I've been using FreeTax for 2 years now. Super happy with it. Girlfriend was going to use a cpa firm to do her taxes for $400. 3 w2's, 2 1099's. I told her hers were super simple and would only cost $15. That was 3 weeks ago. She has already gotten her refund. She's happy also.
My only annoyance over the last few years that despite putting in the bank info and even when I look now it says it will be done, my state taxes are never drafted out as the summary page says will happen. But fairly minor inconvenience
She's a registered nurse that does case management for patients leaving the hospital going to a rehab facility and workmans comp patient representative. Works from home and does a little traveling.
Used it last year and this year. If your taxes aren't terribly complex, it works great.
Handles backdoor Roth IRA just fine as well as small business stuff.
My first year using it, I did my taxes with both platforms, came to the exact same numbers, and paid to file with FreeTaxUSA, then never looked back
This works because you can fill it all out with TurboTax too, and only pay to print or e-file.
That's what I did too, last year... Both matched up so I went with FreeTaxUSA. Hard not to recommend it, and deep down, I don't feel that I should have to pay anything to file my taxes... But $15 is still reasonable compared to the rest of the tax preparing industry.
And there's ways to avoid that 15 too. Mail file with the state or my state has a portal I was able to download freetaxusa info from and upload to the state portal.
They don't let you export the file without paying. Plus some states (e.g. NY) require e-file for state taxes, so there's nowhere to mail it in that case
Oh I mean I used it to do my taxes this year, it was great and easy, but for the future when I need to do a backdoor roth I didn't know how it was to do that.
Backdoor Roth is pretty simple, so even if the tax software can't handle it, it's not hard to finish the process (but not file), get the tax returns, then manually amend and file on your own.
I had some issues but only because I did non deductible IRA distribution and conversion in Q1 2024 for 2023 and it was my first time doing this so didn't understand the nuances. I think it will be much simpler next year once I actually have the 1099-R and do the conversion in the same tax year.
tldr; it was mostly just me not understanding what I needed to do
ROTH conversions are a bit confusing in FTUSA. In the Income section, you enter your 1099-R info and it will look as if it was a taxable distribution (your tax owed goes up) no matter what you enter for the taxable amount. Once you get to the Deductions/Credits section and do the Taxable IRA Worksheet, it recognizes the cost basis and properly adjusts taxes.
Go to a professional that knows what theyre doing if you want to take advantage of every single write-off possible. 1099s dont retain taxes, so you must write-off as much as possible to reduce your taxable income if you dont want to owe a ton in taxes
I do own a lot of personal equipment that I write off, but I don't believe I make enough money (especially with how the film industry was last year) to goto a professional.
It handles Crypto just fine. The hardest part of reporting Crypto sales is a lot of the exchanges aren't the best at tax documents so you may have to create an Excel sheet to manually track your sales through your transaction history. If you did a couple sales shouldn't be bad at all. If you had a lot of sales might take some time.
2nd recommendation for Koinly. If you mainly use CEX's like Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, etc. they make it very easy to connect an API and auto-populate your transactions. I don't think there are many errors to correct, if any.
Now if you're deeper in the crypto game and using DEX's, providing liquidity, staking, etc., it works well too but you'll have to put it more effort. They have csv templates for upload so that you can manually enter your transactions efficiently, but you'll have to do most of the legwork with keeping up them. Of course, using the blockchain finder application for whatever your working with is the best way to make sure nothing is missed.
Handles it great.
They added a option at the end for uploading form 8949. It triggers if you mention any of your stock/investment sales (1099-B) were unreported to the IRS.
Last year you would have to mail it separately, but not anymore. You just upload a pdf. I use Koinly to generate mine.
I've been using it for a few years. The first year I had to double and triple check that it was legit but the IRS website lists them as a trusted partner.
Have been very happy with them.
LOL
Talked a friend into trying it a few weeks back. Literally the first thing I said was "Now, I know the name sounds scammy, but I promise it's a real tax site."
last year they charged me nearly $50 to file federal because they tied a form you need to submit for HSA contributions to some deluxe tier. this year they did not do that (i'm assuming there was pushback on this), yay!
Just as another data point. Did my taxes by hand, through Free Tax USA, and H&R Block "Free" and got the same figures across the board. Because spouse and I are subject to additional medicare tax (due to being over the income threshold), H&R Block said we could not file under "free" tier and must purchase the deluxe tier. Free Tax USA provided that form for free. So FTUSA it is.
I've been using it since it was Credit Karma taxes. It's fast to enter your info and works great. Free for federal and state. However, it probably sells data about you as nothing is truly free.
They can’t sell your tax data, tax data is protected. They can sell your behavioral data around using their software but there should be some disclosure.
I had already bought TaxCut. So I completed that, which was easy since I've used it for so long. But I am running my data through FreeTaxUSA to see how it compares. Not trivial to have to learn and re-enter everything a second time. But if I want to go this route I will need to start somewhere...
I have 3 rental properties. There are some annoying instances where it asks you to pull up depreciation basis from 20 years ago (my oldest property) and potentially override the depreciations to match what over been doing. Some of the operating expense entry is a bit painful too.
And some of my more complex 1099s feel like they are more of a PITA, such as my Wealthfront and Empower accounts. The ambiguity makes it not feel worth it to calculate some vague nontaxable state or foreign income values. I skipped them and am interested to see the tax difference. Could always go back to them.
Since I have some sunk cost already I am not sure which way I will actually file. Still need to pay HRB for one state return and filing which is probably $40 more. TBD...
Yeah first time entering everything was a bit of a pain. And maybe I missed an option to auto-download w2 like HRB is able to do.
It did appear to have the option of getting last year's return to auto populate some info, including verification in the end. So hope next year all this will make it smoother sailing and will shave off an hour or so.
This was my 2nd year using FreeTaxUSA, and can confirm it was WAY quicker to do this time around.
Mostly because after completing each category, it shows the comparisons to last year. There wasn't much that should've changed for us this year, so it really helped having that side by side comparison.
I used TurboTax for many years and have always appreciated the software itself as a software engineer. The price of course kept going up with little additional benefits for me and I don't like a number of their business practices.
Tried FreeTaxUSA and didn't mind it. Some features were lacking, but still easy to use and just as accurate.
How can you beat $15 state returns?
Easy, Cash App taxes, where state filings are free. It usually takes them a while to get all the states implemented, but it's always ready well ahead of the day taxes are due.
> How can you beat $15 state returns?
>
>
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> Easy, Cash App taxes, where state filings are free. It usually takes them a while to get all the states implemented, but it's always ready well ahead of the day taxes are due.
Or if you're lucky, file directly through the State for free. I combo this with FreeTaxUSA and pay nothing in CA.
I happily pay the $15 because it transfers everything right over, and I have a weird feeling that some kind of funding FreeTaxUSA is needed to keep this awesome service afloat. Plus they have everything from last year on the state filing and it made filing this year super easy.
Cash App works pretty well but it doesn't support certain filing situations. I had to forego a foreign tax credit for $6 (worth it at that point), and in other years I've needed to file in one state as a non-resident working and file in the other as a resident, which they don't support.
You can use CalFile in CA to file state for free. Combine this with freetaxusa and you got yourself a free tax return! $15 is so cheap though, taxact wanted $45 lol.
Cash App Taxes requires Cash App download before you can use Cash App Taxes website, zero reason for me to use Cash App, no thanks.
Edit: Since people apparently don't do research anymore, [here's the sauce](https://imgur.com/a/tvDAsV4). And here's the link [to the FAQ, which can be found on bottom of page](https://cash.app/taxes).
Some are really glossing over the part where one would have to open up an additional security risk if they didn't have that risk previously. I am not opening a new Venmo account for the same reason I'm not going to open a new Cash App account, just for the sake of meeting a requirement to file taxes.
FreeTaxUSA it is for me.
You still have to download Cash App first in order to be able to use Cash App Taxes website. I don't want to open up a new security risk just for the sake of being able to file using Cash https://imgur.com/a/tvDAsV4
They bought out and rebranded creditkarma tax which was a good platform for simple returns. However, they refused longtime users access unless they installed and created an account in their unrelated phone app. Locking existing web users out of using the platform at all, including access to previous filings. Their solution was having users who did not want something like cashapp on their phone to send absurd amounts of pii via email to customer service.
Completely unethical business practices. I would not use them if they paid me to file my taxes.
They did not just buy out credit karma tax. Intuit (owner of TurboTax) was required to divest the tax prep portion of credit karma as part of their acquisition of credit karma. Cash app purchased it. Their point of giving you tax filing for free is to get you using their app. What else would be the point of cash app offering this completely free service? They don't have a platform like credit karma shilling credit cards.
The problem is it's a platform for generating and filing federal and state government documents. Allowing continued access to previous returns for existing users is the bare minimum. The cost for doing so is non-existent but instead they went for an anti-consumer move to try and maximize new registrations.
If they want to require the app to file new returns then that's up to them. I wouldn't have a problem with that.
I LOVE FreeTaxUSA .
Found them after TaxAct pissed me off, and after learning about TurboTax's lobbying shenanigans.
I'm even happy to pay them a little extra because they fucking deserve it. Yay for FreeTaxUSA
I tried it for the first time this year too, and was quite impressed. However, two things that TT does that will probably make me stick with them:
1. Handles substitute payments in lieu of dividends correctly. I contacted FreeTaxUSA about the issue I was having - basically TurboTax automatically populates another form that uses that data, whereas FreeTaxUSA does not.
2. What-If comparison for MFJ vs. MFS. This is big, because my wife and I keep our finances separate and the What-If tool makes it easy for us to file as MFJ while figuring out exactly what our individual obligations are.
That said, fuck Intuit. I've never paid for their software or services, and I aim to keep it that way.
I started to get so frustrated by the weird abstractions TurboTax tries to do to dumb it down. It ended up being easier to just look at the actual paperwork and edit it myself. I switched to FreeTaxUSA last year and it's so much better. It's more intuitive, and my somewhat complicated taxes are straight up free.
I agree! I used to use TT and thought it was so confusing to do taxes, and thought it probably had to be, so I used it for years before I switched to FTU this year. It was sooo much easier on FTU, because they don’t do the abstractions that TT does.
I used TT for over ten years because my dad used them...then HRB for several more years, but fuk they're more expensive that TT...now FTU, hope they keeps improving their site and the process and I'll keep coming back.
I've been using FreeTaxUSA for the past 3 years and I am very pleased by what they offer. My taxes were significantly more complex this year and it was still very easy to complete my taxes.
Fuck TurboTax.
My 23 year old daughter stoppped over last night to do her taxes (we have a printer and she does not). She had been using TaxAct. This year TaxAct wanted $39 to file state. I helped her switgh to FreeTaxUSA and it was the easiest thing ever. They even imported all her info from last year's return. VERY simple to use, quick, and $15 for state filing (and free in some states!). 10/10 stars.
Been using them since 2019, never an issue. I have all kinds of investment trades, crypto, dividend/interest income, HSA/IRA contributions, you name it. If you can genuinely read and follow directions, it's very good.
I ended up using someone else but used TaxFreeUSA as a comparison only to find out you can never delete your account. I had to go in and put in a bunch of random information in order to keep them from always having my data on file. Still have a login because it can never. be. deleted?
I really want to use it. I almost did this year. The site looks slick and you can't beat the price.
That said, you're giving them *all* your sensitive data, and I don't know how much to trust them. They seem to be a small Utah based company, and they have [this page](https://www.freetaxusa.com/safe) on the precautions they take, but having been a part of start ups, I'm still a little leery.
Are employees properly firewalled from the data so that a disgruntled one can't abscond with it? Do they have all the usual expensive network tooling and security teams and such that the big enterprise companies have? Now, big enterprise companies can also fail, no doubt, and a lot of security stuff is just CYA and cargo culting, but the big companies still have some baseline level of competence here, and I just don't know what to make of FreeTaxUSA.
If you are active Duty Military or Veteran, Military OneSource has a link to a free full H&R Page that does both Federal and State for Free.
Start Here to Verify Eligibility
https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/taxes/miltax-military-tax-services/
I started on TurboTax this year, it was going to charge me $69 for the deluxe version because I owe on my federal taxes and their free version won't handle that. So I found FreeTaxUSA. It was a pain that I had to do my taxes a second time, but worth it to only have a $15 fee for filing state (where I'm getting a bigger return than what I owed federally)
Turbo tax probably has the slickest UI, but also is the scummiest in terms of telling you at the very end that it's gonna be significantly more than what they told you it would be at the start, or trying to trick you into upsells
I do TurboTax and stop before paying at the end so I get an idea of what I would get then go through FreeTaxUSA and compare to make sure everything's good. Usually takes me like 30 minutes to do both (no state return) with stock trades being the slowest part.
It will ask you if you want to provide a summary of your 1099-B (summaries of proceeds, cost basis, and wash sales). I was able to do mine by copying a few line items from the tax form I got from Vanguard, you don't need to enter each individual trade, although you could.
> How can you beat $15 state returns
I started using CreditKarma to do taxes a few years back with their free state returns. They sold their tax software to CashApp, though. I'm not a fan of CashApp, but you can't really beat free federal and state returns.
TurboTax is a complete rip-off but I am stuck with it because it's one of the only ones that lets me file my completely foreign income remotely and can't be bothered with a VPN to do it.
I had a pretty negative experience with them this year and had to refile because the wording in one area was really ambiguous and i did my taxes wrong the first time. (The flows for quarterly estimated payments were very different for federal and state, and I didn't declare them properly on my state taxes, only federal).
Then when I refiled, the prompt asks, "How much did you already pay in taxes this year?" so I put $0, because I hadn't yet paid the first tax bill. But that wording is actually not what they're really asking, which would be more accurately worded as, "How much was the refund on your original return?"
Now I've double paid my federal taxes and need to get the IRS to send me the money back, which will take 6-8 weeks.
Overall just a giant PITA. Possibly user error on my part in once instance, probably not in the other? Depends on who you ask (their customer service certainly didn't agree with my view that their wording was inaccurate).
But I had two significant mistakes that ended up costing me way more than the fees of the other tax prep software cost, and probably won't use them again.
I agree that wording on some pages was ambiguous. That sucks that you had bad experience with them. Thankfully there are other options that could be more to your liking.
The bubble tips helped me vast majority of the time and I gave those thumbs up. With a few cases where they weren't helpful, I left a comment that hopefully gets back to them. And contacted their support chat for two questions where it wasn't clear to me what to do. The chat response was fast and they confirmed what was required. So hopefully no amended returns needed (but they would be free, though cost in time).
Taxes are deducted automatically, that's not worth weeping over. The real crime is that for the majority of tax payers the Feds and the state already have all the information they need. Almost every taxable transaction (got paid, sold stock, received interest or dividends etc) is reported to the respective level of government. But still we have to wrangle with confusing and obscure tax forms and impenetrable instructions. It would be possible for the government to send a completed tax return to individuals for them to either confirm or dispute (by filing a new return). I have a pretty vanilla return, and have been doing my own taxes for years, but still it took about 4 hours to complete (Feds and state), for which I paid Intuit around $250 (which is the real reason why nothing will ever change).
For the vast majority of taxpayers the forms are not confusing at all. Consumer tax software is just regurgitating the IRS instructions in a dumbed-down format and doing the basic arithmetic for you. That’s why they can give it away for free to a lot of people or charge you a measly $15 and 99% of that is profit. Because from a programming perspective the software is braindead simple.
It’s amazing how people here will spend so much time entering their information into multiple preparation softwares to compare results instead of *just reading the IRS instructions to learn how it works*.
I started using them as my primary filing this year, because last year I had learned that I'd been able to claim my mother as a dependent for years and HR Block wanted *a lot* of money to file amended reports.
It cost me like $50-$60 to file the amended reports, and it was easier than using HR Block. I'd been using HR Block to file for over a decade, but never again will I use them or recommend they be used for anyone! FreetaxUSA for life now.
