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I filed 2022 taxes with FreeTaxUSA. Pricing was very reasonable ($15 total for fed and state combined). The interface was better than I expected for such a lo

I filed 2022 taxes with FreeTaxUSA. Pricing was very reasonable ($15 total for fed and state combined). The interface was better than I expected for such a low cost service. Prior to FreeTaxUSA, I used TaxSlayer, H&R Block, and Intuit. Intuit does surprise me by charging roughly the same as a CPA firm but for a "do it yourself" service.

lockhouse 3y ago
What CPA charges TurboTax prices? I'm talking "standard" TurboTax, not with all the ridiculous upsells that you don't need. I agree with everyone that it should be a completely unnecessary product, but I don't feel that it is excessively expensive for what it does.
- Beached 3y ago
  not sure what TurboTax charges, but I pay $70 for fed , state, and local prep and filing.
- teruakohatu 3y ago
  lockhouse, If you want your account deleted, please email the HN admins rather than posting the same comment over and over. The email address is at the bottom of every page.
  - lockhouse 3y ago
    Thanks, done! I still think it's wrong that HN needs my email address to delete accounts and comments, but yes I finally broke down and did this their way. I'll miss the good parts of this community, but the selective moderation and toxic flag-or-downvote-truths-i-dont-like-instead-of-discuss-them parts of the community have ruined this site for me.
hamandcheese 3y ago
> FreeTaxUSA > $15 total Sounds like a scam to me.
- teraflop 3y ago
  FreeTaxUSA is free for federal tax returns, and the $15 charge for state taxes is displayed right on the home page.
- jaktet 3y ago
  In WA it’s free because no state taxes. You can pay money for consulting or for being sent a printed or more expensive binded copy of your return. I’ve used it for 5 years now maybe. So I feel comfortable knowing they have a revenue stream and when I did my due diligence when I started using them a while ago. I should probably figure out how to get notified if they get acquired or something though.
- boredpeter 3y ago
  The real scam is TurboTax charging over $100 for software that has a fixed yearly cost for development and a negligible cost for distribution and is used by millions.
  - delecti 3y ago
    Just wait until you find about digital media distribution.
- kghe3X 3y ago
  Well, it's not.
- lost_tourist 3y ago
  you'd be wrong. I've used it for 3 years in a row with zero issues.
notyourwork 3y ago
Last year was first year using FreeTaxUSA.
delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
You have to pay... to file your taxes? Just American things, I suppose...
- jmugan 3y ago
  Not only do you pay, you pay taxes on paying (sales tax).
- sli 3y ago
  No, they paid a service to do some of the more fiddly work for them. I use the same service, but for just federal, and they are upfront about state filings costing $15 rather than surprising you at the end like Intuit/TurboTax.
- wil421 3y ago
  No you pay to prepare your taxes. Inuit and a CPA have more thorough questions for more complicated tax situations. Nothing stops you from using the paper form and sending it through the mail.
  - Lionga 3y ago
    You guys can not just fill out online forms from the gov. to submit taxes? And I thought Germany was bad because it was online but about 5 to 10 pages and then wait 2 months for the agency to check. Happy I live in Romania now where it is basically 1 form with between 1 (company/cap gains) and 5 (lots of extra income) lines to fill out (and 80% of people don't need to fill anything), submit and get your owed taxes in about 5 minutes.
    - ndriscoll 3y ago
      We can fill out online forms for free. I do it every year. The service is on the sketchy looking freefilefillableforms.com For most people just getting paid by an employer, they'd just need to fill out one short form. For more complicated situations, that site has the other forms you need, and some of them are set up to auto-calculate values across forms.
- 3y ago
ThatPlayer 3y ago
I've only done my taxes with FreeTaxUSA, but I think I'll have to pay up for TaxSlayer for this year's taxes because FreeTaxUSA don't support a specific state form I need to file to save me money (Annualized income installment method for calculating estimated taxes). I did message FreeTaxUSA about supporting that about 2 years ago because I knew I was going to need it at some point.
- racecar789 3y ago
  That's too bad. State tax return forms are the worst. A lot of states don't have the resources to fine-tune their form design, and the instructions are often poorly written.
itake 3y ago
Do they support importing brokerage statements yet?

lockhouse 3y ago

What CPA charges TurboTax prices? I'm talking "standard" TurboTax, not with all the ridiculous upsells that you don't need. I agree with everyone that it should be a completely unnecessary product, but I don't feel that it is excessively expensive for what it does.

