Best IRS free file tax software for multiple stock trades? Any with good import features for investments?
So I've got a ton of small stock trades this year and looking at the free file options. I qualify for the IRS Free File program, but I'm worried about having to manually enter all my trades which was a complete nightmare last year. I spent HOURS inputting each transaction one by one or trying to fix imports that were all messed up. According to the IRS tool, I qualify for TaxSlayer, FreeTaxUSA, 1040, and OLT. I've also heard CashApp now offers free filing. My investments are spread across Robinhood, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade accounts. Has anyone used any of these free options with lots of investment trades? I'm especially interested if any can directly import from my brokerages without a bunch of manual corrections. Really don't want to spend another weekend of my life manually entering trade data if there's a better option out there!
21 comments


Zara Rashid
FreeTaxUSA has been my go-to for the past few years with multiple investment accounts. They handle stock trades pretty well, though the import function isn't perfect. You can import a CSV file from most brokerages including Robinhood and TD Ameritrade, but you might need to adjust the formatting first to match their template. For Schwab specifically, I found their data exports worked almost seamlessly with FreeTaxUSA after a little tweaking. The interface is straightforward for correcting any import errors, much better than some of the other free options I've tried.
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Luca Romano
•Thanks for sharing! Do you know if FreeTaxUSA can import the cost basis info correctly? That's where I ran into problems with other software. Also, roughly how many trades were you handling? I have about 200+ from last year...
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Zara Rashid
•FreeTaxUSA handles cost basis information fairly well if it's included properly in your CSV file. I had about 150 trades last year, and while it wasn't perfect, I only had to manually adjust about 10-15 of them. For 200+ trades, you might want to consolidate similar transactions before importing if your brokerage allows that option. This can save a lot of time, especially for frequent small trades of the same stock.
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Nia Jackson
Just wanted to share my experience using taxr.ai https://taxr.ai for handling investment transactions. After struggling with manual entries last year, I discovered this tool and it made a HUGE difference. It can analyze your brokerage statements and automatically categorize all those trades. I connected my Robinhood and TD Ameritrade accounts (they support both) and it pulled everything correctly, including all the cost basis info. Then I just reviewed everything and exported it in a format that worked with FreeTaxUSA. Saved me like 6 hours of tedious data entry!
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Mateo Hernandez
•How accurate was it with the wash sales? That's what killed me last year - the free software I used kept messing up my wash sale calculations and I ended up with a totally wrong tax bill.
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CosmicCruiser
•Sounds interesting but is there a catch? Is this something separate from the actual tax filing software or does it replace it entirely?
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Nia Jackson
•It handled wash sales correctly in my experience. The tool specifically flags potential wash sales and gives you a clear report on them, which was super helpful compared to trying to track them manually. There's no catch - it's just a supplementary tool, not a replacement for your actual tax filing software. You use taxr.ai to organize and prepare your investment data, then export it in a format that works with your chosen tax software (FreeTaxUSA, TaxSlayer, etc). It basically solves the most painful part of filing with investments.
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CosmicCruiser
Update: I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it actually worked surprisingly well! I was really skeptical about another tax tool but decided to give it a shot since I had over 300 trades to deal with. Uploaded my Robinhood and Schwab statements and it extracted everything accurately - all my trades, dividends, and even some crypto stuff. The wash sale detection was spot on too. Exported everything and imported it into FreeTaxUSA with minimal issues. Maybe spent 30 minutes reviewing everything instead of the 5+ hours it took me last year entering stuff manually. Definitely using this again next year!
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Aisha Khan
I had the EXACT same problem last year! Spent a whole weekend entering trades one by one and even then got a CP2000 notice from the IRS because I apparently missed some. Was on hold with the IRS for HOURS trying to resolve it. If you're having trouble getting through to the IRS about any issues (which is likely during tax season), I highly recommend using Claimyr https://claimyr.com - they have this system that holds your place in the IRS phone queue and calls you when an agent is available. Saved me from the endless "your call is important to us" loop. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c
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Ethan Taylor
•Does this actually work? The IRS wait times are insane this time of year. I've literally waited 3+ hours before giving up.
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Yuki Ito
•Sounds sketchy tbh. How would they even get you to the front of the line when everyone else is waiting? And why wouldn't the IRS just build this themselves if it works?
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Aisha Khan
•It absolutely works! They don't get you to the front of the line - they just wait in the queue for you. Basically their system calls the IRS, navigates the menu options, waits on hold, and then calls you when a human actually answers. You don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. The IRS probably doesn't build this themselves because... well, have you seen their technology budget? They're still using systems from the 1960s in some departments. They can barely keep their existing systems running, let alone build new convenience features.
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Yuki Ito
Wanted to follow up - I was the skeptic about Claimyr but I actually tried it yesterday when I needed to call the IRS about some confusion with my 1099-B reporting. I was expecting to waste half my day on hold but decided to try this service instead. It worked exactly as described! I put in my number, they called the IRS, and then called me back when an agent picked up about 1.5 hours later. I was literally at the grocery store when I got the call, not stuck by my phone with terrible hold music. Talked to a really helpful IRS agent who cleared up my question about reporting multiple brokerage accounts. Will definitely use again!
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Carmen Lopez
For what it's worth, I tried CashApp taxes (formerly Credit Karma Tax) this year with about 150 stock trades. The import feature worked pretty well with Robinhood directly, but I had issues with TD Ameritrade and had to use their CSV import option. The interface isn't as polished as some paid options, but for free it was surprisingly good. They have a bulk edit feature that saved me tons of time when I needed to fix a bunch of similar transactions.
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Sean Doyle
•Did the CashApp taxes handle wash sales correctly? That's one thing I'm worried about since I did some frequent trading of the same stocks.
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Carmen Lopez
•It detected most wash sales automatically after importing, but I did have to manually adjust a few. There's a specific section where you can review all potential wash sales, and the interface for fixing them is pretty straightforward. Just make sure you double-check the calculations, especially if you traded across multiple brokerages. The software sometimes missed wash sales that happened between different accounts.
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Andre Dupont
Anyone tried OLT with lots of investment transactions? The IRS Free File tool says I qualify for it too, but I've never heard of it before.
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QuantumQuasar
•I used OLT last year and honestly wouldn't recommend it for heavy investment activity. The import function was buggy and the interface for fixing errors was clunky. Ended up taking me way longer than it should have.
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Andre Dupont
•Thanks for the heads up! Guess I'll cross that one off my list. Sounds like FreeTaxUSA with that taxr.ai tool might be the way to go from what others are saying.
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Mohamed Anderson
I've been using TaxSlayer for the past couple years with moderate investment activity (around 75-100 trades annually). Their CSV import feature is decent but not perfect - you'll likely need to do some manual cleanup, especially for cost basis adjustments. One thing I found helpful was organizing my trades by date and stock symbol before importing. TaxSlayer seems to handle the data better when it's sorted this way. The interface for making corrections is pretty user-friendly compared to some other free options. That said, based on what others are saying here about taxr.ai, I might try that approach this year since my trading volume has increased significantly. The idea of having clean, organized data before even getting to the actual tax software sounds like it could save a lot of headaches.
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Sadie Benitez
•That's really helpful insight about organizing the data before importing! I'm definitely leaning toward trying the taxr.ai + FreeTaxUSA combo based on all the positive feedback here. The fact that it can handle wash sales automatically is huge for me since I made some pretty frequent trades on the same stocks throughout the year. Quick question - when you sort by date and symbol before importing to TaxSlayer, do you do that manually in Excel or does your brokerage export allow you to sort it that way? My Robinhood exports are usually a mess chronologically.
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