Tax season is always a source of anxiety and worry. It’s confusing, with a multitude of forms, schedules, and worksheets to fill out. And it reveals the flaws and gaps in our bookkeeping as we suddenly realize we’ve misplaced, like, every receipt we thought we put in a safe place, and completely forgotten why we were so sure we could deduct that trip to visit the folks.
That’s why so many people use tax prep software and services to file their taxes in order to avoid making costly mistakes. But that tax prep doesn’t come cheap—it costs on average about $251 to have someone prepare a relatively simple federal tax return, and those costs can rise sharply as your tax situation gets increasingly complex.
But don’t despair. There are a lot of options for preparing your taxes these days, ranging from surprisingly robust free options to some pretty great tax prep deals that cost a bit but offer something in return.
Filing taxes for free
Paying taxes is bad enough. Paying to pay taxes is just salt in the wound. If it’s anathema to you to do so, remember there’s never a fee to file your taxes, so you can always use the IRS’s Free Fillable Forms to get your federal taxes in, and anyone earning under $72,000 can very likely use IRS Free File to also file their state taxes. Not all states participate, however, although many states also have their own tax filing portals where you can file for free, so it’s worth checking. The major downside here is the lack of guidance and advice aside from the (frequently inscrutable) instructions on the forms.
The IRS is also piloting a new program that will allow folks to file their taxes directly without involving any commercial tax prep software, but this year it’s only available in 12 states and isn’t fully up and running yet.
Most of the major tax prep companies offer a free tier for relatively simple taxes, although they don’t always make it easy to access or use. H&R Block offers their Free Online service, for example, and Intuit TurboTax offers a Free Edition (until March 31st, 2024, you can also sign up for their Live Assisted tier—which normally costs $89—for free if your tax situation qualifies). You’ll need to check to see the limitations of these programs—if your tax situation is a little hairy, these may not be a good fit.
There are several 100% free tax preparation services you can use as well:
CashApp Taxes. Owned by Square, Inc., CashApp Taxes will let you file both federal and state taxes for free, and the service includes free audit protection. This only works if you have a single state return—if you live and work in different states you probably can’t use this. And you have to install the Cash App app to use the service. The biggest downside is the lack of customer support—if you have questions, it can be tough to track down someone to help you.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). While this isn’t automated software, it’s worth noting that if you made less than $64,000 you can use the IRS’s VITA service to prepare your taxes. The service is staffed by volunteers who have been vetted by the IRS, and they can help with both federal and state taxes. You can use the VITA locator tool to find a location near you.
GetYourRefund.org. This is an online version of the VITA program that offers preparation assistance and services for folks earning less than $66,000.
AARP Tax-Aide. Although it’s run by AARP, this free tax prep service is available to anyone at their in-person locations, and to anyone earning less than $79,000 for the online self-filing service.
Good deals on tax prep
The free tax prep services all have different limitations and are best suited for simple returns. If your situation’s a bit more complex, or you just want the reassurance of paid professionals on your side, there are some great bargains to be had.
TaxAct and FreeTaxUSA. Both of these platforms offer pretty robust tax preparation services almost for free. In both cases, preparing your federal returns is free, but adding a state return will cost you some money ($34.99 for TaxAct, $15 at FreeTaxUSA.) The free tiers are good for simple returns; both also have paid tiers you can upgrade to for more services. The interface is similar to other tax prep software and is pretty easy to use.
Jackson-Hewitt. Jackson Hewitt is a terrific bargain; it will let you file both federal and state taxes for a flat $25 fee. The platform is a step-by-step process of preparing your returns, with live chat support if you get stuck. It’s a bit clunky, and you have to fill in a lot of information manually (as opposed to importing PDF forms)—but the price is pretty great.
TurboTax. The most prominent tax prep platform boasts is one of the easiest to use. If the free tiers don’t suit your situation, the full service costs $89 plus $49 per additional state return, or you can buy the software for $44.99 to $75.99, depending on how complicated your taxes are.
H&R Block. H&R Block’s online service (aside from its free offering) ranges from $35 to $85 plus $37 per state filing. You can also download their software for anywhere from $25 to $89 (plus additional fees if your taxes prove to be more complex than anticipated). A little cheaper than TurboTax and Liberty Tax, but the software and platform can be a little harder to use.
Liberty Tax. With prices ranging from $82.90 to $122.90 to file both federal and state taxes, Liberty Tax isn’t the cheapest or the most comprehensive tax prep platform. But it’s cheaper than hiring a CPA to do your taxes, and offers a pretty robust service with a lot of support, including the option to visit a retail location to get in-person advice.
If your taxes are pretty simple, you can probably get advice and file your taxes for free. If you’ve got a bit more going on, it’s usually worth it to pay something to get some real step-by-step guidance through the tax form jungles.