Discover the pTax way to estimate your Personal Income Tax

pTax helps you evaluate your tax liability for the 1999 filing year. Any handheld device running Palm OS Version 2.0 or higher is compatible with pTax. Based on the information you enter, pTax employs the current rate schedules to estimate your US Federal personal income taxes. This software may not be used to actually prepare tax returns or related documents. pTax is not a substitute for a qualified income tax preparer or advisor.

pTax is simple to use and frees you from many complex calculations. A series of clearly labeled forms are provided for entering your financial data. Just input the numbers and let pTax handle the tedious computations. With pTax in your Palm device, you no longer need a desktop computer or web access to analyze your tax situation.

Get started by following these brief instructions. Begin by installing pTax using the Palm Install Tool application found on your desktop computer. Complete instructions for installing pTax and most other third party Palm OS applications are found on the Palm Gear HQ website at www.palmgear.com. Next, start pTax by tapping on its icon in the normal manner. Then use the pop-up list in the upper-right corner to select a category of data to enter or display. The available categories are: Summary, Filer, Income, Adjusts, Deductions, Taxes, and Payments. Move between them by tapping in the pop-up list. Enter your numeric data, without decimal points, in the appropriate fields under each category. Buttons labeled "Revert" and "Clear" found at the bottom of most views enable you to restore the data in place when you entered the category or to zero-out all fields in the view.

Choose "Summary" to show tax calculation results based on the information you have entered. From this view, you may return to each category by tapping in the appropriate field. The "Summary view" also contains the "Register Now" button needed to enter a Registration Code.

Select "Filer" to enter your filing status, exemptions, additional deductions, and dependents. The "Preferences" item under the "Options" menu is only available from "Filer". Use "Preferences" to select 1998 or 1999 tax rate schedules.

The "Income" category is where you enter Wages & Salary, Taxable Interest & Dividends, Long Term Capital Gains, Short Term Capital Gains, Business Income (Schedule C), Schedule E & F Income (Partnership, Subchapter-S Corporation, Rental Real Estate, Royalty, Estate, and Farming), and Other Income. Remember that allowable capital losses are generally limited to $3000.

Use "Adjusts" to enter deductible IRA Contributions, Keough & SEP Contributions for the Self-Employed, allowable Self-Employed Health Insurance deduction (up to 60% of actual expenses in 1999), permissible Student Loan adjustments, and Other Adjustments (Medical Savings Accounts, etc.). One-half of the Self-Employment Tax you enter under the "Taxes" category will automatically be shown here.

In the "Deductions" view, enter deductible Taxes (State and Local Income, Real Estate, etc.), Interest (Home Mortgage, Points, Investment, etc.), Charitable Contributions (Cash or Property, according to the rules), and Other Deductible Expenses (qualifying Medical, unreimbursed Employee, etc.). The updated Total of your Itemized Deductions will be shown whenever you re-enter this category. This view also displays the Standard Deduction and Allowable Exemptions to which you may be entitled based on the information you provided under "Filer". Use the "Item" and "Stnd" buttons to choose between your Itemized or Standard Deduction.

The "Taxes" category displays an updated calculation of your gross tax liability. This view also provides space to enter any Self-Employment Tax, Alternative Minimum Tax, Tax on Household Employees, Other Taxes, or Tax Credits which you may owe or be entitled to.

Select "Payments" to enter any payments already made against your 1999 Federal tax liability. These would include Withholding, Overpayment of your 1998 Taxes to be applied to 1999, total 1999 Estimated Tax Payments, payments accompanying an Extension of time to file, Excess Social Security withheld, or Other Payments.

That's it! Return to "Summary" to see where you stand. Change your Filing Status under "Filer" to discover what marriage or a new child might do to your tax situation. What if you realize all those market gains this year? pTax is perfect for answering those "What If?" questions and for avoiding underpayment penalties. Please remember that you are responsible for entering appropriate and suitable figures into pTax. For information concerning Federal income tax regulations or about filing your tax returns, you may call the IRS at (800) 829-1040. IRS forms and publications may be ordered by calling (800) 829-3676. Tax information is also found at the IRS website, www.irs.gov.

We're glad you took the time to try pTax. Prior to registration, pTax uses only the 1998 tax rates and cannot save any filer information. You may freely install, copy, or distribute the entire archive file containing this version and all accompanying documentation.

We ask that you register if you try pTax and find it to be helpful. The registration fee is only $10. Once registered, pTax will save your filer data and access tax formulas for the year 1999. You may install pTax on ONE Palm OS device at a time per registration. You may keep backup copies of the archive as necessary. Your Registration Code is keyed to the Palm User Name provided by you at the time of registration. Multiple handhelds with identical User Names are separately licensed and must be separately registered.

To register: Select the Summary category page, tap the "Register Now" button at the lower-left to display the Registration dialog with your Palm User Name, contact Palm Gear HQ at www.palmgear.com or call (817) 640-6558, pay the $10 fee, provide your Palm User Name and email address. You should receive your Registration Code via email by the end of the next business day. Enter the Registration Code into the field in the Registration dialog, tap "OK" and accept our thanks for registering pTax. If you have any problems with this process, just send us an email describing what happened. Please save your Registration Code in case you ever re-install the software.

Kula Corporation grants you a limited non-exclusive license to install and try pTax once without registering. After you have paid the registration fee and received your registration code, your license allows you continued use of the software on a single Palm OS device. Kula Corporation may, solely at its own discretion, modify, maintain, update, or release new versions of this software. This license will apply to any updates or maintenance releases that Kula Corporation may choose to issue.

Title and all ownership rights to this software continue to be held by Kula Corporation; they are not transferred by this license.

PTAX IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE USER ASSUMES THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE ACCURACY OF AND PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, KULA CORPORATION SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHICH ARISE FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, OR FROM THIS LICENSE, EVEN IF KULA CORPORATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE ENTIRE LIABILITY OF KULA CORPORATION, ITS ASSOCIATES, OR REPRESENTATIVES, SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY THE USER TO KULA CORPORATION OR ITS AGENTS FOR THIS SOFTWARE.

Version 1.1 - January, 2000

Version 1.1.1 - January 15, 2000: minor bug fix in Summary with OS Ver2 devices

© 2000 Kula Corporation. All rights reserved.

pTax is a trademark of Kula Corporation. Palm Computing is a registered trademark and Palm OS is a trademark of Palm Computing, Inc., 3Com Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks or servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.