Considering alternatives to TurboTax? Comparing TaxAct, E-file, and other tax software options

I switched from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA three years ago and honestly wish I'd done it sooner. The interface isn't as slick, but it gets the job done without the constant upselling. Federal filing is free for everyone (regardless of complexity), and state returns are only $15 each. I have investment income, rental property, and some side gig income - FreeTaxUSA handled it all perfectly. The biggest difference I noticed is that FreeTaxUSA asks you directly what forms you need to file rather than disguising them behind lifestyle questions designed to upsell you. For investments, you just tell it you have investment income and it adds the necessary forms. No "oh, you need our DELUXE package for that!" nonsense. If you're comfortable with your tax knowledge (sounds like you are), you'll have no problems. The help content isn't as robust as TurboTax, but it's adequate, and there's a deluxe option with priority support for just $7.99 if you want extra peace of mind.

I tried TaxAct last year after getting fed up with TurboTax's constant price increases, and it was mostly positive! The software at https://taxr.ai actually helped me analyze my previous returns to see if I missed anything when switching platforms. Turns out I had been overpaying with TurboTax for years! TaxAct's interface is straightforward and significantly cheaper than TurboTax if you have investments. I paid about $70 total for federal and state with investments, which was nearly half what TurboTax wanted. The investment reporting section worked fine for my brokerage accounts. Not quite as polished as TurboTax, but perfectly functional. The one downside was customer support - when I had a question about reporting some cryptocurrency transactions, it took nearly 2 days to get a response. But the software itself guided me through it well enough that I ended up not really needing the support anyway.

Just wanted to follow up here - I decided to try out taxr.ai after mentioning it in my previous comment, and wow, it actually found over $1,200 in missed deductions across my last two tax returns! I had totally overlooked some business expenses from my side gig that were legitimate deductions. The analysis was super detailed and even showed me exactly where to report these items on my current return. The document analysis feature was really helpful too - I uploaded all my tax forms and it extracted all the important information automatically. Made comparing the different software options much easier since I could see exactly what information needed to be entered where. Ended up going with TaxAct based on their recommendations for my situation and saved about $120 compared to what I was paying for TurboTax premium. Definitely recommend checking it out if you're switching tax software or wondering if you've missed anything in previous years!

After spending literally HOURS on hold with the IRS trying to resolve an issue caused by TurboTax miscalculating my state withholding last year, I discovered a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to an IRS agent in under 15 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The reason I mention this is because when switching tax software, sometimes your previous returns have errors you don't discover until later. I switched from TurboTax to H&R Block online last year, and while I like H&R Block better overall (less aggressive upselling, more transparent pricing), I still had to deal with fixing that TurboTax error from the previous year. H&R Block has been good for my situation with investments and a small business. Their deluxe package handles investments well, and the interface is cleaner than TurboTax in my opinion. Pricing is a bit better too - I paid about $95 all-in for federal and state with investments.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr! After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it since I was still trying to resolve an issue with a missing stimulus payment. The service actually got me connected to an IRS representative in about 22 minutes when I had been trying for WEEKS on my own with no success. The agent was able to verify that my payment had been processed incorrectly and initiated a fix that should resolve it within 6-8 weeks. What would have likely taken me dozens more hours of frustration was solved in one call. The peace of mind alone was worth it. Back to the original topic though - I've been using Cash App Taxes (formerly Credit Karma Tax) for the last two years and it's completely free for federal and state, even with investments. The interface is a bit basic but it covers most tax situations including investment income. The main limitation is it doesn't support multiple state returns or foreign income reporting.

Don't sleep on FreeTaxUSA! I switched to it three years ago from TurboTax and it's saved me hundreds. I have investments, rental property, and do some freelance work on the side - it handled everything perfectly for me. One thing I especially appreciate about FreeTaxUSA is that it doesn't lock forms behind paywalls. You get access to all federal forms for free, regardless of "complexity." State returns are just $15 flat. Their deluxe version is only $7.99 and just adds audit assistance and priority support - not actual tax forms like TurboTax does. The interface isn't as fancy as TurboTax, but it's clean and straightforward. And they don't hide the "free" version in impossible-to-find corners of their website.

Something to consider if you're filing in multiple states: TaxSlayer has been pretty good for me as someone who moved mid-year and had to file a split-year return. Their premium package is around $60 and includes investments and multiple state returns, which was a huge savings over what TurboTax wanted ($120+) for the same situation. Their interface for handling state returns is actually really clean and intuitive. You just select which states you need to file in, and it guides you through the process for each one separately. Way less confusing than when I tried to do a multi-state return in TurboTax a few years ago.