Intuit Inc. has announced that it has eliminated the separate charge for federal electronic filing in its TurboTax packaged software products, the nation's leading tax preparation software. This decision more closely aligns the federal TurboTax desktop pricing structure with TurboTax Online where e-file is included with purchase. "Eliminating separate fees for filing individual federal tax returns is the right thing for American taxpayers," said Kiran Patel, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's Consumer Tax Division.

After targeting FaceBook and MySpace, hackers have now come out with a fake YouTube page creator program to infect unsuspecting surfers, according to security experts at PandaLabs. Our sister site, AccountingWEB.co.uk, reports that the YTFakeCreator kit was uncovered last week and makes it easy for cyber-criminals to create spoof YouTube pages.

Becker Professional Review, a provider of professional education serving the accounting and finance professions, announced the launch of its new web-based CPE (Continuing Professional Education) program. Becker brings together over 50 years of experience in professional education from its leading CPA Exam review and in-house CPE products to offer a new level of online CPE learning.

Addintools has announced the Classic Menu for Office 2007 v3.93b, a new update package of the popular suite of tools enabling users to have the MS Office 2003 interface instead of MS Office 2007, with all the functions of the latter. The MS Office 2003 interface can be positioned along with 2007 or you can completely overlay the latter. All the familiar commands can be placed either in a separate pull-down list or in a toolbar, so that they are constantly on hand.This application can be easily deployed to an entire organization or enterprise through its shared server.

Accounting firms looking to improve customer service are turning to secure Internet portals to exchange and share information with their clients. The result is broader, clearer communication and increased efficiency.A variety of vendors offer these services to accounting firms, with most charging a monthly fee. The key is to select the services that best match the needs of the firm and the needs of the client in this 24/7 business environment. One option is CPA2Biz, which provides services to AICPA members, but many other private companies offer services as well.

AccountingWEB is pleased to open the latest area of our Web site, the Office Accounting Zone. This new zone is dedicated to providing the latest news, tips, and commentary on Microsoft's accounting software for those who use the program, help others use the program, or are just curious about Office Accounting.Microsoft went into direct competition with several popular small business accounting programs with its foray into this market.

StartupNation and Microsoft Office Live Small Business have launched the second annual "Home-Based 100" to find the top home-based businesses in the country. Home-based businesses interested in making the list can submit their business profile online, with results to be announced in November.

Google's new Web browser, Chrome, is getting good reviews since it released its test version last week.According to Bloomberg's Grace Aquino, "It's simpler, a little faster, and less prone to crashing" than browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari.