It's already the same thing on at least HRBlock website for many years - federal is free, state is a fee, and some extra stuff they sell.
FreeTaxUSA
41–50 of 122 posts
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#42State is $14.99 but each year I find a coupon online for a couple dollars off. Using them for years almost no complaints except for a couple UI tweaks that are relatively minor. Great interface overall.
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#43This provides exactly the same service as every $150+ overpriced tax filing product you've ever paid (ie been scammed) for. Highly recommend. Hopefully the new IRS software will make even this obsolete.
Can you put in your logins for all your brokerages and investment accounts and it pulls in the tax data automatically? This is hugely important for me since I make a bunch of trades (not enough to be a day trader, but enough to be annoying for tax purposes).
Nope. It doesn't integrate with any banks, payroll systems, or do any tax form parsing.
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#44I used to use TurboTax Free Edition, constantly frustrated with all the dark patterns used to try to trick you into switching to non-free. Eventually I started making too much to use Free Edition, which is right around the time Credit Karma started offering free tax filing, but I hated CK's UI/UX. It made it easy to miss a deduction, and it did once. I used TT to basically "prepare" my taxes, but not actually file so…
California let's you file state taxes for free through the state: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/inde...
Yeah, but for almost everyone on this forum who makes enough to even file taxes, the time that would be spent re-entering everything is probably more valuable than the $15 charge.
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#45I used to use TurboTax Free Edition, constantly frustrated with all the dark patterns used to try to trick you into switching to non-free. Eventually I started making too much to use Free Edition, which is right around the time Credit Karma started offering free tax filing, but I hated CK's UI/UX. It made it easy to miss a deduction, and it did once. I used TT to basically "prepare" my taxes, but not actually file so…
California let's you file state taxes for free through the state: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/inde...
There are some limitations so those with higher incomes or more complex tax situations are unable to use this option: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/calf...
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#46These guys are the punchline of the joke that is the 'Intuit lobbies the federal government to make taxes hard' narrative. Free for most people, super cheap for everyone else, and the process is a breeze. It is a direct improvement on all axes compared to mainstream tax software for like 95% of the population.
It's not just a narrative, it was a discrete reality for years and years. Intuit stopped actively lobbying the federal government relatively recently. They did this for a few reasons, not just the smoke and bad PR it was getting them, but also because you can't grow a market that you have essentially captured.
Source: my company got acquired by intu and their new CEO was very and frequently open about their past bad behavior and how it was no longer relevant in today's market.
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#47The first time I used Freetaxusa, I also filled out TurboTax as usual, and found that with TurboTax I made a mistake that would have cost me well over a thousand dollars in overpayment. I then realized that I had made the same mistake the previous year with TurboTax, so I filed an amended return and was able to get back well over a thousand dollars. Thanks Freetaxusa!
The mistake was user error in entering a backdoor Roth IRA contribution. Freetaxusa makes it easy to enter correctly, and turbotax makes it easy to screw up.
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#48I switched and they saved me a ton of money. Easy to use and doesn’t support a company absent of morals
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#49Anyone know of a Canadian equivalent?
SimpleTax, got bought by WealthSimple a year or two ago, but its still good.
Re: FreeTaxUSA
#50Honest question: Why don't more people (especially high earners) go with a CPA firm to take care of their taxes? With the amount of money involved, and the potential legal trouble for getting it wrong, the cost/benefit calculation seems to strongly favor hiring a professional to guide you.