Tax is already enough of a financial burden without having to also budget for tax prep services. By looking out for the best tax filing service deals, you can reduce the cost of bookkeeping.
Just what are some of the top affordable services? This post compares a handful of online tax services (all of which have free services available).
FreeTaxUSA
FreeTaxUSA lives up to its name. It provides free federal tax filing for a range of tax situations – including self-employed tax filing, investments and homeownership taxes.
This free service doesn’t come at the expense of quality. Making up FreeTaxUSA’s useful features include a searchable help section, email support, and the ability to import last year’s tax return from other tax services (including TurboTax, H&R Block and TaxAct). FreeTaxUSA also guarantees 100% accuracy, going so far as to offer a full refund in the unlikely case of an error.
There is a paid $7.99 option available that can give you access to instant chat support and unlimited amended returns. With this paid version, you also get access to Audit Assist in the event that the IRS wants to do an audit. Certain complex tax situations are not covered by FreeTaxUSA and will likely require using another tax filing service.
TaxSlayer
TaxSlayer has a fun name and straightforward interface that attracts many people. It also has a free federal and state tax return service called SimplyFree, restricted to those with taxable income of less than $100,000.
This SimplyFree version is one of four levels of service, the others being: Classic, Premium and Self Employed. Classic costs $26.21 and unlocks a range of other features such as access to credit and deductions. Premium offers live chat support and priority phone/email support and costs $41.21. Self Employed meanwhile offers bountiful advice for self employed filers $48.71 (more advice than you get from competitors at such a price).
TaxSlayer is also available to use as a mobile app, providing notifications regarding your tax return. You can access all of the features through this app.
TurboTax
TurboTax is probably the most well known tax filing service in the US. It has the most elaborate features of any tax service. While you have to pay for many of these features, TurboTax does come with a popular Free Edition that covers simple tax returns (state and federal).
Those willing to pay a little bit more can unlock many other features including one-on-one self-employed support, rental property taxing, cryptocurrency, robo-investing and further help with deductions. The Deluxe Edition is $69, Premier Edition is $99 and Self-Employed at $129.
That said, the basic Free Edition version is likely to be enough for most people and has many useful features of its own including the ability to upload your W-2 simply by taking a picture with your phone camera via the mobile app.
TaxAct
TaxAct prides itself in being the most accurate tax filing service and offers a $100,000 guarantee. Its Simple Returns version is free to use and includes free tax return filing and access to tax experts via TaxAct Xpert Assist.
Its Deluxe, Premier and Self-Employed versions all come at an added cost – but are still fairly cheap compared to competitors. Deluxe offers services like itemized deductions and real estate taxes and costs $24.95. Premier offers more complex services for incomes such as investments and royalties and costs $34.95. Self-Employed meanwhile costs $64.95 ($44.95 for state use) and offers a range of services for freelancers and business owners.
Its free service should be ideal for most basic tax returns and the free access to tax experts is very useful if you have niche questions regarding your tax situation.
Cash App Taxes
Cash App Taxes is one of the newer tax filing services. It has one single version, which is completely free to use.
While the features are a bit more basic than you get with other tax prep services, you can access much more features for free using this app than any other free tax filing service. On top of filing federal and state tax returns, you can get free support with audits and even free support with some self-employed tax situations like 1040 schedule C. The app also offers a 100% free accuracy guarantee.
Those looking to get help with more complex tax situations like investments and real estate taxes will need to use another service. However, for basic tax filing services, Cash App Taxes is definitely one of the top services you can use if you want to save money.
