Anyone have Column Tax reviews or experiences using it for filing taxes?
Hey tax folks! I run a small photography business and recently my business banking app Novo has been promoting this integration with Column Tax for filing taxes. They're saying it's completely free with my account and will pull all my business transactions automatically. The thing is, I can't really find much online about Column Tax - seems like it might be pretty new to the scene? I've always used TurboTax before but I'm tempted to try something different this year especially if it makes importing my business expenses easier. Has anyone in this community actually used Column Tax to file? I'm hesitant to be a guinea pig with my taxes, but the automatic integration with my business banking sounds convenient. Just worried about whether it handles all the Schedule C stuff properly or if there are any gotchas I should know about.
24 comments


Ellie Kim
I've been a tax preparer for about 8 years and while I haven't personally used Column Tax, I can give you some perspective on newer tax software options. These banking app integrations can be really helpful for small business owners, especially with categorizing expenses and income automatically. The biggest concern is usually whether they handle all the tax forms and situations you need. For a simple Schedule C business, most software can handle it fine, but if you have more complex situations (multiple income streams, unusual deductions, etc.), you might find limitations. Before committing, I'd recommend checking a few things: 1) Does it support all the forms you need? 2) What kind of support do they offer if you have questions? 3) Is there an option to review everything before filing?
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Fiona Sand
•Do you know if Column Tax handles state filing too? Or is it just federal? And what about if you have W-2 income alongside your business income?
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Ellie Kim
•Most integrated tax solutions do handle state filing, but sometimes that comes with an additional fee even if federal filing is free. You'll want to check their specific terms. For combined W-2 and business income, that's a standard situation that any decent tax software should handle. The real test is how well they optimize between the two - things like properly calculating self-employment tax while accounting for your W-2 withholdings to prevent overpayment.
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Mohammad Khaled
I actually switched to Column Tax last year after using TurboTax for years, and I was really impressed with how seamless it was! I use Mercury for my business banking and the integration saved me HOURS of work. All my transactions were automatically categorized and it suggested deductions I hadn't even thought about. They have a cool AI feature that analyzes your expenses and finds tax-saving opportunities too. Check out https://taxr.ai - they've partnered with Column and can review all your docs to find additional deductions you might miss. I uploaded my previous year's returns and it found almost $1,200 in deductions I had missed!
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Alina Rosenthal
•How accurate was the categorization? I've tried other software that claims to auto-categorize expenses but I always end up having to fix like half of them manually.
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Finnegan Gunn
•Is this just for self-employed people or would it work for someone with regular W-2 jobs and some side consulting income? And does it handle crypto transactions?
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Mohammad Khaled
•The categorization was surprisingly good - I'd say about 85-90% accurate right off the bat. It did better with common vendors and recurring expenses. For the odd purchases or unique vendors, I had to adjust some categories, but way less than with other software I've tried. For W-2 plus side income, it handles that combination perfectly. That's actually my exact situation - I have a day job plus my consulting business. As for crypto, yes it does handle it! It imported my Coinbase transactions automatically, though for other exchanges I had to upload a CSV file.
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Finnegan Gunn
Just wanted to follow up - I decided to try taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here. I was really skeptical about the AI tax review thing, but it analyzed my previous returns and found almost $3,000 in missed deductions from my side business! The report showed exactly what I missed and explained why I qualified. I was able to file an amended return for last year and I'm definitely using it for this year's taxes too. The Column Tax integration works great with my Chase business account. It's amazing how much time it saves not having to manually enter all those transactions!
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Miguel Harvey
If you're planning to use Column Tax or any newer tax service, just make sure they offer good support. I tried a similar service last year (not Column) and had questions that never got answered because their support was swamped. If you need to talk to the actual IRS about anything, good luck getting through on the phone. I wasted HOURS on hold before I found https://claimyr.com - they have this service where they wait on hold with the IRS for you and call you when an agent is on the line. There's a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Literally saved me from losing my mind during tax season when I needed to verify some information about my business deductions.
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Ashley Simian
•Wait, how does that even work? Do they just have people sitting on hold all day for others?
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Oliver Cheng
•Sounds too good to be true. The IRS wait times are insane but how can some random company get you through faster? They must be charging a fortune for this "service.
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Miguel Harvey
•They don't get you through faster, they just wait on hold for you. Basically they have a system that monitors the hold and then calls you when a real person answers. It's like having someone else sit on hold instead of you. They don't charge as much as you might think, especially when you consider the value of your time. Think about it - the average IRS hold time last tax season was like 90+ minutes. If you're a business owner, what's 90 minutes of your time worth? For most of us, it's well worth the service fee to not waste hours of our day.
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Oliver Cheng
Had to come back and admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After seeing it mentioned here, I was super skeptical but I was desperate after trying to reach the IRS for THREE DAYS about an issue with my business tax ID. I tried the service and it actually worked exactly as promised. I put in my number, they called me about 40 minutes later with an IRS agent on the line. Problem solved in 10 minutes after that. Seriously can't believe I wasted so many hours on previous attempts. 100% using this for any future IRS calls. Sorry for being so cynical before!