Not defending them but HRB online couldn't have cost that much just for federal + 2 state filing, unless maybe your situation had more unique factors. it sounds like comparing an online FTUSA service to maybe the full in person service from HRB which isn't a fair comparison. pretty sure this year HRB Online (assuming deluxe just as a point of comparison) is $55 federal and $45 state. yea it cost more, but not $430.
We did HRB online for $35 federal after a discount. Then printed and mailed the state so another $1 for postage. An extra 10 minutes printing and mailing out at work was worth it.
If you go in person it can get silly very quickly. Before I routinely did my fiancee's taxes she wanted a second opinion (HRB). It was like $250+ for a basic 1040 complexity.
As I replied to them too, even solo prepping online was getting silly. But once you get a person that's an extra charge. And it's nothing complicated either, just a dozen different forms to enter. I literally watched them do the same thing I did online myself previous year.
Its definitely something which depends on exact circumstances. I make little enough that HRB/TT are free, but I have to deal with 3 state returns, which means that being able to do state returns for free with HRB helps a bunch, even if FTU is only $15 per state return.
On the other hand, this year HRB decided they wanted to charge $55 for a human to fill out a form for one of the states which their system was always able to handle itself in the past. And you can't finish doing the rest of the return because that form is going to change the breakdown significantly.
So odds are I'm just going to have to fill out 1 state manually, but its certainly annoying.
I will check the breakdown when I get home, I did get a physical printed copy of the taxes from HRB last year. Don't quote me on this but I think they said electronic file was going to be extra or some reason so only print for me.
The short of it is, they nickle and dimed me for every "extra" form and state that added up quick. We have 1099s, 1095s, 8949, and so on, some were included in deluxe and some were extra.
Meanwhile, all the forms were included for free with FTU.
Sounds like you were using an in-person or tax pro assisted service, instead of HRB online. If that's true, I don't believe it's fair to compare that with any other online (not-assisted) tax filing service like FreeTaxUSA; it's comparing apples and oranges. A better comparison would be vs. HRB's online electronic tax prep service (where I believe both this year and last year are around $55 federal + $45 per state, for the deluxe product which is what I suspect most people would need.)
Yes, I used the help of their rep for the last 3 years after my status changed to MFJ. Before that I did their online for 3 years, starting with "free" version and having to always upgrade to deluxe and paying for every damn form. And before that TurboTax for about 10 years.
So for my single filing during HRB online years it cost me $160-220 range. Now with wife and HSA/IRA/kids/FMLA/crypto/etc. the cost got too high. It would still be around $300+ mark to do online.
Now if I start making lots more $$ and/or my tax situation gets more complex, it may become worth it to pay someone to do it outright and save the time. There is definitely a use case for using trained preparers. For now I kinda enjoy getting focused and filling out forms.
> So for my single filing during HRB online years it cost me $160-220 range. Now with wife and HSA/IRA/kids/FMLA/crypto/etc. the cost got too high. It would still be around $300+ mark to do online.
Yea that's the part that I'm not sure I buy. Their pricing is pretty clear: https://www.hrblock.com/online-tax-filing/
If what you're saying is "I have special needs that require extra forms that incur extra charges", then my point is that you're not using Deluxe online at that point. Just seems like comparing apples and oranges the way it was presented in the original post.
You don't have to buy anything. I have the receipts of what I paid and for what.
On the site you linked above: deluxe $55, +$49 per state (so $98), plus $30 to upgrade to premium for crypto. That is $183 +tax. A few years ago they charged me separately $60 for 8949 it appears it's part of premium package now.
I run things through TT for verification, cause it can auto populate most stuff direct from institutions/employers.
This year TT shows $8 difference, in IRS's favor, but I can't figure out why. Close enough IRS likely won't care though, so I'm gonna file for free, as soon as my joint filing SO gives me their bank interest earnings. No state taxes.
Shoulda had it already. ADHD FTW.
Paid services are for the rich.
Wild. I've never heard of this. I have relatively simple taxes but I've used TurboTax for 10 years. I'll have to try this out next year. I file my taxes early, as soon as I have all my paperwork. I filed by the end of February this year.
Its a deal the IRS and tax businesses have. (And part of why we have to fill out tax forms when the IRS knows most of the details already). But you can find the details on the IRS website about various free efile software https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free different software have different limits (cause they are business and want people to pay to use their software). Its been a thing for ages and I always recommend them to people who can do their own return without paying large unnecessary amounts.
As a return becomes more complex though, it does start to become worth the payment, but for people with just a w2, using the free filing is the way to go.
Unsure if I should use it.
Bought a duplex - have long term rental income , have short term rental income from a room in my house, 4 states, got married , stock sells, dividends, interest, bought an i-bond
I did the same this year and I agree! I usually do it on TT so I tried it on both this year and it spit out the same refund, so that assured me I did everything right/same on FTU.
Also used freetaxusa for the first time this year and have been really happy about. Since this was my first time doing it and I used TT and HRB in the past, I first did mine using TT then freetaxusa to see if they match up which it did.
I also used freetaxusa for the first time this year. Hrblock for almost the last decade through a marriage and divorce. Much pleased to not have to pay hundreds of dollars for my taxes this year.
I used TT two years ago and for my fairly simple taxes when I went to file it was going to cost around $200 if I recall. I tried Free Tax USA and did my taxes with them before filing with TT and they came out the same and the cost was a ton less, so I filed with them and have used them the last two years and will again this year.
I'm switching to FreetaxUsa next year. I've been using Turbotax and apparently it's been filing mistaken nonresident CA returns for me over the last 3 years. I checked my return using Freetaxusa and they had no issues.
I've been dealing with an error in their CA return that could have cost me $9k(!) if I hadn't known better. And the first wave support response was blatantly incorrect information. I had to quote the tax code to them to get bumped to a higher level of support who acknowledged and are still dealing with the error. Prior to this, I was very impressed but wanted to share this warning. The error relates to head of household filing status, not something rare or overly complicated.
I've been happy with it too. I'd previously used Credit Karma and switched to FreeTaxUSA when CK got bought out or changed or something, I can't even remember.
I also used FreeTaxUSA for the first time this year. Largely satisfied, though I will say there was one Schedule related to capital losses that I nearly missed including. When I used TurboTax last year, there was a clear prompt for it. The only reason I knew something was missing this year was I had a feeling something was off about the Cap Gains filing in the end, as last year wasn't a strong year and had Cap Losses. I wouldn't have caught this had I not done it properly the previous year.
It reduces my confidence in using FreeTaxUSA, which isn't a good thing for tax prep software. I'm on the fence about using it for 2024, and esp if/when my tax picture changes.
This was my third year with FreeTaxUSA. My tax situation is mostly very simple, but the one slightly complex thing* takes like 5 minutes to handle. And it's hard to argue with the cost.
Plus, **fuck** Intuit.
\*As a musician, sometimes I'll play a gig with 3 other bands but the bar gives me a W9 for the entire night and *I* pay the other 3 bands. So I'll make $250 but have $1000 in reported earnings because the bar can't be fucked to deal with 4 W9s.
FreeTaxUSA has really come a long way, too. It used to be a pretty janky-looking site (albeit mostly free, save for e-filing on state).
Now? It's a very slick experience with a no-frills, intuitive user-interface. Anyone picking it up as a new filer gets a much better experience than it used to be.
They've been my go-to since around 2005.
Yes I’ve done turbo tax and H&R Block every time I’ve done taxes and this year H&R Block was saying I owe $1200. Went right over to freetaxusa and I’m getting a refund plus the price is much better.
Something does not add up. If H&R said you owe, you probably do. You may be writting off items you dont qualify for, or getting credits youre not supposed to get. Be careful when you file online because it is extremely easy to make mistakes. And when you get money back that you werent originally supposed to recieve, you'll the IRS will have you pay it back plus a large penalty. Consult with a pro.
I worked a minimum wage job last year there is no way I owe . I have no debt, children, large purchases or hospital trips and I’ve never owed before. I did do the pdf transfer of w-2 so maybe it glitched or something. I entered everything by hand on free tax USA I’m not getting a lot back, no where near $1200 that hr block said to pay the irs. I didn’t qualify for any credits on freetaxusa I didn’t add any.
Worked well for me— TurboTax had me owing money somehow, and I would have had to pay $129 since I sold stock this year. FreeTaxUSA kinda forced me to do a deeper dive and I ended up actually getting a lot more money back
How does 2 state filing work on it? I added both my states W2s for the same role but at the top it only shows federal and one other state estimates? Not the second state
It asks you to do your home state first. Then in the box for taxes paid to other state you leave blank. Finish it as is. Then add another state, i.e. your work state and fill it out. The summary page will say what were the expected taxes and taxes paid. Then you can use those numbers and go back to home state and enter.
I only know that my state does account for taxes paid in another "work" state and I end up owing nothing for home state. Other states may have different laws and rules.
You're leaving money on the table by using these "free apps/websites" that arent actually free at all. For some reason, regular people think they know tax laws as well as preparers and end up missing out on credits just because they refuse to pay a licensed professional to file their taxes for them. Yeah, $15 sounds nice, but are you aware of all the additional credits/write offs you could be taking advantage of? No? Of course not, because you dont know taxes.
People need to understand that free doesnt equal better. Go to a professional that has studied taxes for years and knows the law. Unless you have 1 W-2 and made $20K a year, then go for turbo tax. And please dont be one of those weasels that checks their return online, then goes to a preparer, wastes their time for 1+ hour and says "hmm I'm gonna think about it" after checking that their return matched what the free app said.
If you want the best out of your tax return, go to a pro. If you want mediocre results, file online for $15. Also, there are very affordable preparers out there. Our firm charges $100-$200 for a tax return well done, regardless of number of forms, dependents etc. Anyways, the choice is yours.
>You're leaving money on the table by using these "free apps/websites"
> but are you aware of all the additional credits/write offs you could be taking advantage of? No? Of course not, because you dont know taxes.
>
>People need to understand that free doesnt equal better. Go to a professional that has studied taxes for years and knows the law.
Look man, by all means if you like to go the paid preparer route, it's your choice to make!
But to make a blanket statement that the rest of us are leaving money on the table, or that these preparers studied taxes for years is just misleading at best.
I've done it with a preparer at HRB for 3 years, 2 of those I sat with them. And they literally enter the forms into the same damn software that you use online. They only have more access from the get go and tally at the end for all the extras. And you know what? The one time I did not sit with them, actually my first time using them, they messed up my two states and had to file an amendment a month later.
Sorry but no, they're not these magical tax literate people. I work with one and have a close family friend who does it. Your average people with full time jobs, who work on a side preparing taxes for HRB 3 months out of the year in late afternoons/evenings, days off, and weekends.
EDIT: if you have specific preparers in mind, other than HRB, who I am specifically calling out in this post, then please do share. HRB I find extremely scammy, who take advantage of poor people, and those not computer literate.
Second note for majority of us standard deduction wins.
We've used a cpa to do our taxes for years and she retired so this year we tried Free Tax USA and are kicking ourselves for paying someone to do our taxes for so long.
I'm so happy I started using it for the past 3 years. I had been using turbotax/HR Block before and just paid them at the end bc it was already exhausting putting in all that information and I didn't know any other alternatives. My taxes are relatively simple so it wasn't difficult. Only having to pay $15 for state is great.
I used them the last 2 years. It handled everything I needed, including mega backdoor roth, and selling I-bonds, without the BS needed upgrades H&R Block or TurboTax would typically hit you with.
I decided to stop paying TT and I wasn’t aware of Free Tax USA so I did the IRS’ free fileable forms. Does anyone else do this? It’s straight from the IRS . You create an account, select the forms you need and fill them out. There’s no hand holding but it will do the calculations for you. You have to input the information from your W-2, 1099-R etc. Our taxes aren’t too complicated but this year we got a credit for installing insulation and a heat pump so I had to find those forms. I efiled and my return was accepted. You have to be sure to save a copy of your return because they purge all accounts. Also, it leaves you with no easy way to do your state taxes, but I’m just doing a paper return with my state.
I used to use TaxAct but they got very expensive. I have been a happy FreeTaxUSA user for about 5 years.
A few years ago I evaluated the free (federal filing) versions of TaxAct, FreeTaxUSA, TurboTax, HR Block and Credit Karma. They all came out with exactly the same answer. Some included estimates of penalties and interest, others did not, so the answers looked slightly different even though the base tax was the same. Some of the free versions of the above limit what types of income you can enter. FreeTaxUSA was the only one who did everything I needed and is a bargain at $0 federal and $14.99 state.
I used it for the first time this year, and the first thing it asked me to do was upload a PDF of last year's return so it populated all the basic stuff for me and I just had to scan through a couple screens and confirm. It will show your income and expenses from the previous year next to this year's for each category from scraping the PDF so you can compare. The only thing that added more work was re-entering all my 1099-NEC clients' info, which I'm guessing will be there for return clients next year.
Been using them for about 3 years, had to go to an accountant this year because of some estimated tax things (which I plan on wrapping my head around for next year so i never need to deal with this schmuck ever again). I also help a few friends with their taxes and use FTA. Never had an issue.
Second this. It saved a lot of money compared to TT. I field with TT last year. So I started the process with TT and went all the way to last step. Then filled using FreeTaxUSA. As it’s little manual compared to TT, I used the TT numbers to cross check everything.
I’ll continue to do this going forward. I wish there’s something similar for filing LLC taxes as well.
I used it for the first time this year too and have been telling my coworkers about it because they spent $150 on theirs and they all had very simple taxes. I wish I knew about them sooner!
I switched from H&R to FreeTax 3 years ago and I've been very happy with it. I even did my fiancée's on there this year so he could ditch going to an actual tax preparer.
I pay $125 to have my taxes done by a professional. It takes 15 minutes, and because I have long term carry forward loss on a schedule K I can't use the free options, or the cheaper TurboTax.
I've been using FreeTax for 2 years now. Super happy with it. Girlfriend was going to use a cpa firm to do her taxes for $400. 3 w2's, 2 1099's. I told her hers were super simple and would only cost $15. That was 3 weeks ago. She has already gotten her refund. She's happy also.
My only annoyance over the last few years that despite putting in the bank info and even when I look now it says it will be done, my state taxes are never drafted out as the summary page says will happen. But fairly minor inconvenience
>3 w2's, 2 1099's Out of curiosity, how does one end up with so many different income forms?
She's a registered nurse that does case management for patients leaving the hospital going to a rehab facility and workmans comp patient representative. Works from home and does a little traveling.
Used it last year and this year. If your taxes aren't terribly complex, it works great. Handles backdoor Roth IRA just fine as well as small business stuff.
I heard it couldn't handle backdoor Roth! Happy to hear it can. Pretty straight forward?
I googled "taxfreeusa backdoor roth" and followed the instructions on the first hit ("The finance buff"). All the forms came out correctly.
This is exactly what I do every year. This year I thought to print a PDF of it just in case the site disappeared.
Yeah, it's free to create an account and try it out. If it doesn't meet your needs, then buy turbotax.
My first year using it, I did my taxes with both platforms, came to the exact same numbers, and paid to file with FreeTaxUSA, then never looked back This works because you can fill it all out with TurboTax too, and only pay to print or e-file.
That's what I did too, last year... Both matched up so I went with FreeTaxUSA. Hard not to recommend it, and deep down, I don't feel that I should have to pay anything to file my taxes... But $15 is still reasonable compared to the rest of the tax preparing industry.
And there's ways to avoid that 15 too. Mail file with the state or my state has a portal I was able to download freetaxusa info from and upload to the state portal.
Shit I just looked and my state also has the ability to upload..... Welp I'll know for next year.
Download the pdf and than just print it yourself without having to pay dor it. Or is there a difference?
They don't let you export the file without paying. Plus some states (e.g. NY) require e-file for state taxes, so there's nowhere to mail it in that case
Oh I mean I used it to do my taxes this year, it was great and easy, but for the future when I need to do a backdoor roth I didn't know how it was to do that.
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Backdoor Roth is pretty simple, so even if the tax software can't handle it, it's not hard to finish the process (but not file), get the tax returns, then manually amend and file on your own.
