentication and encryption are critical to securing connected devices and the information they share, but many software implementations lack standard protocols for provisioning devices, said DigiCert CTO Dan Timpson. DigiCert Auto-Provisioning, powered by Device Authority, helps companies get certificates on a much wider range of IoT devices in a scalable, secure and automated way.

As the number of connected devices rises toward an estimated 50 billion by 2020, security continues to lag behind. IoT devices often lack the computer power required for strong encryption and do not have the ability to securely generate and store keys required for strong device security. Similarly, when credentials need to be revoked or rotated because of device authorization changes, the process is typically manual, time-consuming and vulnerable to human error.

DigiCert Auto-Provisioning combines certificate issuance with automated provisioning to simplify large-volume device enrollment and credentialing. It also provides secure key generation and storage to prevent the use of stolen credentials and unauthorized devices.

Karissa Neely reports on Business & North County events, and can be reached at (801) 344-2537 orkneely@heraldextra.com. Follow her on Twitter: @DHKarissaNeely

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KLOS Guitars second Kickstarter successful; DigiCert launches new product; IRS Free File goes mobile - Daily Herald

By Carsten Bange. Updated January 24, 2017.

What Is a Data Product?

Data analysis aims to retrieve information from data to support or enable decisions. Relevant pieces of information are identified and delivered via business intelligence tools or applications on computers and mobile devices. Which pieces of information are relevant depends on the business process that is being supported. That is where domain knowledge comes in.

Data analysis can be carried out using business intelligence tools for ad-hoc reporting or Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), or advanced analytical methods can be employed. Providing for reporting and data analysis services on a defined set of data in a software product, we get a simple data product. Generally speaking, data products are a new category of services powered by analytics, business domain knowledge, and scalable IT architectures.

There are several categories of data products. A simple one is reports, where data is descriptively displayed and made transparent to the user. A typical example would be reports for telephone or credit card bills that are provided to customers and create a value-add by providing more timely information and additional analysis possibilities. A good example is benchmarking, another type of data product. Here, a particular behavior or key performance indicator (KPI) is compared across industries or users. Social networking websites such as ResearchGate and LinkedIn create engagement with users by displaying information about how they score compared to other users in terms of visibility and popularity.

Data products become even more interesting when advanced analytics comes into play, which is the case with recommendations and forecasts. Examples of recommendations would be a social network suggesting you connect with other people or an e-commerce site making product suggestions. At Airbnb, hosts can even use an intelligent price-setting feature that adjusts the price of their property according to current market demand. This provides customers with a more efficient way of using the Airbnb platform, and Airbnb benefits from more business through better pricing. Also, forecasts provide valuable information to act upon, enhancing existing (physical and data) products. Predictive maintenance is a good example of how data powers a value-added service for service organizations, e.g. automotive or aerospace companies. Another example is AmTrust, a business insurance company, which embeds weather forecasts in its products to improve the crop insurance it provides.

Consulting and managed services can also be offered around data products. A good example of additional services would be data management services, such as data integration, data quality management, and data storage to help companies integrate and manage the data they need for analysis.

Challenges in Implementing Data Products

Data products allow organizations to capitalize on data in new ways. However, not many companies have established business models based on data products yet. There are some important topics to consider when setting up data products:

1. Business model

Data products require a business model to determine how users will benefit from the service provided and how the value from data products and services will be appropriated. There are many models to capitalize on the value of data and the services based on data. Which one is best depends on the type of service provided, whether it is related to a platform or a product, and how the customer benefits. Examples are the freemium model, where users are offered part of a service for free but are charged for upgrading to the full service, or charging a premium for additional data services with an existing product.

2. Marketing and sales

There is also a marketing and sales aspect to consider since new -- and maybe even disruptive -- services need to be promoted, positioned, priced, and sold. Challenges to be tackled arise from new competitors and also perhaps a lack of internal know-how and experience about how to market and sell such solutions and services.

3. Delivery of data products

Delivering data products as a service means to provide them on-demand, permanently, scalably, and securely. A user interface is often realized via an app or a web interface, and the whole service is often based on a cloud-based infrastructure, platforms, and applications. Organizations that are typically not in the software industry need to act like software companies when delivering data products. The software development lifecycle, support, and operationalization of data products need to be managed and provided to the customers of the service.

4. Data management

A key capability when providing data products is handling data consistently and securely. This requires data governance concepts with specific attention to data security and privacy. Complying with constantly changing and heterogeneous data privacy legislation in different countries is one of the biggest concerns for companies that are successfully using data services and products. Special care needs to be taken when handling customers personal data (e.g., by anonymizing it).

Establishing data products is certainly a very innovative way to use and monetize data, but also a complex one. It requires organizations to become truly digital -- in both their products and their business models.

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Windows 10 Changes Include Free Upgrade Option for Enterprises - CIO Today

About the author Ben Cotton - Ben Cotton is a meteorologist by training and a high-performance computing engineer by trade. Ben works as a technical evangelist at Cycle Computing. He is a Fedora user and contributor, co-founded a local open source meetup group, and is a member of the Open Source Initiative and a supporter of Software Freedom Conservancy. Find him on Twitter (@FunnelFiasco) or at

We're used to hearing of software being described as "free as in freedom" and "free as in beer." But there's another kind of "free" that doesn't get talked about as much: "free as in puppy." This concept is based around the idea thatwhensomeone gives you a free puppy, that puppy isn't really free. There's a lot of work and expenses that go into its daily care. The business term is "total cost of ownership," or TCO,and it applies to anything, not just open source software and puppies.

So if the free puppy problem applies to everything, how is it important to open source software specifically? There are a few ways. First, if you're already paying for software, then you've set the expectation that it has costs. Software that's free up front but costs money later seems like a major imposition. Secondly, if it happens on an organization's first open source adoption project, it can put the organization off of adopting open source software in the future. Lastly and counterintuitively, showing that open source software has a cost may make it an easier "sell." If it's truly no cost, it seems too good to be true.

The following sections represent common areas for software costs to sneak in. This is by no means a comprehensive list.

To begin using software, you must first have the software.

Getting the software installed is the easy part. Now you have to use it.

Even with a list like this, it takes a lot of imagination to come up with all of the costs. Getting the values right requires some experience and a lot of good guessing, but just going through the process helps make it more clear. Much like with a puppy, if you know what you're getting yourself into up front, it can be a rewarding experience.

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Free as in puppy: The hidden costs of free software - Opensource.com