- When it comes to filing your taxes online
is there ever really such a thing as free?
As a free, completely free filing?
Well, actually there is.
In this video,
we are covering the best free tax software in 2023.
(gentle upbeat music)
Hey guys, it's Justine with The College Investor,
investing and personal finance for millennials.
And if you're anything like me,
you're always looking for not only a bargain
and looking for a really good deal,
but also looking for really good quality.
And that's no exception when it comes to
filing your federal and state taxes online.
So we've done extensive research, walkthroughs, and reviews,
you can find all of that at thecollegeinvestor.com.
In today's video, we are talking about
the best free tax software for the year.
Let's get into it.
Okay, what I wanna do in this video is give you the list
and then also tell you which tax software
has different qualifications for their free tier.
Now, let's start off with the only truly 100%
free filing situation for your tax return,
and that's with Cash App Taxes.
Cash App Taxes, formally known as Credit Karma Taxes,
has a very robust user experience,
it's very intuitive, it's simple.
I love how they have a vertical layout to their dashboard.
A lot of times I see the same tax software dashboard
kind of set up in this horizontal menu.
If you've been following these videos,
you know that I really appreciate a good aesthetic
when it comes to my tax software
because I wanna be sure that I'm able to see
exactly what I need to upload and where
and just understand what they're asking.
I'm not a tax accountant,
so I wanna make sure that I understand completely
what my tax software is asking of me.
Cash App Taxes does a really good job
of making things simple
and keeping the user experience very clean
so I understand exactly how to upload those forms.
So no matter if you have a 1099, a W-2,
social security income, childcare expenses,
student loan interest deductions,
all of that is included in their free tier.
The next best thing to Cash App Taxes is
H&R Block the free tier.
H&R Block actually has a bunch of different tiers
depending on what your tax filing situation is.
Generally the more complex your tax filing situation is,
the more likelihood it is
that you're going to bump up into a paid option.
So let me tell you exactly what's included in the free tier.
In the H&R Block free tier that includes
W-2 income, credits and deductions,
qualifying tuition payments,
student loan interest deductions,
the earned income tax credit,
the child tax credit, and any retirement income.
If you have anything outside of that list,
you're most likely going to have to bump up
into that deluxe tier, which would be the paid,
the first paid tier of H&R Block.
But I feel like this has a lot of options going on
in the free edition that makes it really worth considering.
H&R Block has been around for years.
Yes, they are the more premium,
but if you have any of these tax forms
that fall into the free tier,
this is definitely the way to go.
If you have limited needs and simple returns,
then the next option you wanna take a look at is TurboTax.
Again, TurboTax is a premium software product,
but they actually have a really robust free tier system.
The free version supports W-2 income,
limited 1099 interest in dividend income,
1099-K income, student loan interest,
child tax credit, and the earned income tax credit.
If you have any other tax situations
that fall outside of these options in these tax forms,
then you're most likely going to bump up
into the next paid tier.
TurboTax has a really robust tax software.
It's definitely a premium product
and you get a premium experience inside of it.
This one is definitely worth considering
if you wanna get your taxes done and done right,
this is an option to take a look at.
The next option to take a look at is Tax Act.
If you are a simple filer, you have just a few forms,
then Tax Act may be an option to consider.
The one caveat here is that
it's not truly a free tax software.
The state return is actually going to be an additional 39.95
in order to file that state return.
Now, if you don't have to file a state return,
in which most cases people generally do have to
file a state return,
then you probably are going to look somewhere else
with the other options that I mentioned.
However, in the free addition of Tax Act
you can report W-2 income, education expenses,
and the child tax deductions.
Anything outside of those,
so this is a little bit more limited
than the other options that I mentioned,
anything outside of that,
you will have to bump up into the next paid option.
And then again, the state filing is not included,
you're going to have to pay an additional 40 bucks
to make that happen in Tax Act.
Another option outside of Tax Act is Free Tax USA.
Free is in the name,
so you kind of assume that it would be free, right?
Wrong.
Well, the state return is going to cost you 14.95.
Now that's a lot cheaper than Tax Act
and you can claim any tax forms,
any tax filing situations in Free Tax USA
just that additional 14.95 for the state return.
I really like Free Tax USA
because it's a very simple interface
and there's not a lot of bells and whistles,
so you kind of can go through,
especially if you filed your taxes in the past previously
you have a little bit of experience,
then this tax software is really going to help you
just breeze right through that whole filing situation,
get those things uploaded very quickly,
and then pay a minimal 15 bucks for the entire process.
Another solid choice would be Tax Hawk.
Very similar to Free Tax USA,
it's going to cost you 14.99 per state filing
in order to file your state return inside of Tax Hawk.
However, that federal filing is going to be free
no matter what your tax filing situation is.
It's a very easy dashboard to get in
and start uploading those tax forms.
Some manual process obviously goes into
using something like Tax Hawk
because there's not a whole lot of
automatic import capabilities with this tax software,
but you get what you pay for.
I mean, $15 to do your entire tax return
using their software is a really good deal.
Okay, if you truly have one of the most
simple tax filing situations out there,
which would be W-2 income or unemployment income,
then you would qualify for the free addition of TaxSlayer.
That's the only two options you really have
in order to qualify for their simply free edition.
Now, what's great about this option is that
both state and federal filing situations
are free using TaxSlayer.
I really like TaxSlayer's interface.
I feel like they're constantly improving
and upgrading their software year over year
and I really like to see that
because they're paying attention to how
tax filers are using their system
and making an enhancements based off of user experience.
So TaxSlayer could be a really good option for you
if you have a very, very simple filing situation.
If you have anything beyond that,
like literally anything beyond that,
you're going to have to bump up into their paid option.
But honestly, the paid options aren't that bad either.
Lastly, let's give an honorable mention to
easytaxreturn.com.
This is available to a very limited subset of people
those who make less than $50,000, not have any dependents,
and can only claim their W-2 income.
Keep in mind though that easytaxreturn.com
does charge for the state filing.
Also, let's give another honorable mention to
the IRS free tax forms that you can find on irs.gov.
If you're used to doing your taxes the old school way
with maybe a pen and paper,
these fillable forms may be the next best thing
to a typewriter,
which I feel most of us are probably going to steer clear
and avoid these types of forms from the IRS
and go with a tax software
that does a little bit more handholding and guidance.
But if you have little income and little deductible expenses
the free fillable forms could work for you.
So keep in mind, a lot of these tax filing situations
may not apply to you or very limited tax filing situations
that would help you qualify for that free tier
of these types of different tax software.
The only truly free tax software available in 2023
is Cash App Taxes.
I really liked the software.
It was very easy to use inside.
I also really like H&R Block, TurboTax, and TaxSlayer.
If I was going to go with a bargain deal,
TaxSlayer would be my option.
If I was going for for premium,
I would take a look at H&R Block.
But if I'm really just trying to focus on free
and get the best value, Cash App Taxes is the way to go.
If you like this tax software review series,
give this video a big thumbs up,
tell us in the comments
what are you using for your tax software this year
and we'll catch you in the next video.
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