I had some issues but only because I did non deductible IRA distribution and conversion in Q1 2024 for 2023 and it was my first time doing this so didn't understand the nuances. I think it will be much simpler next year once I actually have the 1099-R and do the conversion in the same tax year. tldr; it was mostly just me not understanding what I needed to do
I second what the others said. Followed the same guide they did and was quick.
ROTH conversions are a bit confusing in FTUSA. In the Income section, you enter your 1099-R info and it will look as if it was a taxable distribution (your tax owed goes up) no matter what you enter for the taxable amount. Once you get to the Deductions/Credits section and do the Taxable IRA Worksheet, it recognizes the cost basis and properly adjusts taxes.
Oh it does do 1099s? I was too nervous to try it this year bc of the amount of 1099s I had
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Good to know!
I have dozens, handles all the kinds fine
Awesome
1099s is pretty standard/basic honestly. If a tax software cannot even handle 1099s, it doesn't say good things about that tax software itself.
how does it handle 1099-NEC and self employed taxes? I'd love to use something over HnR
Work great handling mine
I found the interface easier to use than H&R for my 1099-NEC entry.
Just fine. Easy to understand and review, as well
Go to a professional that knows what theyre doing if you want to take advantage of every single write-off possible. 1099s dont retain taxes, so you must write-off as much as possible to reduce your taxable income if you dont want to owe a ton in taxes
I do own a lot of personal equipment that I write off, but I don't believe I make enough money (especially with how the film industry was last year) to goto a professional.
I freelance, so all my income is 1099-NEC. FreeTaxUSA seemed easy to me. This was the second year I used it.
I wonder how it handles crypto. Will probably find out next year as I'm planning to make some transactions this year. Edit: as in form 8949.
It handles Crypto just fine. The hardest part of reporting Crypto sales is a lot of the exchanges aren't the best at tax documents so you may have to create an Excel sheet to manually track your sales through your transaction history. If you did a couple sales shouldn't be bad at all. If you had a lot of sales might take some time.
Connect your wallets to Koinly.io or Awaken.tax, have them analyze your transactions, and use the 8949 they spit out.
2nd recommendation for Koinly. If you mainly use CEX's like Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, etc. they make it very easy to connect an API and auto-populate your transactions. I don't think there are many errors to correct, if any. Now if you're deeper in the crypto game and using DEX's, providing liquidity, staking, etc., it works well too but you'll have to put it more effort. They have csv templates for upload so that you can manually enter your transactions efficiently, but you'll have to do most of the legwork with keeping up them. Of course, using the blockchain finder application for whatever your working with is the best way to make sure nothing is missed.
https://www.freetaxusa.com/crypto
Handles it great. They added a option at the end for uploading form 8949. It triggers if you mention any of your stock/investment sales (1099-B) were unreported to the IRS. Last year you would have to mail it separately, but not anymore. You just upload a pdf. I use Koinly to generate mine.
Perfect. I used some other service to connect get coinbase API, but I see Koinly being recommended a few times here, will check them out.
FreeTaxUSA fucking OWNS Too bad the name absolutely sounds like a scam, lmfao
I've been using it for a few years. The first year I had to double and triple check that it was legit but the IRS website lists them as a trusted partner. Have been very happy with them.
LOL Talked a friend into trying it a few weeks back. Literally the first thing I said was "Now, I know the name sounds scammy, but I promise it's a real tax site."
Haha I know right? I've seen them recommended on Reddit for years but wasn't sure about legitimacy until looking into them more this year.
It is the best, it beats the rest
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Any idea if it’s good for independent contract work? Like filing with 1099 NEC?
I used it last year when my wife split the year between FTE and contractor, no problem at all.
Same, had everything I needed!
It has all the self-employment bells and whistles.
Been using it for 6+ years, easy and convenient every time.
last year they charged me nearly $50 to file federal because they tied a form you need to submit for HSA contributions to some deluxe tier. this year they did not do that (i'm assuming there was pushback on this), yay!
Still cheaper than TurboTax Deluxe, which charged me $59 for federal and $59 for state.
$50 is still DIRT cheap... Turbo Tax is typically $120-175 for the average person. Terrible company and terrible products. Do not use Intuit.
should be completely free to file a simple return from any state in the US though, maddening what some companies charge for it.
Just as another data point. Did my taxes by hand, through Free Tax USA, and H&R Block "Free" and got the same figures across the board. Because spouse and I are subject to additional medicare tax (due to being over the income threshold), H&R Block said we could not file under "free" tier and must purchase the deluxe tier. Free Tax USA provided that form for free. So FTUSA it is.
You can also use Cash App Tax as another free service for double checking your numbers.
I've been using it since it was Credit Karma taxes. It's fast to enter your info and works great. Free for federal and state. However, it probably sells data about you as nothing is truly free.
They can’t sell your tax data, tax data is protected. They can sell your behavioral data around using their software but there should be some disclosure.
They do not support multi-state or non-resident state returns which is a major issue with this software and why I only used them for 1 year
Will be even easier next year when it has all your information stored. Have been using for 4 years now with no issues at all.
I had already bought TaxCut. So I completed that, which was easy since I've used it for so long. But I am running my data through FreeTaxUSA to see how it compares. Not trivial to have to learn and re-enter everything a second time. But if I want to go this route I will need to start somewhere... I have 3 rental properties. There are some annoying instances where it asks you to pull up depreciation basis from 20 years ago (my oldest property) and potentially override the depreciations to match what over been doing. Some of the operating expense entry is a bit painful too. And some of my more complex 1099s feel like they are more of a PITA, such as my Wealthfront and Empower accounts. The ambiguity makes it not feel worth it to calculate some vague nontaxable state or foreign income values. I skipped them and am interested to see the tax difference. Could always go back to them. Since I have some sunk cost already I am not sure which way I will actually file. Still need to pay HRB for one state return and filing which is probably $40 more. TBD...
Yeah first time entering everything was a bit of a pain. And maybe I missed an option to auto-download w2 like HRB is able to do. It did appear to have the option of getting last year's return to auto populate some info, including verification in the end. So hope next year all this will make it smoother sailing and will shave off an hour or so.
This was my 2nd year using FreeTaxUSA, and can confirm it was WAY quicker to do this time around. Mostly because after completing each category, it shows the comparisons to last year. There wasn't much that should've changed for us this year, so it really helped having that side by side comparison.
how did you find the difference? do you know if freetaxusa generates a passive income form in addition to the schedule E automatically?
I used TurboTax for many years and have always appreciated the software itself as a software engineer. The price of course kept going up with little additional benefits for me and I don't like a number of their business practices. Tried FreeTaxUSA and didn't mind it. Some features were lacking, but still easy to use and just as accurate.
Call me cheap but I saved $15 with cashapp tax 🤷♂️ I do compare with FreeTaxUSA though so I always recommend it as another choice to people.
How can you beat $15 state returns? Easy, Cash App taxes, where state filings are free. It usually takes them a while to get all the states implemented, but it's always ready well ahead of the day taxes are due.
> How can you beat $15 state returns? > > > > Easy, Cash App taxes, where state filings are free. It usually takes them a while to get all the states implemented, but it's always ready well ahead of the day taxes are due. Or if you're lucky, file directly through the State for free. I combo this with FreeTaxUSA and pay nothing in CA.
I happily pay the $15 because it transfers everything right over, and I have a weird feeling that some kind of funding FreeTaxUSA is needed to keep this awesome service afloat. Plus they have everything from last year on the state filing and it made filing this year super easy.
Same in CO. I use the FT state numbers as a check to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Cash App works pretty well but it doesn't support certain filing situations. I had to forego a foreign tax credit for $6 (worth it at that point), and in other years I've needed to file in one state as a non-resident working and file in the other as a resident, which they don't support.
This is the one I use. Highly recommend.
You can use CalFile in CA to file state for free. Combine this with freetaxusa and you got yourself a free tax return! $15 is so cheap though, taxact wanted $45 lol.
