Make April 15 a less taxing time for your customers. (Marketing News).

These days, national tax preparation services are acting like financial services companies. Not surprisingly, some financial services institutions are starting to act like tax preparers. Case in point: North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. in Texas.

Earlier this year, North Dallas Bank placed an online version of Quicken TurboTax on its website www.ndbt.com. Browsers are invited to file a federal 1040 return (simple version) for $19.95 or a state return for $12.95.

The bank is offering the online tax preparation service as a result of an alliance with Intuit Inc., makers of the Turbo Tax desktop software program. North Dallas is the first bank in Texas to offer such a service.

"It's a good fit for us," explains Gregory E. Niemeyer, senior vice president of operations and marketing at the financial institution. "It helps to round out our online services."

Simple, convenient online tax preparation is the sort of thing craved by the city's many high-tech employees, Niemeyer says. Those also happen to be the same type of people that North Dallas Bank is trying to add as new customers. One appeal of the online service is that it is less expensive than buying the TurboTax software in a store. No downloading of software is required to file through the online service.

Customers have the option of filing the 1040EZ, the regular 1040 or the "premium" 1040 that includes a new tax law adviser; extended interview and review for Schedules C, D and E; 10-year tax forecaster; year-to-year deduction manager plus additional planning tools.

Another feature is that customers with adjusted gross income of less than $25,000 can file tax returns at no cost.

"It really meets our customers' needs and helps us to expand into certain markets," adds Niemeyer. "We're real excited about it."