Beached 3y ago
not sure what TurboTax charges, but I pay $70 for fed , state, and local prep and filing.
teruakohatu 3y ago
lockhouse, If you want your account deleted, please email the HN admins rather than posting the same comment over and over. The email address is at the bottom of every page.
- lockhouse 3y ago
  Thanks, done! I still think it's wrong that HN needs my email address to delete accounts and comments, but yes I finally broke down and did this their way. I'll miss the good parts of this community, but the selective moderation and toxic flag-or-downvote-truths-i-dont-like-instead-of-discuss-them parts of the community have ruined this site for me.

hamandcheese 3y ago

> FreeTaxUSA > $15 total Sounds like a scam to me.

teraflop 3y ago
FreeTaxUSA is free for federal tax returns, and the $15 charge for state taxes is displayed right on the home page.
jaktet 3y ago
In WA it’s free because no state taxes. You can pay money for consulting or for being sent a printed or more expensive binded copy of your return. I’ve used it for 5 years now maybe. So I feel comfortable knowing they have a revenue stream and when I did my due diligence when I started using them a while ago. I should probably figure out how to get notified if they get acquired or something though.
boredpeter 3y ago
The real scam is TurboTax charging over $100 for software that has a fixed yearly cost for development and a negligible cost for distribution and is used by millions.
- delecti 3y ago
  Just wait until you find about digital media distribution.
kghe3X 3y ago
Well, it's not.
lost_tourist 3y ago
you'd be wrong. I've used it for 3 years in a row with zero issues.

notyourwork 3y ago

Last year was first year using FreeTaxUSA.

delta_p_delta_x 3y ago

You have to pay... to file your taxes? Just American things, I suppose...

jmugan 3y ago
Not only do you pay, you pay taxes on paying (sales tax).
sli 3y ago
No, they paid a service to do some of the more fiddly work for them. I use the same service, but for just federal, and they are upfront about state filings costing $15 rather than surprising you at the end like Intuit/TurboTax.
wil421 3y ago
No you pay to prepare your taxes. Inuit and a CPA have more thorough questions for more complicated tax situations. Nothing stops you from using the paper form and sending it through the mail.
- Lionga 3y ago
  You guys can not just fill out online forms from the gov. to submit taxes? And I thought Germany was bad because it was online but about 5 to 10 pages and then wait 2 months for the agency to check. Happy I live in Romania now where it is basically 1 form with between 1 (company/cap gains) and 5 (lots of extra income) lines to fill out (and 80% of people don't need to fill anything), submit and get your owed taxes in about 5 minutes.
  - ndriscoll 3y ago
    We can fill out online forms for free. I do it every year. The service is on the sketchy looking freefilefillableforms.com For most people just getting paid by an employer, they'd just need to fill out one short form. For more complicated situations, that site has the other forms you need, and some of them are set up to auto-calculate values across forms.
3y ago

ThatPlayer 3y ago

I've only done my taxes with FreeTaxUSA, but I think I'll have to pay up for TaxSlayer for this year's taxes because FreeTaxUSA don't support a specific state form I need to file to save me money (Annualized income installment method for calculating estimated taxes). I did message FreeTaxUSA about supporting that about 2 years ago because I knew I was going to need it at some point.

racecar789 3y ago
That's too bad. State tax return forms are the worst. A lot of states don't have the resources to fine-tune their form design, and the instructions are often poorly written.

itake 3y ago

Do they support importing brokerage statements yet?