It’s that time of year again and for those who want to use software to submit taxes we always recommend TurboTax or H&R Block.

This year H&R Block have the following new features:

• New tax apps for iPad, iPhone and Android
• Possible to import W2 & 1099 data from even more financial institutions and payroll services this year
• Log into H&R Block At Home Online using your Facebook login
• Returning users can complete the interview step faster with short cuts
• Search & Bookmark features improved – Bookmark feature reminds users to return to any questions requiring more information

Intuit, the makers of Quicken, have just released their 2012 lineup of personal finance software. What’s new this year? We list some of the major points below:

• Improved budgeting tools
• New debt reduction planner
• Faster than ever transaction download
• Improved bill and income reminders
• Equity tracking
• Better customer support
• Multi-currency support

While not offering a host of new features compared to Quicken 2011, if you have an older version or are new to Quicken, we’d recommend this year’s programs to keep your finances in order and help you better plan for the future. Amazon has offers up to 25% off at the moment.

Intuit released their QuickBooks 2012 versions this month. The new QuickBooks Pro, Premier and Mac release helps small business owners gain better insight into their business as well as save time on repetitive tasks. We highlight some of the best new features below:

• New Lead Center,  for easier tracking and management of potential customers.
•  A library of more than 1,000 custom report templates created by other QuickBooks users and sorted by industry, rating and popularity.
• Calendar View shows upcoming events, invoices & billing deadlines, transactions and important tasks and to-dos.
• Better Excel integration.
• New Document Center for attaching and saving documents, for example for linking to specific transactions.
• Batched timesheets for multiple employees or vendors.
• Improved Memorized Transactions setup process.

We recommend the 2012 version of QuickBooks to any new users, and specifically for 2009 users since they will soon lose access to online features due to Intuit’s sunset policy.  Benefit from a 20% QuickBooks discount at the moment on all versions.

New free money management site Payoff.com, just launched in June, aims to help you fund your dreams, be they to travel the world, remodel your home, start a business or anything else you have your heart set on.

Payoff.com adds a social media component to money management – you can share your financial dreams, accomplishments and advice with other members of the community. Users keep each other motivated as they work to meet their financial objectives.

The site also seeks to introduce a bit of fun into the serious business of debt reduction and savings – you can win badges and cash prizes as you meet goals and save more money. Other users see your progress and offer encouragement and praise.

All your bank and credit card accounts can be linked to your Payoff account so you can easily get an accurate picture of your financial situation. You can also track your spending by brand (e.g. Starbucks) so you can quickly see any areas that need cutting back on.

Payoff.com also offers recommendations for hundreds of debt reduction and money management tools.

Tax deadline this year is fast approaching. But for those of you still to make inroads on your tax return, no need to panic. You can avoid late filing penalties by filing an income tax extension (Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return) with the IRS by April 18 which will give you another six months to complete your return (by October 17).   Note however, that you’ll still have to pay taxes due by April 18, or you’ll be liable to penalties and interest.

One of the easiest ways to file your extension is with FileLater, the online tax extension filing service. FileLater is an authorized, IRS e-file provider and it can take you just a few moments to complete the process.

Here’s how their service works:

1) Quickly answer a few simple taxpayer questions and FileLater automatically fills out your form.

2) Decide if you’ll make a tax payment with your extension – FileLater provides tax calculators to help you estimate what you owe. You can make a payment from your bank account, using direct debit.

3) FileLater immediately e-files your extension.

4) Log in to the interface to see the progress of your tax extension – status updated daily.

5) You’ll receive a confirmation email when your extension is approved.

In the unlikely event of your extension being denied, FileLater will advise as to the reason and you can make changes and re-submit free of charge. As well as the personal tax extension service ($19.95), FileLater also offers a business tax extension service ($29.95).   FileLater ensures your confidential details remain private with multiple layers of security. Email, phone and live chat support is also provided.

Take advantage of their special offer on now – save up to 20%.

By the way, you should know that you’re not alone – up to 10% of taxpayers will be seeking an extension this year. Check out FileLater’s fun Tax Extension Map.

