Anyone have Column Tax reviews or experiences using it for filing taxes?

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?

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.