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FreeTaxUSA
- c_s_guy 3y agoAnyone know of a Canadian equivalent?
- vanjoe 3y agoSimpleTax, got bought by WealthSimple a year or two ago, but its still good.
- gimbalpirate 3y agoThis 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.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- gregw2 3y agoI am not sure how to evaluate security of my data across Saas tax web apps, but I am warier of smaller scrapier players on that front having worked at startups. Their website is not reassuring to a web/database developer like myself who is aware of some of the loopholes, threats (insiders, developers) and protection options (separating db admin from masking admin, etc). They do/claim the very basics and that's about it. I do appreciate their claim to not resell access to mydata at all. I have no confidence with Intuit when I have repeatedly evaluated their language/claims on that topic.
- huytersd 3y agoCan 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).
- carabiner 3y agoNope. It doesn't integrate with any banks, payroll systems, or do any tax form parsing.
- huytersd 3y agoUseless for me then. With TT, I’m usually done with my (relatively complex) taxes in 10 mins. It would take many hours without auto imports.
- quickthrowman 3y agoNo, but you can enter a few numbers off your 1099-B and mail your trade history to the IRS. It took me about 30 minutes to enter a W-2, a few 1099-INTs, and 3 brokerage statements (plus 1099-DIV, futures, and 1256 contracts). Super simple and quick.
- huytersd 3y agoThat’s too complicated and not immediate enough. Manual entering? Printing out and making a packet of trade histories for all my accounts, figuring out what address to send it to, manually going to the post office, waiting for confirmation of receipt weeks down the line, extra scrutiny because an agent has to manually review your paper copies etc. Yeah no thanks, that’s the opposite of super quick and simple. Super quick and simple is entering a couple of logins and clicking next and being done with federal and state taxes in 10 mins. This is why you can’t take reviews of contentious software at face value. People are so sick of TurboTax (I am too) and their lobbying shenanigans that they will give glowing reviews to deficient competitors.
- quickthrowman 3y agoOk, you can go pay TurboTax $200 or whatever then. You have to enter in like 3 numbers, total $ bot/total $ sold/$ of wash trades. I’ll spend 30 minutes, $15 dollars, and my office’s mailroom to send one single 9x13 envelope once a year. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
- codefeenix 3y ago[flagged]
- thejarren 3y agoFrom the HN guidelines: Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes. Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.
- jytechdevops 3y agogreat and cheap product, I remember using this when I realized I was paying so much for H&R. I don't remember the exact amount but I remember being shocked at seeing how cheap it was (low 2 digits if I recall). pretty easy to use as well. highly recommend for anyone who has just a couple of w2s and maybe a trading account or two.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- driscoll42 3y agoBest way to file taxes. I'll usually do this and one or two of the more expensive services just to make sure my numbers line up, and then file with FreeTaxUSA.
- Alupis 3y agoI did that my first two years - H&R Block for me. The numbers came out identical.
- nahtnam 3y agoCan you import from Robinhood/Apex/etc yet?
- ceejayoz 3y agoDo you need to? Robinhood gives me a year end summary with short/long term gain/loss totals I can readily plug in.
- mjamesaustin 3y agoI wish they shared more info about what the deluxe version includes. I have a small business with very simple operations, but that often precludes me from using other tax filing software. They don't seem to have any info on whether they cover that in any of their versions.
- Sohcahtoa82 3y agoDeluxe just adds more support features. As far as filing and forms, FreeTaxUSA supports EVERYTHING for federal taxes, for free. The $8 deluxe upgrade just gives you live chat and priority support. Pro gives you personal phone support to a tax pro.
- teraflop 3y agoNot quite everything, there's a (short) list of unsupported forms here: https://www.freetaxusa.com/forms-federal https://www.freetaxusa.com/forms-federal I found this out one year because they don't fully support Form 8283, which I needed in order to handle a deduction of a cryptocurrency donation to charity. But apart from that, they've been great. And your main point is correct in that they don't upcharge for any of their supported forms.
- Alupis 3y agoDeluxe gets you live chat if you need it. Pro gives you phone support. That's basically it. The free version gives you everything else. For small/individual biz, you can file Schedule C, K-1, etc with free version.
- Sohcahtoa82 3y agoI 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 I don't get charged, then prepared with CK and found a discrepancy. I was able to find and fix it and get my full refund. But then some years ago, someone recommended FreeTaxUSA, and it's great. UI/UX is fine, federal filing is free, and state filing is only $15. I've been using FreeTaxUSA for a few years now. 10/10 would recommend.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago> Credit Karma started offering free tax filing This seems much like an "illusion of choice" situation. Credit Karma and Turbo Tax are both owned by Intuit. (Not that you were fooled by the illusion, just that it stuck out to me.)
