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Precisely why I built https://freetofile.com https://freetofile.com (it’s a simple static site with React for internationalization that automatically renders in

Precisely why I built https://freetofile.com https://freetofile.com (it’s a simple static site with React for internationalization that automatically renders in Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, or English depending on browser settings). It’s shocking and depressing how many low income people don’t know they don’t need to spend $100-200 to file their taxes. I want to blanket my area (well the whole country really but baby steps…) in signs with the URL during tax season. I really do loathe the entire industry at this point due to their gross practices around free filing. Some offer “free” online filing but deceptively upsell until they squeeze some money out of the customer. So I want to make any little push back I can against these companies.

godkernel 1y ago
great job. I used to use turbotax here in canada, until i figure it out that i could just fill it somewherelse for free.
- __s 1y ago
  GenuTax is the free software I used for Canadian taxes
- goatking 1y ago
  Wealthsimple Tax is free too, and pretty good for simple use cases.
- Throwthrowbob 1y ago
  I used https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-income-tax/how-file/tax-software/find-software.html https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-... (or an equivalent page, in case it's shifted around) to look for options a couple years back. I was glad I had this list to look through. I believe I compared Wealthsimple, EachTax, and UFile.
Spivak 1y ago
Who's spending that much on their taxes? I'm not low income by any means and I've not paid a single dollar to HR Block who does my taxes every year.
- phyzix5761 1y ago
  Maybe their fee is deducted from your refund?
  - JKCalhoun 1y ago
    Or they're over 65 or something?
  - pkilgore 1y ago
    Did you not read the article, at all?
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
- jeremymcanally 1y ago
  My mom spends easily that much with her tax preparer who is an independent person who tries to dissuade usage of software like TurboTax. My sister spends about $100 to file, and they have simple W-2 stuff. I know several folks at my church who spend $50-$75 on TurboTax or something similar every year. I just spent like $200 to file mine with TurboTax only because I have a very simple 1099-K/Schedule C since my wife sells things on Etsy. I know Schedule C can range from my simple setup to absolutely ridiculous, so I don't totally grudge it. But at the same time, there are a lot of small business owners where that's a big chunk of change for them.
  - dh2022 1y ago
    At Costco TurboTax with Business (or something like that) costs around $79.99 + tax. It has Schedule C [0]. Next time you want to buy TurboTax maybe buy it from Costco - $200 for your usage scenario looks like over-payment. [0] It also has other things such as RSUs, stock sales, real estate, cash distributions from businesses, etc... For personal taxes I do not see why anyone would pay a tax accountant as opposed to using TurboTax. [Edited some formatting tags]
alwyn 1y ago
Not from the US, but I did see a missing word in the footer: > There was a recent effort by the U.S. government *to* create a no cost,
notherhack 1y ago
Refusing connections from VPNs is a baby step in the wrong direction. The connection has timed out An error occurred during a connection to freetofile.com.
rglover 1y ago
Dude, thank you. This is exactly what I've been looking for.
chris60657 1y ago
[dead]
righthand 1y ago
One thing you will be up against is this mind set that TurboTax is saving you money. One way to dismantle this cognitive dissonance is to compliment your user with the option of choice. Even if the choice is obvious positioning yourself this way empowers your target user to make the right one: Freefile helps ensure you keep your entire refund unlike TurboTax and other filing services which takes money from your refund. This tax season the choice is yours.
susiecambria 1y ago
Well done :-) An offer and suggestion. The offer: I'm happy to blog and otherwise share your site with folks in my little part of the world (Northern Neck of Virginia). Suggestion: Consider a redesign where the text is not white on a dark background. I just found this design guidance from CDC https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938 https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938; not sure if there is updated research. If there is, I'd love to read it.
- throwaway127482 1y ago
  Getting a 404 from that link
  - gnabgib 1y ago
    Drop the semi-colon: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938 https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938
- noahjk 1y ago
  > I'm happy to blog and otherwise share your site with folks in my little part of the world To clarify, do you have a blog that you've managed to share with your local community? Or are these two separate statements? I ask because I've been lately interested in the idea of a "community" site - a 'hub' for locals - so if that's what you do, I'd love to hear more!

godkernel 1y ago

great job. I used to use turbotax here in canada, until i figure it out that i could just fill it somewherelse for free.

__s 1y ago
GenuTax is the free software I used for Canadian taxes
goatking 1y ago
Wealthsimple Tax is free too, and pretty good for simple use cases.
Throwthrowbob 1y ago
I used https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-income-tax/how-file/tax-software/find-software.html https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes/income-tax/personal-... (or an equivalent page, in case it's shifted around) to look for options a couple years back. I was glad I had this list to look through. I believe I compared Wealthsimple, EachTax, and UFile.

Spivak 1y ago

Who's spending that much on their taxes? I'm not low income by any means and I've not paid a single dollar to HR Block who does my taxes every year.

phyzix5761 1y ago
Maybe their fee is deducted from your refund?
- JKCalhoun 1y ago
  Or they're over 65 or something?
- pkilgore 1y ago
  Did you not read the article, at all?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
jeremymcanally 1y ago
My mom spends easily that much with her tax preparer who is an independent person who tries to dissuade usage of software like TurboTax. My sister spends about $100 to file, and they have simple W-2 stuff. I know several folks at my church who spend $50-$75 on TurboTax or something similar every year. I just spent like $200 to file mine with TurboTax only because I have a very simple 1099-K/Schedule C since my wife sells things on Etsy. I know Schedule C can range from my simple setup to absolutely ridiculous, so I don't totally grudge it. But at the same time, there are a lot of small business owners where that's a big chunk of change for them.
- dh2022 1y ago
  At Costco TurboTax with Business (or something like that) costs around $79.99 + tax. It has Schedule C [0]. Next time you want to buy TurboTax maybe buy it from Costco - $200 for your usage scenario looks like over-payment. [0] It also has other things such as RSUs, stock sales, real estate, cash distributions from businesses, etc... For personal taxes I do not see why anyone would pay a tax accountant as opposed to using TurboTax. [Edited some formatting tags]

alwyn 1y ago

Not from the US, but I did see a missing word in the footer: > There was a recent effort by the U.S. government *to* create a no cost,

notherhack 1y ago

Refusing connections from VPNs is a baby step in the wrong direction. The connection has timed out An error occurred during a connection to freetofile.com.

rglover 1y ago

Dude, thank you. This is exactly what I've been looking for.

chris60657 1y ago

[dead]

righthand 1y ago

One thing you will be up against is this mind set that TurboTax is saving you money. One way to dismantle this cognitive dissonance is to compliment your user with the option of choice. Even if the choice is obvious positioning yourself this way empowers your target user to make the right one: Freefile helps ensure you keep your entire refund unlike TurboTax and other filing services which takes money from your refund. This tax season the choice is yours.

susiecambria 1y ago

Well done :-) An offer and suggestion. The offer: I'm happy to blog and otherwise share your site with folks in my little part of the world (Northern Neck of Virginia). Suggestion: Consider a redesign where the text is not white on a dark background. I just found this design guidance from CDC https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938 https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938; not sure if there is updated research. If there is, I'd love to read it.

throwaway127482 1y ago
Getting a 404 from that link
- gnabgib 1y ago
  Drop the semi-colon: https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938 https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11938
noahjk 1y ago
> I'm happy to blog and otherwise share your site with folks in my little part of the world To clarify, do you have a blog that you've managed to share with your local community? Or are these two separate statements? I ask because I've been lately interested in the idea of a "community" site - a 'hub' for locals - so if that's what you do, I'd love to hear more!