Is FreeTaxUSA good for estimating taxes without filing or paying? Need to double check my tax prep
Title: Is FreeTaxUSA good for estimating taxes without filing or paying? Need to double check my tax prep 1 Does anyone have experience using FreeTaxUSA just to verify calculations without actually filing? I recently had my taxes prepared by someone but I'm paranoid they might have missed something or made errors. I just want a simple way to double check both my Federal and State returns are accurate before submitting them. When I started looking at FreeTaxUSA, I noticed they seem to charge $14.99 for State returns. I'm not clear if they'll make me pay this fee just to see my estimated refund/amount owed or if I can go through the whole process to get the numbers without paying anything. I really don't want to file through them - I just need the calculator functionality to verify what my preparer did. Has anyone used FreeTaxUSA or other tax software just for estimation purposes? Do they let you see your final numbers before asking for payment? Any recommendations for tax estimate tools that don't force you to pay or file?
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Vincent Bimbach
7 You can absolutely use FreeTaxUSA to check your numbers without filing. The way it works is you enter all your information just like you're going to file, and they'll show you all your calculated amounts for federal and state before you ever pay or submit anything. For federal returns, it's completely free to go through the entire process. You'll get your refund or amount due calculation at no cost. For state returns, they'll show you the estimate first, then ask for payment ($14.99) only if you want to proceed with actually preparing the state forms. But you can see what your state refund/amount due would be in the summary screen without paying.
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Vincent Bimbach
•13 Thanks for the info! Do I need to create an account to do this? And is there any risk of accidentally filing if I go through the whole process? I'm worried about hitting some wrong button and suddenly my return is submitted!
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Vincent Bimbach
•7 Yes, you'll need to create a basic account, but it's quick and free. And don't worry about accidentally filing - there are multiple confirmation steps before anything gets submitted. You'll have to explicitly enter payment info and click through several "Are you sure?" type screens before anything actually gets filed. The system clearly separates the preparation process from the filing process. When you're done entering all your info, you'll get a summary page with your refund/amount due for both federal and state, and you can just stop there.
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Vincent Bimbach
5 I went through a similar situation last year when I wasn't sure if my accountant calculated everything correctly. I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that actually saved me a ton of headache. Instead of re-entering all my tax info into another system, I just uploaded my prepared return to taxr.ai and it analyzed everything for potential errors or missed deductions. It spotted a missed education credit my accountant overlooked that was worth over $1,500! Way easier than double-entering everything into FreeTaxUSA.
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Vincent Bimbach
•18 That sounds interesting - does it work with both federal and state returns? My main concern is my state taxes since my situation got complicated with remote work this year.
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Vincent Bimbach
•22 I'm skeptical... how does it actually catch things a professional accountant would miss? Do you work for this company or something?
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Vincent Bimbach
•5 It absolutely works with both federal and state returns. I had a multi-state situation last year too, and it handled everything perfectly. It compared my state allocations and found inconsistencies my accountant missed. As for how it catches things pros miss - it's basically using AI to scan your documents and compare against tax rules. No, I don't work for them! My accountant actually made a simple oversight (forgot to check a box for an education credit I qualified for). Even pros make mistakes sometimes, especially during busy season when they're rushing through returns.
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Vincent Bimbach
22 I was really suspicious about taxr.ai when I first heard about it here, but decided to give it a try anyway since I was worried about my taxes this year. Honestly, I'm shocked at how helpful it was! Uploaded my draft return that my brother-in-law (who "knows taxes") prepared for me, and within minutes it found he had completely messed up my 1099-K reporting from my side gig and missed a home office deduction. Would have cost me almost $2,300! The system explained everything in plain English and gave me the exact forms and line numbers where things needed fixing. Definitely worth checking out for peace of mind.
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Vincent Bimbach
9 If you're still waiting on tax docs or have questions about your specific tax situation, getting through to the IRS can be really helpful but almost impossible these days. I spent HOURS on hold last month and kept getting disconnected. Someone recommended Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to me and it was seriously life-changing. They basically call the IRS for you, wait on hold, and then call you when an actual agent is on the line. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I used it when I had questions about my estimated tax payments that weren't showing up in my account, and I got through to a real person in about 35 minutes instead of the 3+ hours I spent trying on my own.
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Vincent Bimbach
•16 Wait, I don't get it. How do they get you through faster than calling yourself? Isn't it the same phone line with the same wait times?
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Vincent Bimbach
•22 This sounds like a scam. Why would I trust some random company with my personal tax information just to make a phone call? The IRS already has horrible wait times, this won't magically fix that.
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Vincent Bimbach
•9 They don't get you through faster - they just wait on hold so you don't have to. The genius part is their system automatically navigates the IRS phone tree and waits in the queue, then calls you once a human agent is actually on the line. It's the same wait time, but you don't have to sit there listening to the hold music for hours. I had the exact same concern about privacy. They don't actually access any of your tax information - they just connect the call. Think of it like a sophisticated call-back system. You still talk directly to the IRS agent yourself and provide all your personal info directly to the IRS, not to Claimyr. The service just handles the hold time for you.
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Vincent Bimbach
22 Just following up - I was the one who was super skeptical about Claimyr in the comments above. Man, I have to eat my words. After wasting an entire afternoon trying to reach someone at the IRS about my stimulus payment that never arrived, I gave in and tried it. Within 45 minutes I got a call back with an actual IRS agent on the line ready to help. Felt kinda silly for being so dismissive before. Saved me hours of frustration and I finally got my issue resolved. If you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS, it's definitely worth it.
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Vincent Bimbach
11 Another option is TaxAct - they let you go through the whole process for free and show you your results before asking for payment. I've been using it just for estimation for years. You can even save your return and come back to it later without paying.
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Vincent Bimbach
•3 Really? I tried TaxAct last year and they locked me out of seeing my final numbers until I paid. Has this changed for 2025?
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Vincent Bimbach
•11 I think you might be confusing it with TurboTax, which definitely pulls that bait-and-switch stuff. TaxAct shows you the estimated refund/amount due throughout the process on their summary dashboard. I've been using it for years just for checking purposes. Maybe it depends on how complex your taxes are? I have pretty straightforward W-2 income with some basic deductions and investments, so I'm always able to see my estimated refund before the payment screen.
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Vincent Bimbach
2 Honestly, I'd just go with two different tax prep services and compare. Do FreeTaxUSA and then also run the numbers in CreditKarma Tax (now Cash App Taxes) which is completely free for both federal and state. If you get the same numbers in both places, you can be pretty confident your preparer did it right.
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Vincent Bimbach
•8 Great suggestion! I actually did this last year. Found a $850 difference between the two calculations, which led me to discover an error in how my preparer handled my crypto transactions.
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Vincent Bimbach
•2 Exactly! That's the real benefit - when two completely different systems give you the same number, you can be much more confident than just trusting one service. And Cash App Taxes is completely free for both federal and state, no upsells or hidden fees.
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