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The Canada Revenue Agency has announced triumphantly that about half of Canadians are now filing their personal income taxes electronically. But the CRA doesn't break down how many of these forms are filed by professionals.

The distinction is important; without knowing the breakdown it's difficult to tell whether the available software packages and on-line services are really helping ordinary people in their alchemical quest to transform tax returns into gold.

Still, the popularity of tax software continues to grow. A quick count shows about 15 installable tax software packages or online services for Canadians who want to take charge of their personal fiscal responsibilities. They all follow the Canadian Tax Act scrupulously — they must — and do this by simply pasting your numbers into the appropriate places on the T1 form.

What sets them apart is the amount of help they offer, the levels of guidance for maximizing returns and the ease of navigation around the return form. Some include extra features, such as a module that plans for retirement or advice on managing investments. The software makers also jockey among themselves for market position by defining how many tax returns you can use the software to fill out — stay away from tax software that doesn't allow for spousal returns.

It's interesting how many online services there are now. Doing taxes on-line is a great benefit for non-Windows computers, but it also demands a lot of trust. All on-line tax-prep sites store your income information and other sensitive data on their computers; they're all bound by federal privacy laws, but that might not be enough assurance for some people. For what it's worth, however, there have been no celebrated stories of hackers breaking into online tax-prep databases.

The top Canadian packages for individuals:

By far the slickest and most popular Canadian tax-prep software, QuickTax boasts an extensive and comprehensive help system, which offers the cushiest ride while filling out the forms.

A tabbed window at the right of the screen is designed to anticipate your questions ("Why should I register with Elections Canada?" "How much is the Ontario Sales Tax Credit?"), while offering a chatty interview setup process called EasyStep that addresses you by your first name, which is nice, but it's still an unsettling familiarity. For experienced tax filers there's the Forms Method, more like the old, paper-based way of tax wizardry. And users can also switch easily from one system to the other.

Clicking on a question opens up a clear dialogue box; some other programs are programmed to use Windows' built-in help function, which is a good way to explain software and a bad way to explain tax law. And at times during the interrogation process, QuickTax offers "Smart Tips" on how to maximize returns, or warnings if you've tried to do something the CRA frowns upon.

The EasyStep way offers an interesting feature: As you answer certain questions, you can see your answers being fed into the image of the T1 General 2006 form in a window at the bottom of the screen. So if you have trouble with Intuit's way of explaining things, you can go back to the government way.

I was most impressed when QuickTax caught a typo in my Social Insurance Number — I don't know how it knew, but it did. It was a little spooky, actually.

QuickTax comes in three flavours:

QuickTax Platinum ($59.99) will handle just about any level of complexity in your financial picture, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds and RRSPs, as well as a Retirement Income Planner to lay out strategies for a future after retirement, a Paycheque Optimizer that shows ways to reduce tax withholding and a Canada Pension Plan Sharing Optimizer that demonstrates how to split CPP income to maximize tax advantages. It can run multiple tax scenarios, analyzes capital gains and incorporation.

Your license permits you to prepare five tax returns where the taxpayer's net income exceeds $25,000. You can prepare an unlimited number of returns where the taxpayer's net income is $25,000 or lower.

Quicktax Standard ($39.95) has everything the Platinum version has except the retirement planner. It can also be installed on two computers and file five returns. Like its big brother, it handles relocation for a new job, a death in the family, marriage and divorce or the arrival of a new dependent.

QuickTax Web (free to try, $19.95 for each return): Intuit's online version , offers the same services as the standard package, and will reimburse you plus interest if you pay a penalty due to an error in QuickTaxWeb. (this does not include calculation errors on CRA tables). Intuit also offers a refund if you're not satisfied with the product within 60 days of purchase.

TaxWiz was purchased by Intuit Canada a couple of years ago, and is being sold as its bare-bones product. It does have several sophisticated features, though, such as running what-if scenarios, multiple filing options, (you can prepare up to six income tax returns) and offers popup help. Unlike QuickTax, there is no corporate version.

GenuTax, which retails for $34.99, has two unique marketing features that make this a compelling product: You buy the product once, and then get free updates each year, and it also lets you do unlimited tax returns. There is also an e-mail support system.

GenuTax also uses the interrogation technique with two levels of exactitude: a Comprehensive Interview and a Streamlined Interview, a new feature for the 2006 tax year for people familiar with tax concepts. Users can pre-select the tax subjects that apply to their situations, and the interview will ask questions that are related to selected topics, speeding the process.

The program keeps a running tab in a window on the left that shows you total income, net income, taxable income, gross tax, non-refundable credits, refundable credits and balance owing. The Comprehensive Interview can be a long process, but it does present its choices in very clear language.

It has a "Jump To" feature that allows you to go directly to any section of the return without jeopardizing the interview process. Tax information is stored on screens that look just like your hard-copy slips.

Tax returns for spouses or common-law partners can be prepared together, and tax data can be carried forward from one year to the next.

It handles most tax situations, but not if your business operation has a permanent establishment outside the province or territory where you resided at the end of the taxation year, or if you are reporting a Nova Scotia Research and Development Tax Credit Recapture. Quebec residents can use GenuTax for their federal tax returns only; GenuTax does not yet support the Quebec provincial income tax return.

Ufile ($15.99, $9 extra for a spouse, free for incomes below $25,000), is available for Windows and online. It also uses the interview interface, and comes as installable software or an on-line Web service. The interview process is repeated for every different family member.

Ufile has a list of elements it can handle, including retirement income, investment income, tax shelters, self-employment income, provincial tax credits, and returns for non-residents. It also offers free telephone tech support, an e-mail advice system, has a retirement planner and allows the user to file 12 returns.

Ufile has something called MaxBack, which is an automated refund analyzer to help maximize a return and an RRSP analyzer and calculator. It also nags the user by sending e-mails whenever it feels ignored, or if it's getting closer to tax deadline.

It is limited to personal tax returns, but can also handle self-employment income and calculate capital gains. It can also be used by Quebec residents (at http://www.ImpotExpert.ca). Ufile also offers online income tax preparation and filing.

TaxTron (free for those with less than $30,000 to report, otherwise $12.99) is the software formerly known as GriffTax. It's available in both individual (T1) and corporate (T2) versions for Macintosh (OS X), and now has a version for Windows, too, but only for personal (T1) taxes. The company boasts you can complete your tax return in as little as 10 minutes, though I have no idea what kind of return I can hope for after spending that little time on my return.

TaxTron gives away its software, and you have to pay for it when you want to either print out the results or NetFile.

The company is keeping the cost down largely by cutting back on help, although it does offer 24-hour tech support by telephone in English and French, or by going to any Softron location; but don't look for advice on filling out the form.

Another cost savings has been accomplished by not updating its interface — it looks as though it were designed for Windows 3.1 and ignored afterward. In a word, the program is ugly.

A note about Netfile and eFile

The 2006 income-tax returns are due by midnight, April 30, 2007.

Netfile is the CRA's free Internet transmission service, and is open from Feb. 12 to Sept. 30, 2007. The service sends immediate confirmation upon receipt of your tax return, and the CRA claims you'll get a faster refund with it, as soon as two weeks.

Registered tax professionals use another system, called eFile, which allows two methods of electronic transmission: eFile OnLine (transmit's a client's return individually); and eFile Online Plus (for transmitting up to 60 returns at one time over the Internet).

Telefile is an interactive computer program that allows taxpayers to file tax returns for free using a touch-tone telephone, and is designed for the most common types of income tax information such as employment income, pension income, interest income, registered pension plan contributions, and charitable donations.