4 ms·

I 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

I 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 ago
No 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 ago
  She 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 ago
I 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 ago
  She 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.
  - herpdyderp 3y ago
    Ah good point about the recent R&D tax mess, I heard about that. Thanks for the info!
jareklupinski 3y ago
i'm curious: the first time i heard the name FreeTaxUSA.com i thought "it must be a scam", slightly because of the name, until someone else i trust mentioned it and said they used it and i finally looked into it is this rare/uncommon/common?
- gavinhoward 3y ago
  It is common, and my relative does not like it either. If they have a weakness, it is their marketing. It's uniquely incompetent.
roshin 3y ago
2 things. It might be too late to change the name, but the name is misleading. As cheap as it is, it is not completely free. I understand needing to make money, but the first thought I had when I saw that it was not in fact free, was, what else are they misleading about. Please please please support expats. I've never lived in the US, and although I don't technically pay taxes, filling is so expensive that that in of itself is a tax for me.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- gavinhoward 3y ago
  My relative and I have asked about a name change. They can't see the problem. :( Their marketing is so bad. I have asked about expats before (I thought about living abroad). She says it is on the roadmap, but it isn't very lucrative, so it is low priority. They do implement new stuff every year, but they only have so much time to fo so.
kanak 3y ago
Any plans to support receiving refunds as Paper I-Bonds? i.e. Form 8888 ( https://www.irs.gov/refunds/using-your-income-tax-refund-to-save-by-buying-us-savings-bonds https://www.irs.gov/refunds/using-your-income-tax-refund-to-... )
- gavinhoward 3y ago
  My relative says that they do support Form 8888. Must be new this year if so.

godelski 3y ago

No 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 ago
She 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 ago

I 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 ago
She 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.
- herpdyderp 3y ago
  Ah good point about the recent R&D tax mess, I heard about that. Thanks for the info!

jareklupinski 3y ago

i'm curious: the first time i heard the name FreeTaxUSA.com i thought "it must be a scam", slightly because of the name, until someone else i trust mentioned it and said they used it and i finally looked into it is this rare/uncommon/common?

gavinhoward 3y ago
It is common, and my relative does not like it either. If they have a weakness, it is their marketing. It's uniquely incompetent.

roshin 3y ago

2 things. It might be too late to change the name, but the name is misleading. As cheap as it is, it is not completely free. I understand needing to make money, but the first thought I had when I saw that it was not in fact free, was, what else are they misleading about. Please please please support expats. I've never lived in the US, and although I don't technically pay taxes, filling is so expensive that that in of itself is a tax for me.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
gavinhoward 3y ago
My relative and I have asked about a name change. They can't see the problem. :( Their marketing is so bad. I have asked about expats before (I thought about living abroad). She says it is on the roadmap, but it isn't very lucrative, so it is low priority. They do implement new stuff every year, but they only have so much time to fo so.

kanak 3y ago

Any plans to support receiving refunds as Paper I-Bonds? i.e. Form 8888 ( https://www.irs.gov/refunds/using-your-income-tax-refund-to-save-by-buying-us-savings-bonds https://www.irs.gov/refunds/using-your-income-tax-refund-to-... )

gavinhoward 3y ago
My relative says that they do support Form 8888. Must be new this year if so.