Online tax preparation service

[Al Schreck]

This is my first post, ever, to any blog site.  I just registered in the MMM forum.  Rather exciting, I might add... :)

I recently left the 9-5 corporate world, after 30 years.  I am 52, married, 3 adult kids.  Living a great life in central iowa.  Now that I have a lot of free time, I decided to come out of the shadow's, so to speak, and join the forum.  I have been reading Pete's words of wisdom for many years, but never identified myself.

So, without further adieu, does anyone have a recommendation for a low cost (or free) tax preparation site?  I checked online today with turbo tax.  they quoted a fee of $92, for filing a federal/state return, with itemized deductions and several 1099's. 

[tarheeldan]

Welcome :-)

I like TaxAct:
https://www.taxact.com/taxes-online/

[FinancialWarrior]

Welcome :-)

I like TaxAct:
https://www.taxact.com/taxes-online/

I've used TaxAct for the past 5 years and love it.  It cost only $16 for 2016 including a Schedule C business return.  I've heard good things about Credit Karma which is free, but they are still in beta so I'm waiting for them to become more established first before using it.

[RWD]

I've used TaxAct as well for the last few years, but this year I decided to use FreeTaxUSA instead because it was significantly cheaper.

[Nothlit]

I also like FreeTaxUSA. It's free for federal, and cheap for state.

[GuinnessPhish]

Credit Karma is now offering online tax preparation completely free.

[GuinnessPhish]

Credit Karma is now offering online tax preparation completely free.

Although, now I'm trying to use it, and I've gotten all the way to the end to e-file, and it has a screen where it says to confirm your email address, click on the link to do so, and I don't get the email.

[RWD]

You guys might want to avoid using Credit Karma...
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5wo7bq/just_lost_thousands_on_my_refund_by_efiling_with/

[katsiki]

Another vote for TaxAct!  Just finished...  best 27.99 spent in a while.

[MustacheAndaHalf]

I've used TaxAct for the past 5 years and love it.  It cost only $16 for 2016 including a Schedule C business return.

TaxAct cost me closer to $30 last year, and they have another price increase for the download version in 2017.  I'm considering abandoning them owing to price increases - is the trick going 100% online?

I've used download versions of TaxAct for years.

[tarheeldan]

I didn't know there was a download version of TaxAct. The online I always use was $11 for Federal this year.

[Livingthedream55]

I also like FreeTaxUSA. It's free for federal, and cheap for state.

+1

[Goldielocks]

I switched from Turbo tax to Simple Tax last year and liked it better. (Canada)

[financepatriot@gmail.com]

I use taxact.com and have been for years.  I started out with the free version and later on went to the cheap paid version as they carry information forward and I am extremely lazy.  As an added plus, taxact.com is an Iowa company (although I live in TN).

I paid $13 for Federal, TN has no state income tax so I paid zero there.  Also, , www.creditkarma.com has free tax software.  Since their credit tracking software is free and great, I imagine that their tax software is pretty good too, and it's completely free of charge.  I write about stuff like this on my blog as well. 

[RWD]

I paid $13 for Federal, TN has no state income tax so I paid zero there.  Also, , www.creditkarma.com has free tax software.  Since their credit tracking software is free and great, I imagine that their tax software is pretty good too, and it's completely free of charge.  I write about stuff like this on my blog as well.

No, it's not great.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5wo7bq/just_lost_thousands_on_my_refund_by_efiling_with/
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5prks4/beware_credit_karma_tax/
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2uttbq/credit_karma_now_endorses_payday_loans/

[Cwadda]

I also used TaxAct for 2016 taxes. It cost me $55 to do both federal and state. W2, 1099, and business deductions.

[financepatriot@gmail.com]

I paid $13 for Federal, TN has no state income tax so I paid zero there.  Also, , www.creditkarma.com has free tax software.  Since their credit tracking software is free and great, I imagine that their tax software is pretty good too, and it's completely free of charge.  I write about stuff like this on my blog as well.

No, it's not great.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5wo7bq/just_lost_thousands_on_my_refund_by_efiling_with/
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5prks4/beware_credit_karma_tax/
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2uttbq/credit_karma_now_endorses_payday_loans/

It's their first year doing it.  It's entirely possible it may improve over time.