I think I have everything I need to file my 2019 Federal Income Taxes. I could itemize but, as a single dude, the standard deduction far exceeds what I used to itemize before the new rules took effect last year.

So I thought I'd make life easy for myself and just file online with a free service. The choices I'm being given are:
- FreeTaxUSA
- FileYourTaxes.com
- TurboTax
- Online Taxes at OLT.com

In anyone's experience here, are any of these better than the other? And will I get junk mail for the rest of my life from the online source I use?

Thank you, omnipotent SIGforum!

Which ever site you use, read their fine print first because some claim to be Free but deduct a Fee as high as 10 %. Sneaky bastards. You can prepare them yourself by reading each line as you go. Pretty straight forward. .Gov site will tell you what forms for your filing status. Ive never had to use any work sheets because my status is similar to yours. Simple is good. Remember to read to see if the site you use Steals a Fee. Dont use those sites.

I've used sites through IRS FreeFile for years, haven't paid a cent. Those sites usually offer State returns for a fee, I just use my state's online filing which is free.

^^^^^
efile.com? No state income tax in Texas...

IMO you get what you pay for.

Why not spend the 60 bucks and do it via Turbo Tax Online? I use it and it's great.

I've used OLT for probably 10 years now. Haven't noticed any issues.

Normally my taxes are very simple though.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Which ever site you use, read their fine print first because some claim to be Free but deduct a Fee as high as 10 %. Sneaky bastards. You can prepare them yourself by reading each line as you go. Pretty straight forward. .Gov site will tell you what forms for your filing status. Ive never had to use any work sheets because my status is similar to yours. Simple is good. Remember to read to see if the site you use Steals a Fee. Dont use those sites.

Yup, you gotta watch them sneaky bastiges all the time.

I use H&R Block, have for years. Pay the $35 for state and federal software.

Federal E-File is free.

State E-File is $19.95 Didn't think to see if I could do it direct, I'll bear that in mind for next year. Anyway, they gave me the option of putting it on my credit card or deducting it from my Federal refund.

Well, gee, that's a no brainer - deduct it! Then I read the fine print. $19.95 PLUS a $34.95 processing fee. Yeah...uh...fuck you very much. Here's my credit card number.

Got those fees from me to Paul but just 1 time. Following year they email me to see if Im ready to file useing their site. Delete button.

Go to IRS.gov . then click on Do Your Taxes For Free, and pick any from the list.

Very safe, they’re all approved, and they’re FREE. Yea!

Best wishes to you and anyone else who wants to do this.

Don't forget the option at the end to donate your refund to the public schools k-12.

A very basic service, https://www.freefilefillableforms.com, is no longer linked on the IRS website. Very basic, all data erased in October, and you start fresh the following year, new account, etc.

I think freefilefillableforms is provided by the IRS and serviced by Intuit.

I've been using TurboTax Free for years. One time I tried H&R Block and it was OK, but another time the site was down. I do however have a simple return, no dependents, no itemized deductions.

I have the refund direct deposited. This takes typically 5-8 business days. I have already gotten mine, in 6 business days.

I've tried them all in the past and every year I have had some minor issue that they can't handle or don't handle properly. Their question and answer format does not cover special (but not complicated) situations. I use the IRS free fillable pdf forms.

Correction: the free Credit Karma ones worked for me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mikeyspizza,

The free services are only available if you made less than $69,000 in 2019. If that fits, Turbotax free service is pretty good. I fortunately make too much for it to be free so I pay for Turbotax. It is worth every penny.

I used Turbotax in the past, and a few years back compared my exact same results with 2 other services. The other services agreed with each other and gave me more money.

So now I've been using FreeTaxUSA. Even married with a mortgage and all my other deductions didn't beat the standard deduction last year, so there's no point in spending a dime on Turbotax.

I use FreeTaxUSA. They do charge 12.95 to file state but I don't need to file state, so only use the free IRS part.

This year I did my taxes online with FreeTaxUSA on 16 January. The IRS accepted my return on the 21st. There was a weekend between filing and acceptance. Today, the 29th, my IRS refund hit my bank account and is available.

^^^^^
So you FILED (submitted your return) online at $0.00 cost to you, correct?

Thanks for all the responses. I file Federal return ONLY and use the standard deduction...no longer beneficial to itemize since the standard deduction (single) was raised to $12k and now 12.2k.

Yup make $69,000 and below and you can pick one of the tax software providers and do it for free. No catch.

https://www.irs.gov/filing/fre...deral-taxes-for-free

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
^^^^^
So you FILED (submitted your return) online at $0.00 cost to you, correct?

Yep. $0.00 to file with the IRS. It was kind of tricky to see exactly how to opt out of the state filing option for $12.95. Well, they make it a little hard to find because they want something out of the deal. But the option to opt out of state filing is there at the end of filling out the IRS return and after figuring as though you were going to file state, then just click you'll file the state later.

The thing is, no matter which free IRS service you choose, you can always try a different one if you don't like one or the other. What I mean is, you can fill in all the personal and financial information with an online service and not commit to it right up until you click on "transmit return". So if you go along as though filing and something feels like it isn't right or you just want to see what a different service comes up with ... go ahead and check out the other service. No harm no foul if you haven't transmitted your return to the IRS already. They won't do it for you. Oh, they'll file for you but you have to authorize filing, by electronically signing and then click on Send/Transmit. Until you do that, your service options are wide open and you're free to try as many services as you like and find which one you want to ultimately file with.

I've used other services in the past but for a couple of years now, FreeTaxUSA is the way I've gone. Easy peasy. And I don't have to re-enter all the information every year. Much of it is saved ... personal info and info from previous 1099's and other forms entered on their site is saved after filing. It didn't take long at all to do my taxes this year on FreeTaxUSA since my sources of income and personal info hadn't changed.

I used the H&R Block app on my phone, it cost me $25 to file and use direct deposit.

I make considerably more than $69,000, so free was out.

Had my refund in 14 days.

Stupid easy, just snapped pix of my W2 and filled out the info, answered a the questions. Done.

You can even finish on your computer if you hate using the phone app. Just use the app to upload the W2.