5 ms·

Why pay for tax software? What's wrong with the free tax submission website?

by steezeburger 4mo ago

s1artibartfast 4mo ago
most are limited to a simple 1040
- ThunderSizzle 4mo ago
  Freetaxusa isn't. I've done complicated schedule K, etc forms on it
- sampullman 4mo ago
  I used the IRS free fillable forms this year and it was much easier than I expected, including contractor, investment income, and foreign income declarations.
- steezeburger 4mo ago
  That hasn't been my experience. freetaxusa has been pretty great honestly.
xp84 4mo ago
We don't have one. Are you talking about Direct File? The Trump admin killed it, though it was successfully nerfed from the start anyway by the Intuit and H&R Block lobbyists -- you couldn't even itemize deductions, or have 1099 income. If your taxes were that simple, you didn't need software, you could do your taxes with the 1040EZ form, a pocket calculator and 10 minutes. Note: If you're just taking the piss because every other country has a government method to submit your taxes, yup, we're dumb, thanks mostly to that shitty company. Oh, we do have another 'free' filing method for those with income below a certain level, which the lobbyists made sure would be handled by those same private companies. They are allowed to obfuscate and hide it, so when you search for it, you will probably end up on their main, paid product. Kind of the identical story with how our credit reports work (annualcreditreport dot com being the site the CRAs really don't want you to find)
- silisili 4mo ago
  FreeTaxUSA is pretty close. I live in a no tax state so it is completely free. I think state tax is $15. Hate to sound like a shill, but they've been great. I have a more complicated return than most, but not everyone, and it handles it all(multi-state, capital gains/losses and rollovers, depreciations, etc). The only thing I wish they'd change is the name. It sounds scammy. I actually have started agreeing to their probably mostly BS Deluxe/Audit Defense just because I felt guilty about using it for free so long.
  - floren 4mo ago
    It's great but they don't handle AMT so I had to use TurboTax this year.
  - cheinic6493 4mo ago
    > I have a more complicated return than most, but not everyone, and it handles it all (multi-state, capital gains/losses and rollovers, depreciations, etc) Most people have W-2/1099 and some real estate deductions. Not hard to beat that in complexity. Try AMT, controlled foreign corporations, nested K-1s, and 1040X prior year amendments with $100k-$1 million+ pending refunds.
    - silisili 4mo ago
      I feel like you just stated what I said but with more details. Admittedly, it's not for everyone. But it will work for the vast majority of filers.
- alkonaut 4mo ago
  > you could do your taxes with the 1040EZ form, a pocket calculator and 10 minutes. Shouldn't the correct way to file simple taxes be to just accept (sign) a value? Why is any arithmetic needed at all? Doesn't the tax authority know the numbers (What you earned, how much you paid in taxes) and they could figure out what you owe automatically? I've just "accepted" or "signed" my tax return (not in the US obviously) for at least the last 15 years so I might underestimate some complexity here. The key idea behind it though is that nearly all deductions are automatically and unambiguously applied, already when the cost is charged in most cases. So they're always already done when I file my taxes. And the key to that is making sure the tax law is written with this in mind.

Why pay for tax software? What's wrong with the free tax submission website?

s1artibartfast 4mo ago

most are limited to a simple 1040

ThunderSizzle 4mo ago
Freetaxusa isn't. I've done complicated schedule K, etc forms on it
sampullman 4mo ago
I used the IRS free fillable forms this year and it was much easier than I expected, including contractor, investment income, and foreign income declarations.
steezeburger 4mo ago
That hasn't been my experience. freetaxusa has been pretty great honestly.

xp84 4mo ago

We don't have one. Are you talking about Direct File? The Trump admin killed it, though it was successfully nerfed from the start anyway by the Intuit and H&R Block lobbyists -- you couldn't even itemize deductions, or have 1099 income. If your taxes were that simple, you didn't need software, you could do your taxes with the 1040EZ form, a pocket calculator and 10 minutes. Note: If you're just taking the piss because every other country has a government method to submit your taxes, yup, we're dumb, thanks mostly to that shitty company. Oh, we do have another 'free' filing method for those with income below a certain level, which the lobbyists made sure would be handled by those same private companies. They are allowed to obfuscate and hide it, so when you search for it, you will probably end up on their main, paid product. Kind of the identical story with how our credit reports work (annualcreditreport dot com being the site the CRAs really don't want you to find)

silisili 4mo ago
FreeTaxUSA is pretty close. I live in a no tax state so it is completely free. I think state tax is $15. Hate to sound like a shill, but they've been great. I have a more complicated return than most, but not everyone, and it handles it all(multi-state, capital gains/losses and rollovers, depreciations, etc). The only thing I wish they'd change is the name. It sounds scammy. I actually have started agreeing to their probably mostly BS Deluxe/Audit Defense just because I felt guilty about using it for free so long.
- floren 4mo ago
  It's great but they don't handle AMT so I had to use TurboTax this year.
- cheinic6493 4mo ago
  > I have a more complicated return than most, but not everyone, and it handles it all (multi-state, capital gains/losses and rollovers, depreciations, etc) Most people have W-2/1099 and some real estate deductions. Not hard to beat that in complexity. Try AMT, controlled foreign corporations, nested K-1s, and 1040X prior year amendments with $100k-$1 million+ pending refunds.
  - silisili 4mo ago
    I feel like you just stated what I said but with more details. Admittedly, it's not for everyone. But it will work for the vast majority of filers.
alkonaut 4mo ago
> you could do your taxes with the 1040EZ form, a pocket calculator and 10 minutes. Shouldn't the correct way to file simple taxes be to just accept (sign) a value? Why is any arithmetic needed at all? Doesn't the tax authority know the numbers (What you earned, how much you paid in taxes) and they could figure out what you owe automatically? I've just "accepted" or "signed" my tax return (not in the US obviously) for at least the last 15 years so I might underestimate some complexity here. The key idea behind it though is that nearly all deductions are automatically and unambiguously applied, already when the cost is charged in most cases. So they're always already done when I file my taxes. And the key to that is making sure the tax law is written with this in mind.