Vancouver Sun

TOOLS FOR TAXING TIMES

Software and online off erings allow users to fi le their tax returns without lifting a pencil

- Gillian Shaw gshaw@ vancouvers­un. com vancouvers­un. com/ digitallif­e

SimpleTax

Fun is not exactly the fi rst word most people would associate with fi ling taxes. Remarkably that’s how many users describe SimpleTax, the Vancouverb­ased off ering that was certifi ed by the Canada Revenue Agency just a year ago and is winning customers with a combinatio­n of easy- to- use, intuitive browserbas­ed tax- fi ling software and a price that’s unbeatable — it’s free. “When we set out to build this I never expected anyone to write us and say I actually had fun doing my taxes, but it seems to be a common thing,” said Jonathan Suter, who left his job in software marketing to launch SimpleTax with his wife Allison Suter, who is a tax lawyer, and developer Justin Reynen. It’s not unusual for companies to launch with free services and shift into a “freemium” model, with users paying depending on the level of services they choose — think of Twitter and closer to home HootSuite. And other tax software companies off er this option. But free? SimpleTax asks users to support them if they like the service. There is no donation requiremen­t, but the company is betting if they have enough users, the percentage willing to pay to support them will sustain the company. With newborn baby Clara, who arrived just in time for tax season, now another mouth to feed, is it a strategy that will work? “We hope over time we’ll build a large enough audience that we can support ourselves,” said Suter. “I think this is something that is worth trying versus just not trying at all and saying, ‘ we’ll charge everybody 15 bucks.’ “We get emails from people saying ‘ please charge money, I don’t want you to go away.’ ” It’s that audience, that grew by tens of thousands with the fi rst- year launch and is already surpassing that growth rate this year, that’s helping spread the SimpleTax message. “We’re maybe diff erent from a lot of other tech startups,” said Suter. “We’re kind of building this the old- fashioned way, you build something great, people like what you’ve built and they tell their friends. “We can’t aff ord to compete on the pure advertisin­g side of things, we can’t buy television ads. “On the plus side we have built a product that is worth talking about and doesn’t have to just rely on marketing to convince people to use it.” Despite the name, SimpleTax can be used for more complicate­d returns that include such things as business and rental income. You can try it out at simpletax.ca.

UFile and TurboTax

UFile, which off ers a number of versions of its paid tax- fi ling software, including new this year UFile 4 and UFile 12, desktop software for Windows PCs, also off ers free online fi ling, UFile Online. However, UFile Online is limited to taxpayers with simple returns and in specifi c categories including seniors receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement ( a new category this year), post- secondary students, new Canadians, people fi ling for the fi rst time, those with income under $ 20,000 and dependent children, grandchild­ren or parents. TurboTax, another company that off ers desktop software for business and personal taxes, also off ers a “freemium” model with its TurboTax Online, although the free version doesn’t include RRSPs, investment­s and other deductions; the next level up is the $ 17.99 standard online version.

Mobile Taxes

We’ve come a long way from paper tax returns. Now you don’t even need a computer — you can fi le your taxes from your iPhone or iPad. The apps are all iOS, so far none on the CRA- certifi ed list for Android or other mobile operating systems. SimpleTax is available as an iPad app. TurboTax SnapTax, is available for iPhone and iPad and TaxFreeway, which has tax software for Windows and Apple Mac computers, also has an iPad app. For a complete list of software certifi ed by the CRA for its 2014 Netfile program, which covers 2013 tax returns, check the CRA site at: www.netfile.gc.ca/sftwr- eng.html.

 ??  ?? Jonathan Suter, wife Allison and Justin Reynen are the creators of SimpleTax.
Jonathan Suter, wife Allison and Justin Reynen are the creators of SimpleTax.
 ??  ??
 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada