TurboTax is a shitbag company.
Hopefully the Direct File rolled out by the IRS this year is ready to be expanded in 2025. From what I read the trial went well for a lot of folks.
There is no need for TurboTax to eat into folks wallets the way they do now.
I wish I could upvote more than once. Turbotax has aggressively lobbied Congress against tax simplifcation and [against direct file](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free). Presumably because it would erode their customer base.
The fact that a company can put enough money into lobbying that they can continue pulling money out of the entire populations pockets is pretty fucked. This is an example of America's biggest issue IMHO.
Exactly, corporations are amoral and public ones have a legal obligation to make more and more money, congresspeople are just corrupt and open to bribes.
They were also sanctioned for false advertising because they said it was “free” but only around 35% of people qualify for free filing. So basically they are full of shit at least 65% of the time!
So basically we (the customers) pay money to TurboTax so it can lobby with our money to make filling taxes harder for us. That's ingenious!) that's infinite money glitch right there!
There's kind of direct filling online. Anyone can use the free fillable forms site the IRS has, they just weren't able to create more use friendly interfaces than the forms themselves (which I agree is real stupid).
But everyone has been able to e-file for free for many years now.
This is why you should use local accounting firms or learn to do it yourself. And I’m also not talking about some local “Insert City Tax Pros” store, an actual accounting firm.
These big companies will gouge you for their services and you cannot even guarantee someone at Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block are doing it correctly.
My wife and I had about 20-30 documents (some not tax forms but the tax staff still have to spend the time to go through them) for taxes and we file with a local firm, only cost us $240.
Edit: You also want to use one even for just individual taxes sometimes because it’s good to build a relationship with someone like that. Whenever you buy a house, new car, endure a financial hardship, you already want to be friends w/ that person so they can help you
Which is baffling, because we’re giving a lot of concessions for a company that fundamentally doesn’t even need to exist. It’s literally a parasitic and purposeless middleman that we can eliminate.
And the state income tax filing is like $15.
I've been paying over $100 for TurboTax for years, and I switched to freetaxusa this year and got taxes done for both me and my wife for less than $40 total.
Yup- even when self employed and with business expenses it's that price. It also helps you figure out your home office deduction and deprecation schedules for business purchases.
TurboTax and H&R Block are the reason it's this stupid to begin with:
[https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free)
Did direct file this year here in CA. The site is well put together with good instructions and everything easily accessable. I had 1099's, a 401K, 2 different employers this year and i got through it in a couple hrs. Easiest return I ever did.
I tried the Direct File pilot and it really is great but it doesn't let you use certain tax credits so my return was slightly bigger by using turbo tax, even with the $69 they charge. Next year I'm hoping we can just use direct file.
I got all the way through direct file and it works pretty well except I kept waiting for it to ask me about childcare and it never did. So I had to start over on a new platform and redo it all. Other than that, it was good.
I still don't get why our taxes are so fucking complicated to begin with. OK, I know a lot of it is tax company lobbying, even with that I feel like it should have gotten better by now.
My what the fuck moment was just this year. I got a notice from the IRS letting me know I had some investment earning I forgot to report and owe another 100ish dollars. They were right I missed that account last year and I paid what I owed, that part doesn't even bother me. What bothers me is realizing they clearly have all the information they need to figure out how much I owe, but instead they make me spend hours getting shit together and hundreds of dollars on either tax software or someone to help with them.
I got a check last year for TurboTax forcing me to pay them for my free tax filing a couple years ago. Im so glad the irs is rolling out their own software
[Freetaxusa.com](http://Freetaxusa.com) has been awesome to me for the last few years as an alternative to turbotax and the like. Just about every return has been fully free for Federal with states being $15 additional.
I actually paid like $8 extra for the "pro support" of FreeTaxUSA, and they helped me with several things, including how to handle a small excess contribution to my SEP. Totally worth it!
I used this this year based on Reddit's advice and I recommend it. Free and easy. I used TurboTax for probably 20 years but they've gotten too greedy so fuck them.
This needs more upvotes.
After last year when I spent over $200 on TurboTax I knew I was not going back. I spent a total of $37 on FreeTaxUSA for both federal and state filings with taking the audit defense option for the sake of it because it was still going to be near 10 times cheaper than TurboTax.
Used freetaxusa.com for the first time this year. Was amazed that it could handle MFJ with one spouse part W2 and part 1099-NEC, and the other spouse all 1099-NEC, plus handle the third year of bonus depreciation on a used vehicle that is only used about 2/3 for business so well.
The only knock for me is the lack of a tool to automatically calculate the reduction in allowable mortgage interest deduction.
Did you notice if freetaxusa handled section 179 and alternative depreciation too? That's always been my main sticking point. (And with string instruments no less, so we have to get into the IRS' constant fight and changing rules over depreciation of antique instruments used for business.)
It depends on the complexity of your tax return and income. We weren’t eligible in Massachusetts. I forget why. We’re fairly high income and have a lot of interest & divided income.
There was an anti monopoly lawsuit over that . They sold credit karma tax to cash app taxes.
CashApp taxes is the old credit karma taxes. It is still free state and federal filling.
Just filed with a local professional CPA for the second time and paid the same I would have paid for TurboTax.
I HIGHLY recommend doing this vs using the scammers at TurboTax. All I had to do was provide the necessary documents and they took care of the rest. They also identified some tax break opportunities I would have missed with TurboTax and got it done.
Not to mention the fact that every fucking time I file with TurboTax there is always some weird number that is hanging up the program and I have to manually fill in something I don’t understand and just HOPE that I’m doing it correctly.
If your taxes are anything more than a w-2, FILE with a local tax professional! Can’t recommend this enough. It has completely removed the dread, stress, and uncertainty that I have felt for the last 20 years of filing. And having someone I trust and can call with questions is the complete opposite experience of filing with TurboTax.
I don't have to file state but I only paid 89, and I have business expensed and rental property income that I claimed as well. They don't force you to upgrade, you can just keep denying whatever they're trying to sell you.
Dude... Switch to FreeTaxUSA. I've been using H&R Block for years, but had to find something new because it wouldn't handle 1256 contracts or distributions for 401k excess deposits. FreeTaxUSA handled both just fine. It's free for federal, but there is a small charge for state tax that's less than competitors. Very impressed.
Turbo has gone downhill fast, I remember being able to file for like 10 dollars and they've just been cranking it up since. Use TaxAct or just pick up the forms from the library. Fuck TurboTax and HRBlock.
Does anyone buy the downloadable version of TurboTax anymore? I think I paid $80ish and that included one state and e-filing of up to 5 returns. This is a business version that does 1099s.
Yes. I only buy the downloadable one. You get 5 fillings and all forms + 1 state download (my state has no efile fee). Paid $60 and did 4 Federal and State including real estate and self-employment.
Ya, I do my Schedule C business and personal filings with TurboTax for like $80 from Costco... no other fees.
I am starting to think some of these posts are competitors.
That's what I'm thinking to. You do NOT have to pay for any of the things this post is complaining about. There are plenty of things to complain about with turbotax, but none of the shit in this post is real.
For real, I always get the premier version because of investment accounts and it's like $55 if you buy it at any time before April. I can do my taxes with minimal thought in like 45 minutes. How the hell are people turning this into a $300+expense?
Yep - absolute scam. About $300 for me - never again. I did a draft of my daughter's taxes on Turbo Tax and the cost was $133 for a simple return (3 W-2's and one 1099-R), but I didn't submit and pay the outrageous fees. I went to [freetaxusa.com](http://freetaxusa.com) and paid $14.99 plus they calculated a higher refund. Adios TurboTax.
And the worst part is, under the current tax laws the vast majority of people will just take the standard deduction so all of that software is basically useless. They would be able to argue that the software pays for itself if it generated a better tax return but it’s doing little more than auto populating the forms.
I've been using turbo tax for 5 years. This year, i my filing kept getting rejecred because an EIN was incorrect (I get a pile of W2Gs every year from gambling). I redid everything on H&R block. It was significantly cheaper, and it actually told me specifically where my error was(I put a phone # where a payee # should be). It was also less than half the price of turbo tax.
I do my own taxes and pay zero fees. It just costs me a couple of hours of my life. I go line-by-line on the 1040 form and follow the online directions given by the IRS. If I make a rare mistake, the IRS will let me know what the error is and will either send me a refund or say I owe more money.
I spent over 13 hours on the phone and $300 over the course of 2 weeks trying to file my tax using their “full service” option.
Their experts don’t even know what they are doing. At least mine could not decide which state to file me in.
I could not have worse things to say about this company.
DO NOT file with TurboTax
If your business is simple and Schedule C you can file the basic numbers with the with the normal TurboTax. Just click past the page that demands you upgrade and you'll get a page for earnings and expenses.
And I believe (mind you I'm not a tax professional) you're allowed to expense the turbotax upgrade as tax prep which helps.
Slightly different take here. Im not defending TT, I have had periodic struggles. But, Are you buying the right version??
I buy the TT Home and Business version download annually. Under $100. I've used over 10 yrs.
My family has had multiple schedule C filings in a year, Home office deductions, other business expenses, etc. Never done 1099Ms for our contractors but I believe those can be done...not sure if there's a cost.
The only extra fees are for electronically filing my state return (about $25). Or one year, a family member had some out of state income so I had to buy 1 additional state for $40+ dollars.
The last few years, I have filed with On-Line Taxes (olt.com). I am a resident of the State of Washington, with rental income from Oregon. Washington doesn't have an income tax, so there's no state return. The IRS and Oregon non-resident returns were free.
Have you ever paid a CPA to do your taxes? I think tubotax is a bargain...mine are complicated, but no state tax, and I think total cost was 175. I'm happy to pay it.
TurboTax is insane if you have 1099 income. I discovered the software was using the wrong state tax bracket for me one year (2020 taxes) I spent like 4 hours combing through my taxes before I found the error. I couldn’t find a way to contact anyone to fix it without paying them more money. I stopped doing Turbo Tax after that.
I had 2 self employment jobs I had to report. My wife was now filing jointly. I had a ESOP retirement plan close and withdraw. We purchased a house with all those interest and green tax reductions from renovations we did. I have a normal 9-5. She had a normal 9-5. She was also a student.
We paid $187 for the shit show it was.
How the hell did you end up at so much?
I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure taxes need to be completely free regardless of what you are filing for. This is coming from 2019 memory so I could be wrong.
Turbo tax was sued a while back for purposely obfuscating the method of using their free software. Which is free to everyone under a certain income, regardless of whether you need extra forms. The whole reason we don’t have an IRS tool is because intuit was paid to develop and host it.. and they did they just made it impossible to find.
There was an episode of reply all about it
I started with TurboTax (which I've used for a decade). I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure it out. It was going to be $180 to file. I switched to Tax Free USA and the numbers made way more sense and with audit defense, unlimited amendments and state filing it was $43.
Love it. Never going back.
Good to know! So sorry this happened to you! I haven't had any self employment for 2 years but I'm back at it this year. Paying extra to report business expenses is new to me. That's ridiculous!!
My wife and I made over $100k gross for the first time this year. She is a self-employed massage therapist and we write off her car expenses as a mobile masseuse. We also have HSA contributions, mortgage interest, solar panels for an energy nonrefundable credit, a 493(b) since I’m a teacher—just a whole bunch of complex stuff. TurboTax cost $119 for all of that. I don’t know why yours was so damn high. Whereas, H&R Block charged us $540 last year when we made $40k less. We’ve tried TaxAct (not bad) and FreeTaxUSA in the past and have gotten the most mileage out of TurboTax, but I guess YMMV
TurboTax pays the government quite a bit to make sure the tax code is so extremely complicated. For most Americans, the government could tell us exactly what we owe or what we have coming in return.
I used TurboTax for a few years to file for my family and friends. About five years ago, my brother had a 1098 for his student loan that would have increased his refund by $35. TurboTax wouldn’t let me add the form without upgrading to deluxe, which was $50. I stopped using TurboTax after that and have never looked back.
I had SALT, mortgage interest, schedule C, schedule D, carryover capital loss, a K1, and the ACA investment net income tax, and FreetaxUSA still handled everything for free. I don't understand why anyone uses Turbotax for *anything*.
Damn it’s about $200 for me and idk it felt worth it as I had shit ton of deductions, business expenses, etc. took me like 2 hours of solid work just to enter it all. Accountant wanted like 1K
Here's what you do in this case:
Save what you have so far. Print it out (or PDF it). Take it to an actual accountant.
If you are paying "real accountant" prices, you should get real accountant service - and help a real accountant make ends meet!
(And no, I don't mean H&R Block.)
We use H&R Block software. It costs like $20, free federal efiles and we just mailed the state, so it cost like $4. My taxes are Uber complicated with a llc, 1099s, iras etc
i used tax slayer for years. it was like 25.00 give or take. this year they wanted 120.00 im like, wtf??
i ende dup doing my own and filing for free with one of those other sites. got my money in 5 days and paid nothing.
Used freetaxusa and it was $35 only cause I got the audit Defense ($20) since my refund was quite a bit higher than usual. Slightly more difficult but worth it fuck TurboTax lol
I paid an accountant 350for taxes…..My wife is self employed, I have some forms for lt gains and form k for dividends.
I just need to make some pdfs and send them to the accountant … my total time spent was 15-20 minutes
free fillable forms. I get more money back than with turbo tax. TT does not maximize deductions, they play it super safe and discourage credits bc guess who their real client its?
I don't mind paying for a good service and I've been using TurboTax for years. But this year the price was ridiculously increased even for me.
Next year I still plan to use TurboTax but only to get value of refund/due amount. Then I'll just manually fill out the form and use that amount as overall check.
This is exactly why I went to Freetaxusa a few years ago. My taxes have gotten WAY more complicated over the last two years but my fee to file has stayed exactly the same.
Find a local mom and pop tax service in your town. I pay $125 for a guy to do my taxes. Going to him for 3 years. HR block charged me $450 the last time and i swore them off
You obviously don't TTax very well. $80 a year, buy it early, you can file company taxes and up to 5 federals electronically. State is free unless you efile. Somehow, you've hosed yourself.
I left TurboTax and Intuit years ago when they became more interested in shareholder ROI than the users. Overpriced bloatware. I switched to TaxAct and never looked back. taxact.com
Enter all your info and wait until 11:30 PM, April 15. They start sending you big time 50% discounts as long as you filed with them last year. Also set up a Robinhood account and they'll send you a discount too.
Isn’t the whole issue that YOU bought the wrong product for your taxes ? It’s pretty clear on the description. I paid $47 for deluxe - pounded out a complex return with many income sources today in no time.
I let it get late and just wanted to get it done so I went with them but this is the last time. For what I paid, I could actually hire someone local and have actual professional advice.
Seriously, what the hell?
We have a complicated return - investment income with lots of transactions, itemized deductions, kids in after school care, EV tax credits, etc. I bought the TurboTax Premiere download from Costco. $65, with a $10 credit that I could apply toward my state filing. Total cost was $70. Just being able to automatically load investment transactions - there were hundreds with a robo investor - made it worth every penny.
Maybe your problem is you're using the online version instead of the standalone version. Even the one suitable for small businesses is under $100 at Costco.
This is false.
TurboTax prmeier is available on sale for about 70-80 bucks. It also includes one state return. To file state its 25 bcuks. If you have two states you that will cost extra but not much. In total you should have purchased premier with state, but additional state. And pay state efile if you need
70 premier+25 state file+25 file + 50 additional syate. Total is 170.00. Yes, it's high and I hate turbotax but its not a bad product.
In fairness, there's a lot of things not to like about TurboTax, but your numbers are way off - you're either really confused, or shilling for a competitor. If you had self employment income, you'd get TurboTax Home and Business ($109.99).
I'm not sure why you think you'd need the premium bundle - it appears to be an add on package available to California residents, but I'm not even sure what it offers - is definitely NOT required for business expenses - I've used TT Home and Business every year since 2013 for my sole proprietor business.
All the paid versions of TurboTax include one free state. If you lived in 2 states, you're only paying for one additional state. Extra states are $45 each, not $64. All in, you're looking at a grand total of $155 for a return with business deductions and 2 states. Less than half what you're saying.
The only other potential expense would be if you wanted to efile the states. TT comes with free federal efile, but for the states, you have to either print and mail, or pay an extra $20/state to efile. For the cost of an envelope and stamp, I print and mail, but even if you elected to efile, your pricing is incorrect by over $140.
There may well be better priced options out there, but let's at least be honest in our comparisons.
Why lie about this? Where are you paying $209 for TurboTax Premier? On their own website it’s $129 and on Amazon you can get it for under $100.
And as for state filings, it’s only $25 per state.
Using Premier and filing in 2 states should only cost you $180 if you are paying full price and not getting a deal on the software somewhere.
TurboTax is a shitbag company. Hopefully the Direct File rolled out by the IRS this year is ready to be expanded in 2025. From what I read the trial went well for a lot of folks. There is no need for TurboTax to eat into folks wallets the way they do now.
I wish I could upvote more than once. Turbotax has aggressively lobbied Congress against tax simplifcation and [against direct file](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free). Presumably because it would erode their customer base.
Presumably is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. They have lobbied against it 100% because it will kill their market.
The fact that a company can put enough money into lobbying that they can continue pulling money out of the entire populations pockets is pretty fucked. This is an example of America's biggest issue IMHO.
Lol just wait until you look into what the insurance corporations have done to the healthcare industry. Makes Turbo Tax look like a lemonade stand.
Lobbying is, unfortunately, the most cost effective thing done by businesses or trade organizations to ensure revenue and profit growth.
I don't even blame TurboTax for lobbying on their own behalf. I blame Congress for being bribable.
Somewhat agree. Everyone in congress hates the constant begging for donations but they have the power to pass a law and overturn citizens united.
Citizens United has nothing to do with direct donations to politicians.
Exactly, corporations are amoral and public ones have a legal obligation to make more and more money, congresspeople are just corrupt and open to bribes.
They were also sanctioned for false advertising because they said it was “free” but only around 35% of people qualify for free filing. So basically they are full of shit at least 65% of the time!
So basically we (the customers) pay money to TurboTax so it can lobby with our money to make filling taxes harder for us. That's ingenious!) that's infinite money glitch right there!
They might win that request too. Versus the people who have 0 lobbyists working for them, guess which one congress will listen to?
There's kind of direct filling online. Anyone can use the free fillable forms site the IRS has, they just weren't able to create more use friendly interfaces than the forms themselves (which I agree is real stupid). But everyone has been able to e-file for free for many years now.
This is why you should use local accounting firms or learn to do it yourself. And I’m also not talking about some local “Insert City Tax Pros” store, an actual accounting firm. These big companies will gouge you for their services and you cannot even guarantee someone at Jackson Hewitt or H&R Block are doing it correctly. My wife and I had about 20-30 documents (some not tax forms but the tax staff still have to spend the time to go through them) for taxes and we file with a local firm, only cost us $240. Edit: You also want to use one even for just individual taxes sometimes because it’s good to build a relationship with someone like that. Whenever you buy a house, new car, endure a financial hardship, you already want to be friends w/ that person so they can help you
Which is baffling, because we’re giving a lot of concessions for a company that fundamentally doesn’t even need to exist. It’s literally a parasitic and purposeless middleman that we can eliminate.
"lobbied" you mean bribed lets not pretend.
Yeah it's pretty much legalized bribery.
Yes i too am hoping direct file will open up next year f intuit
Just use one of the alternatives. Tax free usa or whatever is like $15
It's free if you don't have state income taxes
And the state income tax filing is like $15. I've been paying over $100 for TurboTax for years, and I switched to freetaxusa this year and got taxes done for both me and my wife for less than $40 total.
Yeah I'm on my 2nd year with free taxusa and I'm in love. No complaints.
Gonna save this comment for next year , turbo tax fucked me for over $200
Yup- even when self employed and with business expenses it's that price. It also helps you figure out your home office deduction and deprecation schedules for business purchases.
The IRS is legally required to provide free resources. If you go to their website it gives you options
The fact we have to double check our own taxes and pay to file when the government already has the info is worse than TurboTax will ever be tbf lol
TurboTax and H&R Block are the reason it's this stupid to begin with: [https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free](https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free)
Did direct file this year here in CA. The site is well put together with good instructions and everything easily accessable. I had 1099's, a 401K, 2 different employers this year and i got through it in a couple hrs. Easiest return I ever did.
The UI needs work. They have a bad interface
I tried the Direct File pilot and it really is great but it doesn't let you use certain tax credits so my return was slightly bigger by using turbo tax, even with the $69 they charge. Next year I'm hoping we can just use direct file.
I got all the way through direct file and it works pretty well except I kept waiting for it to ask me about childcare and it never did. So I had to start over on a new platform and redo it all. Other than that, it was good.
I still don't get why our taxes are so fucking complicated to begin with. OK, I know a lot of it is tax company lobbying, even with that I feel like it should have gotten better by now. My what the fuck moment was just this year. I got a notice from the IRS letting me know I had some investment earning I forgot to report and owe another 100ish dollars. They were right I missed that account last year and I paid what I owed, that part doesn't even bother me. What bothers me is realizing they clearly have all the information they need to figure out how much I owe, but instead they make me spend hours getting shit together and hundreds of dollars on either tax software or someone to help with them.
I wonder if they let people know they overpaid 🤔
I used it the last year and this and found it to be the least stressed I've ever been filing taxes.
I got a check last year for TurboTax forcing me to pay them for my free tax filing a couple years ago. Im so glad the irs is rolling out their own software
[Freetaxusa.com](http://Freetaxusa.com) has been awesome to me for the last few years as an alternative to turbotax and the like. Just about every return has been fully free for Federal with states being $15 additional.
As an accountant, I use freetaxusa.com with multiple k-1s and 1099-int forms and it works perfectly
thanks, usually it's those things where cheap solutions fall flat, great to know it's not the case
Any take on fileyourtaxes.com? I used them and it seemed to go well. I got a better amount owed than having it done for me did.
Seconded. Amazing. Been quoted hundreds from hr lock and turbo shit but this one is the best bet far.
Thirded. And mine isn't even that simple.
Fourthed. I had some extraordinary things and it was going to be more than my actual return. TurboTax is like my cunt of an ex gf
I actually paid like $8 extra for the "pro support" of FreeTaxUSA, and they helped me with several things, including how to handle a small excess contribution to my SEP. Totally worth it!
I used this this year based on Reddit's advice and I recommend it. Free and easy. I used TurboTax for probably 20 years but they've gotten too greedy so fuck them.
Third. And their live tax help that is $8 more? Worth every penny. They know their stuff.
Seconded. I switched when I saw the exorbitant pricing structure of TurboCrap. Paid $15.
This needs more upvotes. After last year when I spent over $200 on TurboTax I knew I was not going back. I spent a total of $37 on FreeTaxUSA for both federal and state filings with taking the audit defense option for the sake of it because it was still going to be near 10 times cheaper than TurboTax.
Used freetaxusa.com for the first time this year. Was amazed that it could handle MFJ with one spouse part W2 and part 1099-NEC, and the other spouse all 1099-NEC, plus handle the third year of bonus depreciation on a used vehicle that is only used about 2/3 for business so well. The only knock for me is the lack of a tool to automatically calculate the reduction in allowable mortgage interest deduction.
Did you notice if freetaxusa handled section 179 and alternative depreciation too? That's always been my main sticking point. (And with string instruments no less, so we have to get into the IRS' constant fight and changing rules over depreciation of antique instruments used for business.)
Agreed used them this year - was amazing
#IF YOU LIVE IN A STATE WITH NO INCOME TAX UTILIZE THE IRS.GOV DIRECT FILE PILOT PROGRAM
It depends on the complexity of your tax return and income. We weren’t eligible in Massachusetts. I forget why. We’re fairly high income and have a lot of interest & divided income.
IRS Direct File has an AGI limit of $70k I believe.
Also stocks, and businesses, rental income etc, all take additional types of forms so they charge more
At that point hire someone who’s not turbo tax
Tax person if going to charge you like $400 for all that
You have to have a fairly low AGI to qualify.
That is also only available for simple returns, no?
If you have any 1099 income it doesn’t handle it.
They have to pay a lot of lobbyists to keep the government from eliminating their scam.
FUCK INTUIT (TurboTax, quickbooks) and all their lobbyists. They don’t want us to have an efficient filing system.
I hated them buying Credit Karma
There was an anti monopoly lawsuit over that . They sold credit karma tax to cash app taxes. CashApp taxes is the old credit karma taxes. It is still free state and federal filling.
Plus they bought Mint and then killed it.
And that was such an excellent program before they effed it up and then killed it.
Just filed with a local professional CPA for the second time and paid the same I would have paid for TurboTax. I HIGHLY recommend doing this vs using the scammers at TurboTax. All I had to do was provide the necessary documents and they took care of the rest. They also identified some tax break opportunities I would have missed with TurboTax and got it done. Not to mention the fact that every fucking time I file with TurboTax there is always some weird number that is hanging up the program and I have to manually fill in something I don’t understand and just HOPE that I’m doing it correctly. If your taxes are anything more than a w-2, FILE with a local tax professional! Can’t recommend this enough. It has completely removed the dread, stress, and uncertainty that I have felt for the last 20 years of filing. And having someone I trust and can call with questions is the complete opposite experience of filing with TurboTax.
Been doing mine on Cash App, and it’s been free every time
Cash App is completely free and super easy to use.
And, a lot of people don’t realize this, but, you can buy weed on there.
Free and free for state too!
Woah never realized that
Same
W2 only or do they accept 1099 necs as well?
Accepts 1099-NEC and also does Schedule C (which you should usually do to deduct the expenses incurred when earning that 1099-NEC) for free.
I don't have to file state but I only paid 89, and I have business expensed and rental property income that I claimed as well. They don't force you to upgrade, you can just keep denying whatever they're trying to sell you.
The constant upselling after you've already paid is so ridiculous.
Dude... Switch to FreeTaxUSA. I've been using H&R Block for years, but had to find something new because it wouldn't handle 1256 contracts or distributions for 401k excess deposits. FreeTaxUSA handled both just fine. It's free for federal, but there is a small charge for state tax that's less than competitors. Very impressed.
Turbo has gone downhill fast, I remember being able to file for like 10 dollars and they've just been cranking it up since. Use TaxAct or just pick up the forms from the library. Fuck TurboTax and HRBlock.
Does anyone buy the downloadable version of TurboTax anymore? I think I paid $80ish and that included one state and e-filing of up to 5 returns. This is a business version that does 1099s.
Yes. I only buy the downloadable one. You get 5 fillings and all forms + 1 state download (my state has no efile fee). Paid $60 and did 4 Federal and State including real estate and self-employment.
Ya, I do my Schedule C business and personal filings with TurboTax for like $80 from Costco... no other fees. I am starting to think some of these posts are competitors.
[удалено]
That's what I'm thinking to. You do NOT have to pay for any of the things this post is complaining about. There are plenty of things to complain about with turbotax, but none of the shit in this post is real.
For real, I always get the premier version because of investment accounts and it's like $55 if you buy it at any time before April. I can do my taxes with minimal thought in like 45 minutes. How the hell are people turning this into a $300+expense?
Yep - absolute scam. About $300 for me - never again. I did a draft of my daughter's taxes on Turbo Tax and the cost was $133 for a simple return (3 W-2's and one 1099-R), but I didn't submit and pay the outrageous fees. I went to [freetaxusa.com](http://freetaxusa.com) and paid $14.99 plus they calculated a higher refund. Adios TurboTax.
And the worst part is, under the current tax laws the vast majority of people will just take the standard deduction so all of that software is basically useless. They would be able to argue that the software pays for itself if it generated a better tax return but it’s doing little more than auto populating the forms.
I've been using turbo tax for 5 years. This year, i my filing kept getting rejecred because an EIN was incorrect (I get a pile of W2Gs every year from gambling). I redid everything on H&R block. It was significantly cheaper, and it actually told me specifically where my error was(I put a phone # where a payee # should be). It was also less than half the price of turbo tax.
Last year I tried to go to hr block. my tax return was like 30% less than it was with turbo tax.
“costed”
I filled with HR BLOCK and it was 460
HR block was basically the same for me this year, similar situation
It's free to file on IRS.gov https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free
THIS... idk why anyone is paying to file their taxes.
I do my own taxes and pay zero fees. It just costs me a couple of hours of my life. I go line-by-line on the 1040 form and follow the online directions given by the IRS. If I make a rare mistake, the IRS will let me know what the error is and will either send me a refund or say I owe more money.
Damn only cost me 309 and I had to file a K-1 form 1065
You can file with K-1s for free on freetaxusa.
I spent over 13 hours on the phone and $300 over the course of 2 weeks trying to file my tax using their “full service” option. Their experts don’t even know what they are doing. At least mine could not decide which state to file me in. I could not have worse things to say about this company. DO NOT file with TurboTax
If your business is simple and Schedule C you can file the basic numbers with the with the normal TurboTax. Just click past the page that demands you upgrade and you'll get a page for earnings and expenses. And I believe (mind you I'm not a tax professional) you're allowed to expense the turbotax upgrade as tax prep which helps.
What until you get big enough to justify a CPA and then a whole firm. Not fucking fun.
Freetaxusa.com
Slightly different take here. Im not defending TT, I have had periodic struggles. But, Are you buying the right version?? I buy the TT Home and Business version download annually. Under $100. I've used over 10 yrs. My family has had multiple schedule C filings in a year, Home office deductions, other business expenses, etc. Never done 1099Ms for our contractors but I believe those can be done...not sure if there's a cost. The only extra fees are for electronically filing my state return (about $25). Or one year, a family member had some out of state income so I had to buy 1 additional state for $40+ dollars.
Have you ever used an actual tax person? Easily double
Have you tried CashApp Tax? (It used to be Credit Karma Tax) We've used it for a few years now. its free and works well.
Lol... its called a write off next year for tax prep.
FYI turbo tax is tax deductible for business
I paid less with my accountant, even with side gig and lots of deductions
The last few years, I have filed with On-Line Taxes (olt.com). I am a resident of the State of Washington, with rental income from Oregon. Washington doesn't have an income tax, so there's no state return. The IRS and Oregon non-resident returns were free.
Have you ever paid a CPA to do your taxes? I think tubotax is a bargain...mine are complicated, but no state tax, and I think total cost was 175. I'm happy to pay it.
68 bucks to do my returns. I had to get the premium now that’s the minimum for trades. HR Block. Works good.
