TaxCaddy and Emerging Mobile Tax App Competition

It’s nearly impossible to watch a live sporting event on TV this time of year and not see an ad for a tax preparation tool like TurboTax or the offering from H&R Block. Even Ernst & Young has gotten into the game with their own TaxChat, a mobile application that allows individual taxpayers to gather and send documents to their tax professional via phone or laptop.

Sound familiar, users of TaxCaddy? It should, since TaxChat is quite similar to the application from SurePrep that many Schneider Downs clients have been using for over a year. Designed to simplify the process of organizing and completing your income tax return, TaxCaddy supports an assortment of file formats, including PDF, Word and Excel. Once uploaded, you can select a category in which to place each document, filed by appropriate tax year, and even add a subcategory if desired. If working from a PC, you can simply drag-and-drop the necessary documents into the TaxCaddy interface and upload accordingly.

Benefits of TaxCaddy

There are a number of advantages to using TaxCaddy. One, you’ll no longer receive paper tax organizers in the mail since the organizer will already be on the application in electronic format. Two, you can simply snap a photo of your documents, upload them to your smartphone, tablet or PC, and see which documents remain outstanding and which have been uploaded every time you access your account. And, three, you’ll no longer have to mail or drop off tax documents to your Schneider Downs professional because every document can be transmitted safely on the app or through the website.

TaxCaddy conveniently stores your returns in one secure place (each year is stored in a different section of the application) and links to over 300 banks, brokerages and payroll service providers, which allows for the automatic retrieval of documents as soon as they become available.

How to Enroll

To get started, simply call or email your Schneider Downs tax professional and tell him or her that you’d like to sign up for TaxCaddy. You’ll then receive an email invite stating that Schneider Downs – Training would like to connect with you. In that email, click on “View Request” and proceed to set up an account with your email address and password. It’s that simple. And it’s important to note that you, not Schneider Downs, owns the account.

Other firms are just now coming out with on-demand mobile tax applications. We’ve known this was the way to go over a year ago. Join TaxCaddy today to see what all the excitement is about.