Each year as taxes role around it becomes a stressful time for many. Even with a tax accountant, you have to compile all of the supporting documents they need and provide it to them. Additionally, when they are done with your taxes, it’s important to take the time to check them before submission.

For the past few years it has been easier for me to do my taxes on my own because I had a simple filing (in the future it won’t be like this). Doing it myself has taught me a lot, not just about taxes but also about tax filing software applications. And, since I’m a numbers girl, I look directly into costs and fees before finally clicking the “file” button.

I filed my taxes this year using freetaxusa.com, a tool that I strongly recommend over other tax filing software (Note: I am NOT getting paid to share my opinion on this). I did my research in prior years and thought that TaxAct was the way to go and I actually used them for a while. Then about 2 years ago they dramatically increased their prices and it didn’t look like they improved their software or customer service to go along with it (a general rule is that businesses should have some reason or additional benefit to customers in exchange for increasing prices). So I figured that I would try some other tools out and if I didn’t like them I could always go back to TaxACT.

I am so happy that I ended up shopping around because I eventually found FreetaxUSA. I couldn’t really find any reviews online on Freetaxusa but I tried it out anyway. I found the software to be more helpful than TaxACT and on top of it SO MUCH CHEAPER. The software easily guides you through each part of your tax filing with simple questions. I was surprised as some of the questions that popped up helped me get a tax credit that I was not expecting!

I kept looking for “the catch” like how are they going to try and get more money out of me for something I don’t need. They do offer premium assistance that is not required to file your taxes which I really appreciated. Other tax software providers require that you purchase premium services in order to itemize expenses or file certain schedules. So I ended up paying a total amount of $15 to file BOTH my federal and state taxes.

Free Tax USA was easy, SUPER AFFORDABLE, and absolutely doable if you have a simple tax filing. So far I consider a simple tax filing to be for someone filing as a single adult, with or without itemized expenses and / or a schedule C. I definitely still recommend having an experienced tax professional that you trust file your taxes. However, if you have the time and just want to see what your taxes might look like if you do it yourself, you may just go through the process and see if your results match your accountants. You can always stop short of filing your taxes with Free Tax USA and have your tax accountant file them instead. By filing your taxes yourself you may find you have more understanding of the filing process and can contribute with your tax accountant more effectively.

As a special gift, I have uploaded to my FREE resource library the business expense tracking worksheet I used to file my taxes. I have also included a training video for how to use the worksheet. Check it out if you have business expenses that you want to include in your schedule C tax filing and let me know if you have any questions!

Disclaimer

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. It is provided with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering any kind of personal or professional services in this publication. The reader should consult with a competent professional before adopting any of the suggestions in this publication or drawing inferences from it. The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal, professional, or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of use and application of any of the contents of this publication.