Get tax updates with IRS’ new mobile app
This week, the Internal Revenue Service unveiled its first smart-phone application. With the free app IRS2Go, available at the Apple App Store or on the Android Marketplace, taxpayers can check the status of their tax refund and obtain helpful tax information.
“This new smart phone app reflects our commitment to modernizing the agency and engaging taxpayers where they want when they want it,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a news release from the IRS. “As technology evolves and younger taxpayers get their information in new ways, we will keep innovating to make it easy for all taxpayers to access helpful information.”
The mobile app, among a handful in the federal government, offers a number of safe and secure ways to help taxpayers. With the first release of the IRS2Go app you can:
1) Get your federal refund status with a few basic pieces of information. First, taxpayers enter a Social Security number, which is masked and encrypted for security purposes. Next, taxpayers pick the filing status they used on their tax return. Finally, taxpayers enter the amount of the refund they expect from their 2010 tax return. For people who e-file, the refund function of the phone app will work within about 72 hours after taxpayers receive an e-mail acknowledgement saying the IRS received their tax return. The processing time is longer for those who file paper tax returns. About 70 percent of the 142 million individual tax returns were filed electronic last year.
2) Get tax updates. Phone app users enter their e-mail address to automatically get daily tax tips. Tax Tips are simple, straightforward tips and reminders to help with tax planning and preparation. Tax Tips are issued daily during the tax filing season and periodically during the rest of the year. The plain English updates cover topics such as free tax help, child tax credits, the Earned Income Tax Credit, education credits and other topics.
3) Follow the IRS through the Twitter news feed @IRSnews. Learn about tax law changes and important IRS programs.
“This phone app is a first step for us,” Shulman said. “We will look for additional ways to expand and refine our use of smartphones and other new technologies to help meet the needs of taxpayers.”
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
Free eBooks from the Metropolitan Library System
Did you know you can get free eBook downloads for your iPhone or Android phone from the Metropolitan Library System’s website in central Oklahoma?
In researching the Barnes and Noble Nook e-reader over Christmas, I found out you can check out books from the library to that particular device (although not the Kindle). I didn’t know that the same file formats that allow electronic book borrowing to the Nook also can work on your smart phone.
Go online to www.metrolibrary.org for free eBook downloads from your phone. As the library system announced last month, the OverDrive Media Console app, used on many eReaders, is now available for iPhone, iPod touch and Android phones/tabloids. The app lets you download both EPUB eBooks and MP3 audioboos directly to your device.
“This has been one of our most requested services, and we’re so glad to be able to offer it,” said Kellie Delaney, manager of web development and support for Metropolitan Library System, in a news release. “Not only is it great to be able to read our library books on your phone, but you can download them easily whenever you are connected to a WiFi or cellular network.”
To get the app, new users can search for “OverDrive Media Console” in the Apple App Store and Android Market, while current users will be alerted to update the existing OverDrive app on their devices. MLS eBooks and audiobooks can be downloaded by going to www.metrolibrary.org and clicking on eMedia.
The eBook reading experience includes user-inspired features for bookmarking and adjusting brightness and font size. Additional features will be added as the apps evolve, including highlighting, annotation, in-app text-to-speech, and more.
Currently the iPhone app will work on iPad with iOS 4 and enables the full browse, check-out, download experience. However, an optimized version for iPad — with improved resolution and additional features — is coming soon, along with apps for BlackBerry and other mobile devices.
How do you like your e-reader? Did you get one for Christmas? Which is your favorite? E-mail me, or post a comment below.
~ Lillie-Beth Brinkman (lbrinkman@opubco.com)
