FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 22, 2006

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR HIGHLIGHTS FREE ONLINE TAX PREPARATION SERVICES
Event promotes ‘Free File Alliance’ which benefits lower-income, EITC-eligible
and active duty military filers

(Jackson, Mississippi)—Governor Barbour was joined today by Joe Blount, Revenue Commissioner; Jim Ruda, senior policy advisor of Intuit; and Ed Black, President of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) at a press conference held to highlight free online tax preparation services for eligible Mississippians. The Governor urged taxpayers to take advantage of a partnership between the State of Mississippi and private sector companies that provides free state and federal tax preparation and e-filing services to qualified Mississippi taxpayers. Eligible taxpayers can access the free online services through the Mississippi State Tax Commission website at http://www.mstc.state.ms.us.

Now in its fourth year, the partnership – called the Mississippi Free File Alliance – is a public-private partnership between the Mississippi State Tax Commission and a consortium of tax preparation software companies. Participating tax software companies use individual criteria to determine which taxpayers are eligible; most eligible Mississippi taxpayers are lower-income, active duty military, EITC-eligible, or first-time filers.

“It’s so important to get out the word that the great services of the Mississippi Free File Alliance are available to thousands of hard-working Mississippi taxpayers,” Governor Barbour said. “I’m proud to help promote a program that will help them get their taxes filed quickly and accurately – and make sure their refund arrives as soon as possible.”

“The Free File Alliance makes the process of paying your taxes as easy as possible. If taxpayers file electronically and use direct deposit, they can receive their state refund in as little as seven to ten days,” Revenue Commissioner Blount said.

The Mississippi Free File Alliance allows taxpayers to choose from multiple private sector offerings and directs them to a private company’s website, where they can use the free service to prepare and file their returns electronically.

To illustrate the value of the Mississippi Free File Alliance, Governor Barbour spotlighted the free services available from Intuit. Intuit donates its TurboTax® OnlineSM service through the Intuit Tax Freedom Project. The Tax Freedom Project, which can be found online at http://www.mstc.state.ms.us/ or www.statetaxfreedom.com, provides free online tax preparation and e-filing services for both state and federal returns to eligible Mississippi taxpayers.

“Intuit is especially pleased to participate in the Mississippi Free File Alliance this year. The Alliance allows us to build on our commitment that began in 1998 of empowering underserved taxpayers,” Intuit’s Jim Ruda added.

“The Free File Alliances is a model public-private partnership that allows both government and industry to do what they do best: the government provides quality taxpayer services to taxpayers while allowing the private sector to innovate, all at virtually no cost to the state government,” finished Ed Black, who spoke on behalf of CCIA.

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