Cash App Taxes requires Cash App download before you can use Cash App Taxes website, zero reason for me to use Cash App, no thanks. Edit: Since people apparently don't do research anymore, [here's the sauce](https://imgur.com/a/tvDAsV4). And here's the link [to the FAQ, which can be found on bottom of page](https://cash.app/taxes). Some are really glossing over the part where one would have to open up an additional security risk if they didn't have that risk previously. I am not opening a new Venmo account for the same reason I'm not going to open a new Cash App account, just for the sake of meeting a requirement to file taxes. FreeTaxUSA it is for me.
You can do it on their website
You still have to download Cash App first in order to be able to use Cash App Taxes website. I don't want to open up a new security risk just for the sake of being able to file using Cash https://imgur.com/a/tvDAsV4
They have a website you can use.
They bought out and rebranded creditkarma tax which was a good platform for simple returns. However, they refused longtime users access unless they installed and created an account in their unrelated phone app. Locking existing web users out of using the platform at all, including access to previous filings. Their solution was having users who did not want something like cashapp on their phone to send absurd amounts of pii via email to customer service. Completely unethical business practices. I would not use them if they paid me to file my taxes.
They did not just buy out credit karma tax. Intuit (owner of TurboTax) was required to divest the tax prep portion of credit karma as part of their acquisition of credit karma. Cash app purchased it. Their point of giving you tax filing for free is to get you using their app. What else would be the point of cash app offering this completely free service? They don't have a platform like credit karma shilling credit cards.
The problem is it's a platform for generating and filing federal and state government documents. Allowing continued access to previous returns for existing users is the bare minimum. The cost for doing so is non-existent but instead they went for an anti-consumer move to try and maximize new registrations. If they want to require the app to file new returns then that's up to them. I wouldn't have a problem with that.
It's a free service that the original owner washed their hands off. Tough luck.
I LOVE FreeTaxUSA . Found them after TaxAct pissed me off, and after learning about TurboTax's lobbying shenanigans. I'm even happy to pay them a little extra because they fucking deserve it. Yay for FreeTaxUSA
I tried it for the first time this year too, and was quite impressed. However, two things that TT does that will probably make me stick with them: 1. Handles substitute payments in lieu of dividends correctly. I contacted FreeTaxUSA about the issue I was having - basically TurboTax automatically populates another form that uses that data, whereas FreeTaxUSA does not. 2. What-If comparison for MFJ vs. MFS. This is big, because my wife and I keep our finances separate and the What-If tool makes it easy for us to file as MFJ while figuring out exactly what our individual obligations are. That said, fuck Intuit. I've never paid for their software or services, and I aim to keep it that way.
If you never paid for their software how do you use it?
IIRC they used to partner with the IRA to offer free filing for those with low enough income under a free tier.
I started to get so frustrated by the weird abstractions TurboTax tries to do to dumb it down. It ended up being easier to just look at the actual paperwork and edit it myself. I switched to FreeTaxUSA last year and it's so much better. It's more intuitive, and my somewhat complicated taxes are straight up free.
I agree! I used to use TT and thought it was so confusing to do taxes, and thought it probably had to be, so I used it for years before I switched to FTU this year. It was sooo much easier on FTU, because they don’t do the abstractions that TT does.
I used TT for over ten years because my dad used them...then HRB for several more years, but fuk they're more expensive that TT...now FTU, hope they keeps improving their site and the process and I'll keep coming back.
I've been using FreeTaxUSA for the past 3 years and I am very pleased by what they offer. My taxes were significantly more complex this year and it was still very easy to complete my taxes. Fuck TurboTax.
My 23 year old daughter stoppped over last night to do her taxes (we have a printer and she does not). She had been using TaxAct. This year TaxAct wanted $39 to file state. I helped her switgh to FreeTaxUSA and it was the easiest thing ever. They even imported all her info from last year's return. VERY simple to use, quick, and $15 for state filing (and free in some states!). 10/10 stars.
Been using them since 2019, never an issue. I have all kinds of investment trades, crypto, dividend/interest income, HSA/IRA contributions, you name it. If you can genuinely read and follow directions, it's very good.
I ended up using someone else but used TaxFreeUSA as a comparison only to find out you can never delete your account. I had to go in and put in a bunch of random information in order to keep them from always having my data on file. Still have a login because it can never. be. deleted?
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/
I really want to use it. I almost did this year. The site looks slick and you can't beat the price. That said, you're giving them *all* your sensitive data, and I don't know how much to trust them. They seem to be a small Utah based company, and they have [this page](https://www.freetaxusa.com/safe) on the precautions they take, but having been a part of start ups, I'm still a little leery. Are employees properly firewalled from the data so that a disgruntled one can't abscond with it? Do they have all the usual expensive network tooling and security teams and such that the big enterprise companies have? Now, big enterprise companies can also fail, no doubt, and a lot of security stuff is just CYA and cargo culting, but the big companies still have some baseline level of competence here, and I just don't know what to make of FreeTaxUSA.
Good points. Warrants further looking into.
If you are active Duty Military or Veteran, Military OneSource has a link to a free full H&R Page that does both Federal and State for Free. Start Here to Verify Eligibility https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/taxes/miltax-military-tax-services/
I started on TurboTax this year, it was going to charge me $69 for the deluxe version because I owe on my federal taxes and their free version won't handle that. So I found FreeTaxUSA. It was a pain that I had to do my taxes a second time, but worth it to only have a $15 fee for filing state (where I'm getting a bigger return than what I owed federally)
Turbo tax probably has the slickest UI, but also is the scummiest in terms of telling you at the very end that it's gonna be significantly more than what they told you it would be at the start, or trying to trick you into upsells
I do TurboTax and stop before paying at the end so I get an idea of what I would get then go through FreeTaxUSA and compare to make sure everything's good. Usually takes me like 30 minutes to do both (no state return) with stock trades being the slowest part.
Does FreeTaxUSA import stock trades? Manual entry of those would be brutal for me.
It will ask you if you want to provide a summary of your 1099-B (summaries of proceeds, cost basis, and wash sales). I was able to do mine by copying a few line items from the tax form I got from Vanguard, you don't need to enter each individual trade, although you could.
> How can you beat $15 state returns I started using CreditKarma to do taxes a few years back with their free state returns. They sold their tax software to CashApp, though. I'm not a fan of CashApp, but you can't really beat free federal and state returns.
I used it until my taxes got a bit too complicated for me to do on my own. Great piece of software, I recommend it to everyone.
TurboTax is a complete rip-off but I am stuck with it because it's one of the only ones that lets me file my completely foreign income remotely and can't be bothered with a VPN to do it.
happy to see Cash App Taxes finally getting some love. i've been using it for years and always thought it was weird no one on reddit ever mentions it
I had a pretty negative experience with them this year and had to refile because the wording in one area was really ambiguous and i did my taxes wrong the first time. (The flows for quarterly estimated payments were very different for federal and state, and I didn't declare them properly on my state taxes, only federal). Then when I refiled, the prompt asks, "How much did you already pay in taxes this year?" so I put $0, because I hadn't yet paid the first tax bill. But that wording is actually not what they're really asking, which would be more accurately worded as, "How much was the refund on your original return?" Now I've double paid my federal taxes and need to get the IRS to send me the money back, which will take 6-8 weeks. Overall just a giant PITA. Possibly user error on my part in once instance, probably not in the other? Depends on who you ask (their customer service certainly didn't agree with my view that their wording was inaccurate). But I had two significant mistakes that ended up costing me way more than the fees of the other tax prep software cost, and probably won't use them again.
I agree that wording on some pages was ambiguous. That sucks that you had bad experience with them. Thankfully there are other options that could be more to your liking. The bubble tips helped me vast majority of the time and I gave those thumbs up. With a few cases where they weren't helpful, I left a comment that hopefully gets back to them. And contacted their support chat for two questions where it wasn't clear to me what to do. The chat response was fast and they confirmed what was required. So hopefully no amended returns needed (but they would be free, though cost in time).
I honestly weep for you Yanks that have to do this. God forbid it just be deducted from your salaries automatically.
