E-Filing Glitches Compound the Stress of Tax Season

As if tax season isn't already stressful enough, the Internal Revenue Service's push to get taxpayers to file electronically has added a new layer of worry.

Technical glitches, though not widespread, were still frequent enough to make you think twice about trusting your return completely to an Internet site. H&R Block's (HRB) high-profile site was dogged by recurring technical problems. Taxes4Less had to shut down its tax preparation product on Sunday -- the day before Monday's deadline -- not because of a technical issue but because its live preparers couldn't keep up with demand. FileSafe turned out to be not-so-safe -- it suffered a technical shutdown on Monday afternoon.

No doubt there were other unpublicized glitches. I had my own unnerving experience with H.D. Vest's (HDVS) free filing site. More on that shortly. ...