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Taylor To
Just a heads up on Column Tax - I used it last year through my Brex account. It was good for the basic stuff but if you have rental properties or more complex investments, you might hit some limitations. The Schedule C part worked great though! Also check if they offer audit protection. That's one thing I really value with tax software, especially for business returns which get audited more frequently.
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Ella Cofer
•Did you notice if Column integrates with any expense tracking apps? I use Expensify and wondering if I'd have to manually upload everything.
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Taylor To
•I didn't try connecting it with Expensify specifically, but they do have integrations with several popular accounting software options. I was able to connect QuickBooks Online without any issues. They have a feature where you can upload CSV files as well, so even if there's no direct integration with Expensify, you should be able to export your data and import it into Column Tax pretty easily.
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Kevin Bell
Anybody know if Column Tax is good for freelancers with multiple 1099s? I have like 12 different clients and some platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, etc. Last year TurboTax kept crashing when I tried to enter all of them.
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Savannah Glover
•I'm also a freelancer with multiple income sources. Haven't used Column, but I found FreeTaxUSA handled multiple 1099s much better than TurboTax did. No crashes even with 15+ forms.
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Kevin Bell
•Thanks for the suggestion! Did FreeTaxUSA handle all the self-employment deductions well too? I'm always nervous about missing something that could save me money.
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Wesley Hallow
I've been using Column Tax for two years now through my business banking integration and it's been solid for my consulting business. The automatic transaction import is definitely a huge time saver - I used to spend hours categorizing expenses in TurboTax. One thing to check is their customer support response times during peak tax season (March-April). They were pretty responsive when I had questions, but I've heard some newer tax software companies get overwhelmed during filing deadlines. For Schedule C stuff, it handled everything I needed including home office deductions, equipment depreciation, and business mileage. The interface is actually cleaner than TurboTax in my opinion. Just make sure to double-check the final review before filing - with any automated system, it's worth verifying the numbers match your expectations. If you're comfortable with technology and your tax situation isn't super complex, I'd say it's worth trying, especially since it's free with your banking integration.
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Sean Kelly
•This is really helpful! I'm in a similar situation as the original poster - small business owner trying to decide between sticking with TurboTax or trying something new. The automatic transaction import sounds like a game changer. Quick question - did you notice any issues with how it handles quarterly estimated tax payments? I always struggle with calculating those properly and TurboTax's estimates have been hit or miss for me. Also, when you mention equipment depreciation, does it walk you through the different depreciation methods or does it just automatically choose Section 179 vs regular depreciation? I have some photography equipment I need to depreciate and want to make sure I'm doing it optimally.
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Zara Mirza
•For quarterly payments, Column Tax actually does a pretty good job with the estimates. It looks at your previous year's tax liability and current year projections to suggest safe harbor amounts. Much more straightforward than TurboTax's confusing estimated tax worksheets. On the equipment depreciation question - it gives you options and explains the differences. For photography equipment, it usually suggests Section 179 since you can deduct the full amount in the current year (up to the limit), but it also shows you what regular depreciation would look like over 5-7 years. The interface actually walks you through the decision with plain English explanations, which I found really helpful. One tip: if you have expensive equipment purchases, definitely review both options. Sometimes spreading the depreciation can be better for tax planning depending on your income levels.
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Isaiah Cross
I actually just finished filing with Column Tax this past season and wanted to share my experience since you're considering it. I'm also a small business owner (marketing consultant) and was in the exact same boat - always used TurboTax but was curious about the banking integration. The good: The automatic transaction import really is as convenient as advertised. It pulled everything from my business account and the categorization was surprisingly accurate - probably saved me 3-4 hours of data entry. The interface is modern and intuitive, definitely less cluttered than TurboTax. The concerns: Since it's newer, there's less online documentation and community support compared to established players. I did run into one small issue with a foreign client payment that required some manual adjustment. Their support was helpful but took about 24 hours to respond, which made me a bit nervous close to the deadline. My advice: Given that it's free with your Novo account, maybe try running through the process early (like in February) to see how it handles your specific situation. You can always fall back to TurboTax if you're not comfortable. The Schedule C handling seemed solid for straightforward business expenses, but if you have complex deductions or unusual situations, definitely review everything carefully before filing. Overall, I'd cautiously recommend giving it a shot, especially since the price is right!
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Genevieve Cavalier
•This is exactly the kind of real-world feedback I was hoping to find! The 3-4 hours of saved data entry time alone would make it worth trying. I'm definitely leaning towards giving it a shot early in the season like you suggested - that's smart to test it out before crunch time. Quick question about that foreign client payment issue you mentioned - was it something specific to Column Tax's handling of international transactions, or just the usual complications that come with foreign income reporting? I occasionally work with a couple of Canadian clients and want to make sure I'm prepared for any potential hiccups. Also really appreciate the heads up about the support response time. 24 hours isn't terrible, but definitely something to plan around if you're filing close to deadlines.
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