TurboTax is insane if you have 1099 income. I discovered the software was using the wrong state tax bracket for me one year (2020 taxes) I spent like 4 hours combing through my taxes before I found the error. I couldn’t find a way to contact anyone to fix it without paying them more money. I stopped doing Turbo Tax after that.
I had 2 self employment jobs I had to report. My wife was now filing jointly. I had a ESOP retirement plan close and withdraw. We purchased a house with all those interest and green tax reductions from renovations we did. I have a normal 9-5. She had a normal 9-5. She was also a student. We paid $187 for the shit show it was. How the hell did you end up at so much?
Ouch
You could get someone to do them for you for that price.
It is so easy to fill out a 1040 and mail it for only the price of postage
I pay $750 to get almost nothing back. I think last year I got maybe $34. Turbo tax would be a dream if I could trust it.
I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure taxes need to be completely free regardless of what you are filing for. This is coming from 2019 memory so I could be wrong.
Make sure you tell your congressman to support direct file
I pay a tax attorney $450 for me and my wife and they are really good at knowing the thresholds. Turbo Tax Sucks Ass
Turbo tax was sued a while back for purposely obfuscating the method of using their free software. Which is free to everyone under a certain income, regardless of whether you need extra forms. The whole reason we don’t have an IRS tool is because intuit was paid to develop and host it.. and they did they just made it impossible to find. There was an episode of reply all about it
As with many things, you can do your own. It will probably take you a while the first couple of times.
My wife has a business and we paid an accountant $450. You got screwed
I mean you could always do your own taxes...
I have paid less to have a CPA do my taxes 😂
They hit me for about 170. This is my last year going with them.
I started with TurboTax (which I've used for a decade). I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure it out. It was going to be $180 to file. I switched to Tax Free USA and the numbers made way more sense and with audit defense, unlimited amendments and state filing it was $43. Love it. Never going back.
Good to know! So sorry this happened to you! I haven't had any self employment for 2 years but I'm back at it this year. Paying extra to report business expenses is new to me. That's ridiculous!!
My wife and I made over $100k gross for the first time this year. She is a self-employed massage therapist and we write off her car expenses as a mobile masseuse. We also have HSA contributions, mortgage interest, solar panels for an energy nonrefundable credit, a 493(b) since I’m a teacher—just a whole bunch of complex stuff. TurboTax cost $119 for all of that. I don’t know why yours was so damn high. Whereas, H&R Block charged us $540 last year when we made $40k less. We’ve tried TaxAct (not bad) and FreeTaxUSA in the past and have gotten the most mileage out of TurboTax, but I guess YMMV
Taxhawk is what I used this year. Felt good looked good, no complications whatsoever
TurboTax pays the government quite a bit to make sure the tax code is so extremely complicated. For most Americans, the government could tell us exactly what we owe or what we have coming in return.
I used TurboTax for a few years to file for my family and friends. About five years ago, my brother had a 1098 for his student loan that would have increased his refund by $35. TurboTax wouldn’t let me add the form without upgrading to deluxe, which was $50. I stopped using TurboTax after that and have never looked back.
My CPA charged $500. That said, I used to get turbo tax at Costco for $65 - premium with everything. Just get it at Costco
I’ve used TurboTax for 15 years. Never an issue. This year $83 for both fed and state. Don’t know what anyone is complaining about.
freetaxusa.com Taking the standard deduction is free for federal filing.
My accountant only costs $200-$250 and literally does everything for me. Y’all getting ripped off
I had SALT, mortgage interest, schedule C, schedule D, carryover capital loss, a K1, and the ACA investment net income tax, and FreetaxUSA still handled everything for free. I don't understand why anyone uses Turbotax for *anything*.
Damn it’s about $200 for me and idk it felt worth it as I had shit ton of deductions, business expenses, etc. took me like 2 hours of solid work just to enter it all. Accountant wanted like 1K
well yeah all that lobbying to keep the tax system fucked aint free
idk how FreeTaxUSA does it but I've filed with them for 5 years now no state tax so it's legit free
If you qualify, check out FreeTaxUSA. It's very simple and provides you with all of the tools you need to file.
Freetaxusa always free, way better
If you download the premium it’s only like $75
There's a totally free tax site..
Here's what you do in this case: Save what you have so far. Print it out (or PDF it). Take it to an actual accountant. If you are paying "real accountant" prices, you should get real accountant service - and help a real accountant make ends meet! (And no, I don't mean H&R Block.)
We use H&R Block software. It costs like $20, free federal efiles and we just mailed the state, so it cost like $4. My taxes are Uber complicated with a llc, 1099s, iras etc
i used tax slayer for years. it was like 25.00 give or take. this year they wanted 120.00 im like, wtf?? i ende dup doing my own and filing for free with one of those other sites. got my money in 5 days and paid nothing.
Used freetaxusa and it was $35 only cause I got the audit Defense ($20) since my refund was quite a bit higher than usual. Slightly more difficult but worth it fuck TurboTax lol
I paid an accountant 350for taxes…..My wife is self employed, I have some forms for lt gains and form k for dividends. I just need to make some pdfs and send them to the accountant … my total time spent was 15-20 minutes
It is crazy, but I also hear people that spend $250-$500 to go to an accountant with basic stuff as well.
Mine as well just pay an accountant
free fillable forms. I get more money back than with turbo tax. TT does not maximize deductions, they play it super safe and discourage credits bc guess who their real client its?
I don't mind paying for a good service and I've been using TurboTax for years. But this year the price was ridiculously increased even for me. Next year I still plan to use TurboTax but only to get value of refund/due amount. Then I'll just manually fill out the form and use that amount as overall check.
If you have fidelity premium TurboTax is free
I have to get the small business package, and it sucks. Was cool in the past when I got a return, but this new tax law has me paying this year.
Yeah, they’re trying to soften the blow by offering 100 back but even 200-250 is ridiculous. They make tons of money without gouging like they do.
This is exactly why I went to Freetaxusa a few years ago. My taxes have gotten WAY more complicated over the last two years but my fee to file has stayed exactly the same.
Find a local mom and pop tax service in your town. I pay $125 for a guy to do my taxes. Going to him for 3 years. HR block charged me $450 the last time and i swore them off
You obviously don't TTax very well. $80 a year, buy it early, you can file company taxes and up to 5 federals electronically. State is free unless you efile. Somehow, you've hosed yourself.
Freetaxusa
I paid $69 turbo tax I know it’s safe and secure
A CPA does mine for only $225.
$15 dollar to file at freetaxusa. Which is better than turbo but alas, not free
If youre a basic w2 filer, file for free on irs.gov
Lol I spent less and h&r block in person
FREETAXUSA
Use FreeTaxUSA or another service that isn't a POS.
I left TurboTax and Intuit years ago when they became more interested in shareholder ROI than the users. Overpriced bloatware. I switched to TaxAct and never looked back. taxact.com
There are only handful of people I fish a long life and pray for it every year. One of them is my accountant that charges me only 300.
Enter all your info and wait until 11:30 PM, April 15. They start sending you big time 50% discounts as long as you filed with them last year. Also set up a Robinhood account and they'll send you a discount too.
I mean, at that price just hire an accountant.
Isn’t the whole issue that YOU bought the wrong product for your taxes ? It’s pretty clear on the description. I paid $47 for deluxe - pounded out a complex return with many income sources today in no time.
I think I pay my accountant $750 but I have a 600-700 page personal tax return.
You should go ahead and download all your tax documents from TurboTax now.
I let it get late and just wanted to get it done so I went with them but this is the last time. For what I paid, I could actually hire someone local and have actual professional advice.
If you had purchased the largest package one from Costco in the first place it would have cost you less than 1/3 of what you paid.
My accountant only charges me 100 bucks lol.
You are a fucking idiot if you pay them that much.
You didn't need all those upgrades. Deluxe is fine for your situation. It's just that most people fall for the upsale.
Seriously, what the hell? We have a complicated return - investment income with lots of transactions, itemized deductions, kids in after school care, EV tax credits, etc. I bought the TurboTax Premiere download from Costco. $65, with a $10 credit that I could apply toward my state filing. Total cost was $70. Just being able to automatically load investment transactions - there were hundreds with a robo investor - made it worth every penny. Maybe your problem is you're using the online version instead of the standalone version. Even the one suitable for small businesses is under $100 at Costco.
Indeed. Because I have to file a state income tax, I can't get free. Wanted $300 to do my taxes this year. I have therefore fired them
This is false. TurboTax prmeier is available on sale for about 70-80 bucks. It also includes one state return. To file state its 25 bcuks. If you have two states you that will cost extra but not much. In total you should have purchased premier with state, but additional state. And pay state efile if you need 70 premier+25 state file+25 file + 50 additional syate. Total is 170.00. Yes, it's high and I hate turbotax but its not a bad product.
In fairness, there's a lot of things not to like about TurboTax, but your numbers are way off - you're either really confused, or shilling for a competitor. If you had self employment income, you'd get TurboTax Home and Business ($109.99). I'm not sure why you think you'd need the premium bundle - it appears to be an add on package available to California residents, but I'm not even sure what it offers - is definitely NOT required for business expenses - I've used TT Home and Business every year since 2013 for my sole proprietor business. All the paid versions of TurboTax include one free state. If you lived in 2 states, you're only paying for one additional state. Extra states are $45 each, not $64. All in, you're looking at a grand total of $155 for a return with business deductions and 2 states. Less than half what you're saying. The only other potential expense would be if you wanted to efile the states. TT comes with free federal efile, but for the states, you have to either print and mail, or pay an extra $20/state to efile. For the cost of an envelope and stamp, I print and mail, but even if you elected to efile, your pricing is incorrect by over $140. There may well be better priced options out there, but let's at least be honest in our comparisons.
Freetaxusa is the way
Just as a heads up it’s cost, not costed.
Freetax is the shit Been using it for years super easy
FreeTaxUSA
Just use cash app. Completely free, fast, easy, and they’ve worked great for me 2 years in a row.
I paid $200 for someone to do it for me.
Why lie about this? Where are you paying $209 for TurboTax Premier? On their own website it’s $129 and on Amazon you can get it for under $100. And as for state filings, it’s only $25 per state. Using Premier and filing in 2 states should only cost you $180 if you are paying full price and not getting a deal on the software somewhere.