- nearting 3y agoCredit Karma spun their tax service off to Cash App. So Intuit doesn't own both.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- micromacrofoot 3y agoCredit Karma had to sell their tax filing offering to complete the sale, so Intuit doesn't own it: https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN285275/ https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN285275/
- sand500 3y agoCalifornia let's you file state taxes for free through the state: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/index.asp https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/inde...
- wifipunk 3y agoI've used turbotax for the last decade. They lure you in with free services for enlisted military or other discounts, then make it feel as annoying as possible to switch. Realizing how much I've been ripped off now I think this is the year I'm finally going to switch.
- 7thaccount 3y agoNot just that you're ripped off, but they heavily lobby to keep taxes as frustrating as possible so their existence isn't irrelevant. I hate hearing about late stage capitalism, but this is essentially that.
- bombcar 3y agoThe increase of the standard deduction has eliminated the real "need" for TurboTax for so many people that may not even realize it. Many, many people no longer need to claim the mortgage deduction and so no longer need to itemize.
- Animats 3y agoIs this Intuit's racket to divert people from the IRS site?
- ceejayoz 3y agoNo, this is a competitor with far fewer dark patterns. I’ve used them happily the last three years.
- sand500 3y agoCash app let's you file both federal and state taxes for free. It was formally Credit Karma's free tax filing program that was divested after they were acquired by Intuit.
- pie_flavor 3y agoThese 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.
- parl_match 3y agoIt'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.
- gumby 3y ago> CEO was very and frequently open about their past bad behavior and how it was no longer relevant in today's market. Sounds like: Not “open about how the past bad behavior was bad and regretted and not how business should proceed going forwards.” But “open about how bad behavior was useful until it succeeded utterly and thus other bad behavior could be useful in future and would be welcomed.” Sounds like the Intuit we all know!
- parl_match 3y agoThat is the subtext, yup. They bought us at the height of the pandemic, and I did not leave for another year or so (due to societal instability). They seemed fine to work for but the writing was on the wall.
- Kluggy 3y agoso they're going to just allow their captured market to evaporate and disappear because it can't grow anymore? That makes so little sense to me
- WarOnPrivacy 3y agoA great company. I've used them for years for my self employment taxes. My kids all use them. FreeTax is the Kagi of tax prep.
- bombcar 3y agoWeird, it wasn't working in Safari a few days ago - or chrome. Had to login via Firefox. Now it's working in Safari again. Seems performant and usable, can't really say TurboTax did much more except be flashy. And now that they closed the sharing loophole, I guess it's time to try a switch. I might even file state with these guys, usually I would print and mail.
- pushedx 3y agoUsed FreeTaxUSA for the first time last year and the 1099-B related stuff was even easier than TurboTax. I saved about $120 as well. So glad to be done with TurboTax
- strongpigeon 3y agoBeen using them for 3 years now with moderately complex taxes (1099 of many kinds, rental property, pass-through LLC) and I’ve been pretty happy.
- steviedotboston 3y agoI've been using them for a while now. Federal return is free and state return is like 20 bucks or something.
- JohnMakin 3y agoIt'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.
- jmharvey 3y agoI've used TurboTax, H&R Block, and TaxAct software in the past, before switching to freetaxusa a few years ago. The major difference is that Freetaxusa isn't constantly trying to upsell you into different products, or starting you out on a "free" tier and then 80% of the way through saying actually, you need the paid version, or you need to pay extra to efile, or something like that. Free Federal, $15 state, that's it.
- bombcar 3y agoThe dirty secret is TurboTax will tell you to upgrade to Deluxe Professional Premium, but you can just access the forms directly and enter the numbers if you need to. But you might as well just use FTU.
- spirit557 3y agoState 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.
- dkokelley 3y agoHonest 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.
- 303uru 3y agoHaving used four different CPAs in the past to file taxes, I spent far more money to spend about the same time working on it. I was audited three times, have never been audited since using FTU.
- TillE 3y agoIf you're in a typical situation (salary, investments), doing your own taxes isn't particularly hard. If you're a freelancer or business owner or you have a lot of weird sources of income, sure, paying an accountant is probably worth it.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- lotsofpulp 3y agoIf you only have W-2 or 1099 income, taxes are relatively easy if you are comfortable reading forms. It might take 2 hours the first year, but after that it should be a breeze. For federal income tax, there is also this spreadsheet that is very handy: https://sites.google.com/view/incometaxspreadsheet/home https://sites.google.com/view/incometaxspreadsheet/home
- Spivak 3y agoBecause single/join income W2s with some retirement accounts, other investments here or there, a mortgage interest deduction and some charitable donations is still low complexity. Bigger number on your W2 is still just a W2.
- foobarbazboff 3y agoI think the main reason is that most people have very straightforward tax situations, regardless of the amount of money involved. A high earner at a W2 job doesn't necessarily have anything more to report than someone working at a fast food restaurant. The tax brackets are higher but it's really all the same. Different story if you're self-employed, own a business, or are involved in various types of investments.
