E-Z Tax
The Tax Break You've Been Looking for !
Since today is Tax Day in the US, I decided to publish a post about a piece of tax preparation software. As you can see, I have a couple of ads for E-Z Tax, so I decided to cover it. That part was easy.
When I searched for E-Z Tax, I was greeted with 100s of results. I narrowed the search down to California (the location of the company according to the ads) and now had 25 results. Most of these companies either had a slightly different name or were founded in the 2000s. There were only two companies that fit the time period: E-Z TAX SERVICE, INC. founded in 1968 and E-Z TAX, INC. founded in 1981. I suspect the second is the one we are looking for because it was incorporated in 1981 and was marked as dissolved in 1983. This fits because I only found E-Z Tax ads in computer magazines in 1983. That is all the information that I have for the company.
I was unable to find a review for E-Z Tax. I only discovered a couple of non-ad mentions of the program. The April 1983 issue of Apple Orchard published this blurb: “E-Z Tax is the tax break you’ve been looking for. Self-prompting questions assure you that nothing is overlooked. The program automatically computes the lowest tax for you. It’s so easy to use, you’ll be doing your tax return the moment you insert the 5 #14 inch disk. When you’re finished, E-Z Tax will print out your information on the official Federal forms. Prints 1040 A 1040EZ, 1040 P. 1 & 2, Schedules A, B, C, D, E, F, G, R/RP, W and many more - $69.95. Available for the Apple 11 with 48 K, and CP/M.”
The January 1983 issue of SoftSide Magazine also mentioned it:
E-Z TAX is a complete personal income tax preparation program. It has the capability of doing 1040-A (Short Form), 1040-EZ (the new IRS form for single taxpayers), and over 25 IRS forms and schedules (Long Form). The program includes a minimal-error checkpoint feature. After each major section of the income tax form is completed, the program re-displays all information for proof-reading and correction, allowing the user to correct any errors.
E-Z TAX is compatible with the Apple®, Atari® and IBM® PC, and requires 48K RAM memory and one disk drive (printer recommended). Its price is $69.95.
I hope you survived Tax Day and this brought a moment of calm to your day.
Did you ever use E-Z Tax? Do you know anything about its history? Tell us about it in the comments below.
What computer ads would you like to see in the future? Please comment below. If you enjoyed it, please share it with your friends and relatives. Thank you.
