Use Tax Season To Get Free Or Cheap Software

If you plan to buy tax software like TurboTax, TaxCut, TaxAct or even tax-related software like QuickBooks, Quicken, or PeachTree, now is the time to look for deals that could slash your expenses by hundreds of dollars or more. You’ll need to send in some rebates for the best deals, but it’s worth it to get important software for the fraction of the cost.

Exaggeration? This week’s Staples Ad offers Norton Antivirus, McAfee Anti-Theft, Kaspersky Internet Security, Webroot Spy Sweeper and more for FREE after rebates and savings with the purchase of any tax software. Buy TurboTax and you can save 50% on Quicken Deluxe. And, that's not even the best deal we've seen this tax season!

So, if you’re willing to put up with three different anti-virus programs, you could protect your home office laptop, desktop, and server computers for free this year, and get Quicken to make next year’s taxes easier, just for buying a tax program you probably were already going to buy anyway.

Don’t get caught up in getting TurboTax for $19.99. Yes, that’s a good deal, but even better is to get TurboTax for $29.99 with a free copy of anti-virus software, a $100 rebate on QuickBooks Pro, and more.

The easiest, though not necessarily the best place to find software deals, is in the ads in the Sunday newspaper. Full color advertising circulars primarily from office supply stores like Staples, Office Depot, and Office Max, will tout the deal that they have going that week. If you don’t want to look at the newspaper, most of them also post their ads online. Also, make sure to check out smaller retailers in your area. Many of these promotions are funded by the software companies, so the little guys can get in on them too.

Check these ads out and see if you can get your hands on software you need to run your home office. Don’t like this week’s deals? Wait. This kind of thing happens all season long, so you can hold out until April.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that the sales are “best” at the end, or at any other time for that matter. Most of the retailers involved are simply looking to get people into their stores, so they bundle what they think works at that time. Remember software doesn’t go bad on the shelves, so there is no need to “dump” it at the end of the season.

The office supply retailers are also a good place to start online, especially for the ones that may not have local stores in your area. Then, check out electronics, software, and computer vendors who often have sales and rebates. Good bets in this category include Best Buy, Newegg, and Buy.com. Also, the major online retailers and big box stores like Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart can have deals as well.

The best way to get a quick glance at who has tax software deals right now is with various deal oriented websites. Some sites like Deal News and Slick Deals list great deals and rebates on all manner of products including software.

Don’t forget to check with other local businesses that you interact with, especially financial and insurance companies. Some banks and credit unions offer their members deals on tax preparation software, and H&R Block frequently features discounts on its tax software program TaxCut.

Check out Bright Hub's Investing channel if you need some help on how to handle taxes on your capital gains investments or even your capital lossess.

Shoot me a message or post here in the discussions. Let’s see just how much value we can get for our hard earned dollars.