Smartphones and tablets are the hot technology toys or, depending on your point of view, tools.
And the tax industry is trying to take advantage of our love of new gadgets and our tax-filing responsibilities.
The New York Times' weekly Most Wanted/Popular Demand feature today examined the top tax-related free mobile apps.
As the photo below shows — and yes, it's a scanned image of the print newspaper because, ironically, this item isn't yet on the Times' website — the leading free Apple apps are from the tax prep giants Intuit TurboTax and H&R Block.
Android tax apps were a bit more diverse, including apps that do more than calculate or file returns. They include a general tax reference app, as well as a couple that help track potential tax deductions.
Gradual tax app acceptance: A recent survey by TechBargains.com, an electronics products aggregation website, found that only a fraction of taxpayers used a tablet or smartphone to do their taxes.
As the excerpt below from the tax survey infographic indicates, the biggest concern is security.
Use of tax apps, however, is likely to increase as more of us own the devices and become comfortable using them for financial, including tax, transactions.
One mobile tax convert is New York Times' Gadgetwise blogger Sam Grobart, who discovered that TurboTax for iPad was better than his wayward accountant.
Have you used a tax app?
If so, was it just to get some tax information? Or did you file your return on a smartphone or tablet?
Do you believe mobile devices are less secure when it comes to taxes than personal computers and/or laptops?
