[Wine] Tax Preparation with WINE

[James Mckenzie]

Chard <wineforum-user at winehq.org> wrote on March 30th:
>
>I have contacted TAX ACT in order to remind them that the American Linux Community is in need of tax software which can successfully install and operate under WINE and that the company could gain market share by tweaking its products so that they appeal to the self-preparing tax filers opting for a non-Windows Operating System (No tax support for Mac either – as far as I know).  
>
TaxACT does exist for the Mac as well as Intuit's tax preparation software, TaxCut.  I've been using the Intuit product for the last few years.  

>While the purveyors of on-line tax preparation claim that their services are secure, I am not yet
>comfortable in entering all my financial data, as well as my SS number and other personally
>identifiable information, onto some distant commercially-operated server, where it may be retained
>for years. Perhaps I have listened to Todd Davis's ad too often, but it seems that compromise of
>electronic data transfer and storage is not rare.  "Think about it sweetheart," says Eva
>Rosenberg, Web's Tax Mama. and a tax professional licensed to represent taxpayers before the
>IRS: "You're nervous about charging something online and here you are putting all your tax
>information online on somebody else's Web site." Web computing seems very much vulnerable to
>cyberbreaches.  I will wait until the cream rises on this approach before tasting.

Then NEVER, EVER eFile.  The compromise that can occur is in THREE places:

1. Between your tax software and the tax preparer.
2. At the tax preparer's web/physical location.
3. Between the tax preparer and the appropriate tax authority.

BTW, your paper documentation is scanned or inputted at the tax authority to the same systems that you woule eFile to.

The last thing is that your SSL session is only as secure as the keys you are using.  I demand 256 bit protection at a minimum with my preparer.

Also, there is little to be gained by breaching a tax preparer.  Most of the information available from them is available on-line elsewhere (you would be surprised at the amount of publically available information on you.)

As far as Wine goes, you seemed to have success with completing one part of the process.  It may be more beneficial if 2nd Story got TaxACT to work with Wine.

James McKenzie