Q&A: Printing Taxes From the iPad

Q.

I used TurboTax’s iPad app to do my taxes. It works well, but I need to print out the return for my records. If I don’t have a wireless printer, how would I do that? It suggests sending the document to iTunes. Is that safe? Can I print it from there?

A.

The TurboTax for iPad app offers a couple of options for printing out your completed tax return. If you do not have a wireless printer to handle the job, you can save your file as a PDF into Apple’s free iBooks app and sync it back to the computer.

If you do not already have iBooks installed, download a free copy of the app from the App Store. Then, to move your return from TurboTax to iBooks, open your tax file and tap the Action menu icon (which looks like an arrow bursting out of a rectangle) in the upper right corner of the screen. Choose the “Open in iBooks” item from the menu.

A PDF copy of your tax return should appear on the screen in the iBooks app. You can move this file to the computer when you synchronize the tablet with the iTunes program on your PC. If you normally do not use the iBooks app and have not synchronized books or PDF files back to the computer before, connect the iPad to the computer with the USB cable, click the iPad icon in the left column of the iTunes window and then click the Books tab at the top of the window.

Turn on the checkbox for Sync Books and click the Apply and then Sync button to safely and directly transfer the file between the iPad and the computer over the USB connection. If you have your iPad set up to sync wirelessly over your home network, you can just click on the iPad icon in the iTunes window and get to the books-syncing checkbox without plugging it into the computer with the USB cable.

After you finishing synchronizing the iPad, click the Books icon in the iTunes Library area. A copy of the TurboTax PDF should be in the Books list. Double-click the PDF title to open and print a copy from your computer.

People with compatible wireless printers can print TurboTax files directly from the iPad. A list of printers that work with AirPrint can be found here.