America Online Sees Round-the-Clock LastMinute Online Tax Rush
April 14, 1999 12:26 PM
DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1999--
RECORD NUMBERS TURN TO AOL FOR HELP IN HOMESTRETCH
-- Usage up 342% with Five Forms Per Minute Being Downloaded --
The tax rush is round-the-clock on America Online, which reports record numbers of people using the AOL Tax Area at all hours of the day and night. Consumers are flocking for easy and convenient answers and assistance in the homestretch.
And it's no wonder: according to the IRS, only half of this year's anticipated tax returns were filed by April 1.
Usage of AOL's Tax Area during the 1998 tax-filing season has grown 342% over the same period last year. And usage of the Tax Tips section, geared specifically towards helping members fill out their tax forms and reduce what they owe, has increased 418%.
AOL members are also downloading forms at a record pace. Since tax forms were first posted on January 22nd, almost 500,000 have been downloaded, an average of 5 per minute. TaxLogic, AOL's online CPAs, report an increase of as much as 300% in the number of questions coming in over past years.
The most common message board topics include questions about Roth IRAs and exercising company stock options.
Rob Shenk, Director of AOL's Personal Finance Channel, said: "Traffic is through the roof. People are downloading forms, asking questions and searching for answers more than we've ever seen. And more of them are completing the process online by filing their taxes electronically, too. With the deadline now just one day away, people need information and assistance as quickly and easily as possible, and no place is as convenient and comprehensive as AOL."
AOL's Tax Area is open 24 hours a day and with the clock ticking, that's a big advantage says Shenk. "Minutes matter at this stage of the game and Americans nationwide are turning to AOL for help around the clock. From Connecticut to California, you can feel the intensity online morning, noon and night. We're even seeing senior citizens come online and post questions for their not yet computer literate adult children."
AOL member and Chicago-area resident Kyle Lewis is one of millions of last-minute filers who is turning to the Internet for help, "Last year I downloaded the forms online and it was a piece of cake. This year I've waited even longer to do my taxes, but I'm not worried. A couple of clicks and you have exactly what you need and if you make a mistake, you can just reprint the forms."
Mr. Lewis is not alone in his thinking. A recent AOL/Roper Starch study indicates online activities related to personal finance win high marks for being easier to do when compared with the way people used to do them.
Some of the most sought-after last-minute resources found on AOL include:
1. Ask the Experts - You're hard pressed to get a CPA on the phone at this stage of the game, but through AOL's partnership with TaxLogic, a virtual tax accountant service, AOL members can chat live with tax professionals, submit questions directly to CPA's or browse through a listing of frequently asked questions. Confused about how selling a home affects your return or whether your 18-year-old is still considered a dependent? The "Ask the Experts" area provides all the answers. These expert answers are posted, in well-organized bulletin boards, so everyone can benefit from the experts' answers.
2. Know the laws that affect you - AOL's Tax Planning department, in partnership with Policy.com, the Internet's policy news and information service, keeps people abreast of the latest tax laws, who they affect, and what they mean to you.
3. File electronically - It's faster, easier and more accurate. The AOL partnership with Intuit, the leader in financial software and Web-based services, enables members to purchase TurboTax software through Beyond.com on America Online for as little as $9.99. TurboTax is a leading tax software program, allowing people to prepare taxes easily by asking a series of straightforward questions like "Did you sell any stocks this year?" and "Do you have children?" and then using the answers to these questions to calculate the refund or amount owed. TurboTax helps users complete their taxes more easily, accurately and in a fraction of the time it would take to calculate and prepare them off-line.
4. Prepare your taxes online - After preparing their taxes through Web TurboTax, people can electronically send taxes to the IRS through AOL. AOL members who file electronically will find there is a shorter processing time, and they will receive proof from the IRS that their tax return was received. People who file through Web TurboTax can check the status - the amount of refund or debt of their taxes online. Filing electronically also reduces the chance of the IRS making a processing error by keeping human hands out of the equation. The IRS reports that error rates -- on their end -- for electronically filed returns are less than 1% versus 18% for paper returns.
5. Get tax forms at home - One of the biggest online time savers is the ability to download and print tax forms. This saves people the hassle of a trip to the Library or Post Office, and having to fish through the piles and boxes to find the form that's right for them. Quick access to forms online is also a huge convenience factor because you can simply reprint their forms when mistakes are made. More than five forms per minute are being downloaded on AOL.
6. Access the best tax tips online -- Just because you waited until the last-minute, doesn't mean you should miss out on the best tips. The Tax Planning department is loaded with useful tips and information from a host of impressive partners.
AOL also delivers high quality tax planning, calculating and filing tools available . Whether members need to know if they qualify for Roth IRAs, or they want to completely fill out their tax forms online, these simple-to-use interactive tools walk members through the process by asking a series of easily understandable questions.
When members calculate their taxes online, they need only provide the information as their employers, banks and investment firms give it to them. The interactive tools do the hard work of entering that information into the tax form and tabulating the final results.
About the AOL Personal Finance Channel
AOL's Personal Finance Channel offers the most comprehensive suite of financial tools and information available in cyberspace. The Personal Finance Channel enables members to research and trade stocks and mutual funds, conduct their online banking, get the most up-to-date business and market news, access detailed financial data, and chat with other members about market trends and financial information.
Approximately 5.7 million AOL members use the Channel to maintain over 10.4 million active investment portfolios, with over 11,000 new portfolios added every trading day.
As the world's largest consumer quote service, AOL recently set a new record, distributing 135 million quotes in a single trading day, and AOL distributed approximately 2.2 billion quotes in the month of March. In addition, the Channel also generated over 19 million financial graphs for AOL members in March.
The Personal Finance Channel also offers access to financial information from popular sources such as Business Week, Intuit, Realtor.com, Bloomberg, Hoover's, MarketGuide, Zacks, Disclosure, Morningstar, Reuters, Investor's Business Daily, TheStreet.com, The Motley Fool and Sage.
And the Personal Finance Channel enables members to do their taxes, research and trade stocks and mutual funds, conduct their online banking, handle real estate and insurance matters, get the most up-to-date business and market news, access detailed financial data and chat with other members about market trends and financial information.
About AOL
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and E-commerce services.
America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 17 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.com portals; and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers.
Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
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