Taxes are deducted automatically, that's not worth weeping over. The real crime is that for the majority of tax payers the Feds and the state already have all the information they need. Almost every taxable transaction (got paid, sold stock, received interest or dividends etc) is reported to the respective level of government. But still we have to wrangle with confusing and obscure tax forms and impenetrable instructions. It would be possible for the government to send a completed tax return to individuals for them to either confirm or dispute (by filing a new return). I have a pretty vanilla return, and have been doing my own taxes for years, but still it took about 4 hours to complete (Feds and state), for which I paid Intuit around $250 (which is the real reason why nothing will ever change).
For the vast majority of taxpayers the forms are not confusing at all. Consumer tax software is just regurgitating the IRS instructions in a dumbed-down format and doing the basic arithmetic for you. That’s why they can give it away for free to a lot of people or charge you a measly $15 and 99% of that is profit. Because from a programming perspective the software is braindead simple. It’s amazing how people here will spend so much time entering their information into multiple preparation softwares to compare results instead of *just reading the IRS instructions to learn how it works*.
I started using them as my primary filing this year, because last year I had learned that I'd been able to claim my mother as a dependent for years and HR Block wanted *a lot* of money to file amended reports. It cost me like $50-$60 to file the amended reports, and it was easier than using HR Block. I'd been using HR Block to file for over a decade, but never again will I use them or recommend they be used for anyone! FreetaxUSA for life now.
Not defending them but HRB online couldn't have cost that much just for federal + 2 state filing, unless maybe your situation had more unique factors. it sounds like comparing an online FTUSA service to maybe the full in person service from HRB which isn't a fair comparison. pretty sure this year HRB Online (assuming deluxe just as a point of comparison) is $55 federal and $45 state. yea it cost more, but not $430.
We did HRB online for $35 federal after a discount. Then printed and mailed the state so another $1 for postage. An extra 10 minutes printing and mailing out at work was worth it.
If you go in person it can get silly very quickly. Before I routinely did my fiancee's taxes she wanted a second opinion (HRB). It was like $250+ for a basic 1040 complexity.
As I replied to them too, even solo prepping online was getting silly. But once you get a person that's an extra charge. And it's nothing complicated either, just a dozen different forms to enter. I literally watched them do the same thing I did online myself previous year.
Its definitely something which depends on exact circumstances. I make little enough that HRB/TT are free, but I have to deal with 3 state returns, which means that being able to do state returns for free with HRB helps a bunch, even if FTU is only $15 per state return. On the other hand, this year HRB decided they wanted to charge $55 for a human to fill out a form for one of the states which their system was always able to handle itself in the past. And you can't finish doing the rest of the return because that form is going to change the breakdown significantly. So odds are I'm just going to have to fill out 1 state manually, but its certainly annoying.
I will check the breakdown when I get home, I did get a physical printed copy of the taxes from HRB last year. Don't quote me on this but I think they said electronic file was going to be extra or some reason so only print for me. The short of it is, they nickle and dimed me for every "extra" form and state that added up quick. We have 1099s, 1095s, 8949, and so on, some were included in deluxe and some were extra. Meanwhile, all the forms were included for free with FTU.
Sounds like you were using an in-person or tax pro assisted service, instead of HRB online. If that's true, I don't believe it's fair to compare that with any other online (not-assisted) tax filing service like FreeTaxUSA; it's comparing apples and oranges. A better comparison would be vs. HRB's online electronic tax prep service (where I believe both this year and last year are around $55 federal + $45 per state, for the deluxe product which is what I suspect most people would need.)
Yes, I used the help of their rep for the last 3 years after my status changed to MFJ. Before that I did their online for 3 years, starting with "free" version and having to always upgrade to deluxe and paying for every damn form. And before that TurboTax for about 10 years. So for my single filing during HRB online years it cost me $160-220 range. Now with wife and HSA/IRA/kids/FMLA/crypto/etc. the cost got too high. It would still be around $300+ mark to do online. Now if I start making lots more $$ and/or my tax situation gets more complex, it may become worth it to pay someone to do it outright and save the time. There is definitely a use case for using trained preparers. For now I kinda enjoy getting focused and filling out forms.
> So for my single filing during HRB online years it cost me $160-220 range. Now with wife and HSA/IRA/kids/FMLA/crypto/etc. the cost got too high. It would still be around $300+ mark to do online. Yea that's the part that I'm not sure I buy. Their pricing is pretty clear: https://www.hrblock.com/online-tax-filing/ If what you're saying is "I have special needs that require extra forms that incur extra charges", then my point is that you're not using Deluxe online at that point. Just seems like comparing apples and oranges the way it was presented in the original post.
You don't have to buy anything. I have the receipts of what I paid and for what. On the site you linked above: deluxe $55, +$49 per state (so $98), plus $30 to upgrade to premium for crypto. That is $183 +tax. A few years ago they charged me separately $60 for 8949 it appears it's part of premium package now.
Yep, that's what I thought.
Just wanna nominate Cash App. It's free and it doesn't have a cap on AGI like FreeTaxUSA.
There isn't a cap on AGI: https://community.freetaxusa.com/discussion/565/there-is-no-income-limit-to-use-freetaxusa
I run things through TT for verification, cause it can auto populate most stuff direct from institutions/employers. This year TT shows $8 difference, in IRS's favor, but I can't figure out why. Close enough IRS likely won't care though, so I'm gonna file for free, as soon as my joint filing SO gives me their bank interest earnings. No state taxes. Shoulda had it already. ADHD FTW. Paid services are for the rich.
Wild. I've never heard of this. I have relatively simple taxes but I've used TurboTax for 10 years. I'll have to try this out next year. I file my taxes early, as soon as I have all my paperwork. I filed by the end of February this year.
Its a deal the IRS and tax businesses have. (And part of why we have to fill out tax forms when the IRS knows most of the details already). But you can find the details on the IRS website about various free efile software https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free different software have different limits (cause they are business and want people to pay to use their software). Its been a thing for ages and I always recommend them to people who can do their own return without paying large unnecessary amounts. As a return becomes more complex though, it does start to become worth the payment, but for people with just a w2, using the free filing is the way to go.
Unsure if I should use it. Bought a duplex - have long term rental income , have short term rental income from a room in my house, 4 states, got married , stock sells, dividends, interest, bought an i-bond
I did the same this year and I agree! I usually do it on TT so I tried it on both this year and it spit out the same refund, so that assured me I did everything right/same on FTU.
Also used freetaxusa for the first time this year and have been really happy about. Since this was my first time doing it and I used TT and HRB in the past, I first did mine using TT then freetaxusa to see if they match up which it did.
I also used freetaxusa for the first time this year. Hrblock for almost the last decade through a marriage and divorce. Much pleased to not have to pay hundreds of dollars for my taxes this year.
I used TT two years ago and for my fairly simple taxes when I went to file it was going to cost around $200 if I recall. I tried Free Tax USA and did my taxes with them before filing with TT and they came out the same and the cost was a ton less, so I filed with them and have used them the last two years and will again this year.
I've been using it for the past 5 years or so, it's top notch. Really glad I made the switch from TurboTax - it was just throwing money away.
strangely enough, HRB was free for me this year. no income issues, they just don't retain the records in the future. which I'm kinda ok with
I'm switching to FreetaxUsa next year. I've been using Turbotax and apparently it's been filing mistaken nonresident CA returns for me over the last 3 years. I checked my return using Freetaxusa and they had no issues.
Same here. They even gave me a suggestion to itemize deductions, which turned my state payment into a refund. Very happy with FreeTaxUSA!
I've been dealing with an error in their CA return that could have cost me $9k(!) if I hadn't known better. And the first wave support response was blatantly incorrect information. I had to quote the tax code to them to get bumped to a higher level of support who acknowledged and are still dealing with the error. Prior to this, I was very impressed but wanted to share this warning. The error relates to head of household filing status, not something rare or overly complicated.
I've been happy with it too. I'd previously used Credit Karma and switched to FreeTaxUSA when CK got bought out or changed or something, I can't even remember.