If you have a simple tax return to complete, you could be e-filing in just a few easy steps with the help of your iPhone or Android smartphone and the SnapTax application from TurboTax:

1) Take a photo of your W-2 form with your mobile. 2) Answer a few questions. 3) Review your tax info. 4) E-file.

Optical character recognition technology reads the information on W-2 forms and automatically fills the relevant fields onscreen.

This application is useful for the following filers who:

• have W-2, interest, or unemployment income

• have no dependents

• do not own a home

• earn under $80,000/year (or $100,000/year if married)

Users should be able to file their 1040ez forms in as little as 10-15 minutes, and for only $14.99. Tax information is saved for even easier filing the following year. TurboTax’s biggest refund guarantee is also offered with SnapTax.

The SnapTax app is available from iTunes or at TurboTax’s website.

Here at Finance Software Store, we think mobile applications are really the way of the future. So we’re delighted with Pageonce – Money & Bills, a personal finance mobile application released a couple of years ago which already has over 4 million users.   Now you can track your money and bills in one handy place, as well as many other services too.

Here are some ways it can help today’s busy consumer:

• Sends bill due date reminders
• Gives important real-time alerts and account notifications
• Monitors credit card & bank transactions
• Shows detailed bill & account statements
• Monitors investment portfolios
• Provides helpful reports
• Tracks cellphone usage, frequent flyer miles & rewards
• View e-mail and social networking accounts

Pageonce also provides 3 extra services: Pageonce Bills (bill management); Pageonce Travel (track flight details, hotel accommodation, weather, rental services); and Cell Minute Tracker (monitor phone activity & expenses).

The company offers bank-level security with 256-bit data encryption, for complete peace of mind.

Pageonce is a free application, but there is also a paid Pro version with no ads for only $6.99. Works on  iPhone, iPod touch,  iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7 and Desktop.

Mint, the very popular & free online money management site, has officially launched in Canada. It’s been available in the US for 3 years and now Canadians can finally have a go at tracking their spending at Mint/Canada.

The Canadian version is mostly the same as the US version but now comes with support for all major Canadian banks and credit unions, and with personalized savings tips for Canadians. The free Mint mobile application is available in the Canadian iPhone and Android app stores.

The Mint development team is still working on some features for Canada, such as:  Goals, Investments, SMS alerts, multi-currency, French support and Advice. Stay tuned.

This marks the beginning of global expansion for Mint.com. Other countries are on the agenda, with support for international banks coming soon.

Online personal finance management website Rudder announced this month it would discontinue its services, after a 2 year run, due to the business becoming “unsustainable”.  Free personal finance management services have struggled to stay afloat recently, in an area dominated by Mint.com; this follows Wesable shutting down in July and Geezeo late last year.  It’s not easy to develop a model that answers users’ needs as well as generates a profit in such a competitive environment. Mint.com is perhaps the most successful, having recently been bought by Intuit for $170 million.

Rudder’s most popular features were the forecasted month-end account balances (after calculating all upcoming bill payments), and the daily emails delivered to a user’s inbox stating current balances and expenses, both of which helped people stay on track with their spending.  Unfortunately with the daily emails feature, Rudder was in the news for all the wrong reasons a few months ago after having inadvertently disclosed personal bank account details to others members. Was this the first step on the way to its demise?

Rudder confirms all personal customer information will have been permanently wiped clean as of 3 November, so that should reassure customers.

Other similar services such as MoneyStrands and YNAB also offer easy money management tools that may appeal to former Rudder users.

Intuit released their new Quicken 2011 personal finance programs earlier this month (Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Premier, Quicken Home and Business and Quicken Rental Property Manager). Some of the highlights in this new release:

• Streamlined interface
• Now compatible with even more financial institutions (over 12,000)
• Improved automatic transaction categorization
• Downloads multiple accounts at the same time
• Improved customizable register columns
• Projected account balances graph shows how much money left over after upcoming bills and income
• New Transfer Detection feature
• Automatically updates stock quotes every 15 minutes (Quicken Premier)
• Uses less memory to run

For 2008 and earlier users we think this is a useful upgrade.  Comes with a 60 day satisfaction guarantee.  Currently the best deals on Quicken are from Amazon, where you can save up to 35%.