- medler 3y agoThe 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.
- returningfory2 3y agoI had a similar experience! At first I thought freetaxusa was too good to be true so I filled out TurboTax as well. When I finished, my freetaxusa refund was larger! Like you, I had made a mistake when using TurboTax.
- radicality 3y agoI wouldn’t be surprised if I made the same mistakes :S Been so far always using TurboTax, and I distinctly remember the backdoor Roth IRA gave me so much headache.
- wredue 3y agoI find I have to do my taxes with turbo tax twice just to make sure I get it right and inevitably there is a problem the first time.
- ajma 3y agoCan you explain the mistake that turbox tax makes? I'm wondering if I did mine wrong too
- medler 3y agoOn form 1040, under “IRA distributions - taxable amount” (box 4b), TurboTax filled in the amount of my IRA conversion. It should have been left blank. This caused my taxable income to be increased by the amount of the conversion. Not good. My biggest mistake was not being more diligent about looking over form 1040. I feel like it should have been a pretty obvious error.
- asylteltine 3y agoI switched and they saved me a ton of money. Easy to use and doesn’t support a company absent of morals
- gavinhoward 3y agoI am a (fairly) close relative of an employee and a happy user. Feel free to ask me questions, and I'll pass them onto her! Also, FreeTaxUSA is not only great for users, but they are fantastic to employees. My relative got to go on a cruise this summer, and she claims their pay has more than kept up with inflation.
- godelski 3y agoNo question, but can you tell them thanks? I used TT for years and even as a student it was always a hassle and difficult to just use the free service without ending up on a screen that made me pay or redo everything. Edit: actually, a question. Can we add better 2FA? I know it is a once a year thing, but I'd prefer something better than email or phone number.
- gavinhoward 3y agoShe says they have an Authenticator option now, which makes me happy because I've been asking for it too! And I've passed on the thanks!
- herpdyderp 3y agoI barely know anything about taxes but I've heard restructuring an LLC into an S corp can help specific tax situations but you have to have a firm handle it so you can pay out taxes every month instead of only once a year. Is that something FTU can do?
- gavinhoward 3y agoShe says they don't handle paying out taxes, just the taxes from receiving contributions. Sorry. You can see more detail here: https://www.freetaxusa.com/self-employed https://www.freetaxusa.com/self-employed . For my part, I have an LLC that is not an S Corp. The reason is that you have to pay yourself a wage, and programmer wages are R&D. I think the rules were changed recently such that R&D can't be fully expensed. But talk to a professional.
- throw7 3y agoI use these guys since whatever I was using years ago jacked up their prices. Filing state is not free, but it isn't highway robbery.
- notShabu 3y agoDoes anyone have a comparison between this and turbotax? I know there are some ethical issues w/ turbotax but the price relative to peace of mind is not that big of an issue and the guide-through UI does provide a lot of time savings relative to say filling out the raw forms. e.g. part of me believes that due to the lobbying etc, returns that come through turbotax have a lower rate of auditing or sth.
- bombcar 3y agoYou can run your taxes in both (or redo last year's in FTU) and compare. I think the wording on some of the questions it asks you are slightly different, so it may get a bit of a different answer on some things. Would have to compare to the IRS documents itself to see which is "right".
- dang 3y agoIt's CPS time again. Related: IRS to begin trial of its own free tax-filing system - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38892044 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38892044 - Jan 2024 (323 comments) 13 States join the IRS direct-file test after tax prep firms dropped the ball - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37937894 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37937894 - Oct 2023 (189 comments) Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37920633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37920633 - Oct 2023 (329 comments) GOTO https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37921113 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37921113
- sircastor 3y agoI will probably try to go this route this year. Previous years I was using CreditKarma/Cash, and then before that TurboTax of course. I should probably get an actual accountant. Does anyone else find this process a little fun? Finding all the opportunities for deductions?
- sys_64738 3y ago> Does anyone else find this process a little fun? Finding all the opportunities for deductions? It helps to love financials which I do. I have always done my own taxes just because I want to be knowledgeable about it. Some folks truly hate it.
- bombcar 3y agoFilling out taxes is kinda fun, but there's really no "finding opportunities" unless your situation changed majorly from the year before. The most useful part I find is digging around a bit and trying to notice things for the year(s) to come.
- silisili 3y agoI used to love FreeTaxUSA, but switched because of integrations, specifically Robinhood and such. Does anyone know if they've made that integration or otherwise easier to import said data in the last few years?
- bombcar 3y agoThe dirty secret is you don't really need the imported data, only the "results" - especially if the detail was provided to the IRS directly.
- happymellon 3y agoDoes this allow folks who are out of the country use it? For whatever reason, most US tax filing systems refuse to allow non-American addresses.