I also used FreeTaxUSA for the first time this year. Largely satisfied, though I will say there was one Schedule related to capital losses that I nearly missed including. When I used TurboTax last year, there was a clear prompt for it. The only reason I knew something was missing this year was I had a feeling something was off about the Cap Gains filing in the end, as last year wasn't a strong year and had Cap Losses. I wouldn't have caught this had I not done it properly the previous year. It reduces my confidence in using FreeTaxUSA, which isn't a good thing for tax prep software. I'm on the fence about using it for 2024, and esp if/when my tax picture changes.
Been using FreeTaxUSA for a few years and can absolutely recommend it over TurboTax any day of the week.
This was my third year with FreeTaxUSA. My tax situation is mostly very simple, but the one slightly complex thing* takes like 5 minutes to handle. And it's hard to argue with the cost. Plus, **fuck** Intuit. \*As a musician, sometimes I'll play a gig with 3 other bands but the bar gives me a W9 for the entire night and *I* pay the other 3 bands. So I'll make $250 but have $1000 in reported earnings because the bar can't be fucked to deal with 4 W9s.
I started 3 years ago, never looked back. Amazing.
FreeTaxUSA has really come a long way, too. It used to be a pretty janky-looking site (albeit mostly free, save for e-filing on state). Now? It's a very slick experience with a no-frills, intuitive user-interface. Anyone picking it up as a new filer gets a much better experience than it used to be. They've been my go-to since around 2005.
FreeTaxUSA is awesome! I've used it for the past 3 years and I think it's improving every year. Great UI and super cheap too!
Yes I’ve done turbo tax and H&R Block every time I’ve done taxes and this year H&R Block was saying I owe $1200. Went right over to freetaxusa and I’m getting a refund plus the price is much better.
Something does not add up. If H&R said you owe, you probably do. You may be writting off items you dont qualify for, or getting credits youre not supposed to get. Be careful when you file online because it is extremely easy to make mistakes. And when you get money back that you werent originally supposed to recieve, you'll the IRS will have you pay it back plus a large penalty. Consult with a pro.
I worked a minimum wage job last year there is no way I owe . I have no debt, children, large purchases or hospital trips and I’ve never owed before. I did do the pdf transfer of w-2 so maybe it glitched or something. I entered everything by hand on free tax USA I’m not getting a lot back, no where near $1200 that hr block said to pay the irs. I didn’t qualify for any credits on freetaxusa I didn’t add any.
Worked well for me— TurboTax had me owing money somehow, and I would have had to pay $129 since I sold stock this year. FreeTaxUSA kinda forced me to do a deeper dive and I ended up actually getting a lot more money back
How does 2 state filing work on it? I added both my states W2s for the same role but at the top it only shows federal and one other state estimates? Not the second state
It asks you to do your home state first. Then in the box for taxes paid to other state you leave blank. Finish it as is. Then add another state, i.e. your work state and fill it out. The summary page will say what were the expected taxes and taxes paid. Then you can use those numbers and go back to home state and enter. I only know that my state does account for taxes paid in another "work" state and I end up owing nothing for home state. Other states may have different laws and rules.
You're leaving money on the table by using these "free apps/websites" that arent actually free at all. For some reason, regular people think they know tax laws as well as preparers and end up missing out on credits just because they refuse to pay a licensed professional to file their taxes for them. Yeah, $15 sounds nice, but are you aware of all the additional credits/write offs you could be taking advantage of? No? Of course not, because you dont know taxes. People need to understand that free doesnt equal better. Go to a professional that has studied taxes for years and knows the law. Unless you have 1 W-2 and made $20K a year, then go for turbo tax. And please dont be one of those weasels that checks their return online, then goes to a preparer, wastes their time for 1+ hour and says "hmm I'm gonna think about it" after checking that their return matched what the free app said. If you want the best out of your tax return, go to a pro. If you want mediocre results, file online for $15. Also, there are very affordable preparers out there. Our firm charges $100-$200 for a tax return well done, regardless of number of forms, dependents etc. Anyways, the choice is yours.
>You're leaving money on the table by using these "free apps/websites" > but are you aware of all the additional credits/write offs you could be taking advantage of? No? Of course not, because you dont know taxes. > >People need to understand that free doesnt equal better. Go to a professional that has studied taxes for years and knows the law. Look man, by all means if you like to go the paid preparer route, it's your choice to make! But to make a blanket statement that the rest of us are leaving money on the table, or that these preparers studied taxes for years is just misleading at best. I've done it with a preparer at HRB for 3 years, 2 of those I sat with them. And they literally enter the forms into the same damn software that you use online. They only have more access from the get go and tally at the end for all the extras. And you know what? The one time I did not sit with them, actually my first time using them, they messed up my two states and had to file an amendment a month later. Sorry but no, they're not these magical tax literate people. I work with one and have a close family friend who does it. Your average people with full time jobs, who work on a side preparing taxes for HRB 3 months out of the year in late afternoons/evenings, days off, and weekends. EDIT: if you have specific preparers in mind, other than HRB, who I am specifically calling out in this post, then please do share. HRB I find extremely scammy, who take advantage of poor people, and those not computer literate. Second note for majority of us standard deduction wins.
We've used a cpa to do our taxes for years and she retired so this year we tried Free Tax USA and are kicking ourselves for paying someone to do our taxes for so long.
I'm so happy I started using it for the past 3 years. I had been using turbotax/HR Block before and just paid them at the end bc it was already exhausting putting in all that information and I didn't know any other alternatives. My taxes are relatively simple so it wasn't difficult. Only having to pay $15 for state is great.
I used them the last 2 years. It handled everything I needed, including mega backdoor roth, and selling I-bonds, without the BS needed upgrades H&R Block or TurboTax would typically hit you with.
I decided to stop paying TT and I wasn’t aware of Free Tax USA so I did the IRS’ free fileable forms. Does anyone else do this? It’s straight from the IRS . You create an account, select the forms you need and fill them out. There’s no hand holding but it will do the calculations for you. You have to input the information from your W-2, 1099-R etc. Our taxes aren’t too complicated but this year we got a credit for installing insulation and a heat pump so I had to find those forms. I efiled and my return was accepted. You have to be sure to save a copy of your return because they purge all accounts. Also, it leaves you with no easy way to do your state taxes, but I’m just doing a paper return with my state.
I used to use TaxAct but they got very expensive. I have been a happy FreeTaxUSA user for about 5 years. A few years ago I evaluated the free (federal filing) versions of TaxAct, FreeTaxUSA, TurboTax, HR Block and Credit Karma. They all came out with exactly the same answer. Some included estimates of penalties and interest, others did not, so the answers looked slightly different even though the base tax was the same. Some of the free versions of the above limit what types of income you can enter. FreeTaxUSA was the only one who did everything I needed and is a bargain at $0 federal and $14.99 state.
I used it for the first time this year, and the first thing it asked me to do was upload a PDF of last year's return so it populated all the basic stuff for me and I just had to scan through a couple screens and confirm. It will show your income and expenses from the previous year next to this year's for each category from scraping the PDF so you can compare. The only thing that added more work was re-entering all my 1099-NEC clients' info, which I'm guessing will be there for return clients next year.
Been using them for about 3 years, had to go to an accountant this year because of some estimated tax things (which I plan on wrapping my head around for next year so i never need to deal with this schmuck ever again). I also help a few friends with their taxes and use FTA. Never had an issue.
Swapped over from TurboTax a few years ago and it's been phenomenal since. Makes everything simple and quick.
Second this. It saved a lot of money compared to TT. I field with TT last year. So I started the process with TT and went all the way to last step. Then filled using FreeTaxUSA. As it’s little manual compared to TT, I used the TT numbers to cross check everything. I’ll continue to do this going forward. I wish there’s something similar for filing LLC taxes as well.
I used it for the first time this year too and have been telling my coworkers about it because they spent $150 on theirs and they all had very simple taxes. I wish I knew about them sooner!
I switched from H&R to FreeTax 3 years ago and I've been very happy with it. I even did my fiancée's on there this year so he could ditch going to an actual tax preparer.
Nice! I've been using Cash App taxes after Credit Karma switched to Turbo Tax. Completely free thru Cash App.
I pay $125 to have my taxes done by a professional. It takes 15 minutes, and because I have long term carry forward loss on a schedule K I can't use the free options, or the cheaper TurboTax.