Is filing your own taxes really that hard? W2 income + mortgage + kids

So my spouse and I have been going to H&R Block for years to file our taxes jointly. We both just have regular W2 jobs, we own a home with a mortgage, and have three kids. Nothing fancy or complicated from what I can tell. Last year we paid around $470 for them to do our taxes and honestly I'm thinking that's ridiculous for what seems like a pretty straightforward situation. I'm seriously considering just doing it myself this year. Neither of us has any side businesses, investments, or weird tax situations. Just standard W2 income, mortgage interest deduction, and child tax credits. For those who do their own taxes, how difficult is it actually for a situation like ours? Are there any good tax software programs that won't cost an arm and a leg? I'm not trying to be cheap, but I'd rather put that money toward something else if our taxes aren't as complicated as H&R makes them seem.

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18 comments

Eli Butler

•8M

It's actually pretty straightforward for your situation! I was in a very similar boat - W2 income, mortgage, kids - and was paying about $400 to have someone prepare my taxes. Four years ago I decided to try it myself using tax software and was shocked at how easy it was. Most tax software will walk you through everything step-by-step. You just answer questions and enter information from your forms. For W2 income, mortgage interest, and child tax credits, the software practically does everything for you. The mortgage lender sends a form (1098) showing interest paid, your employers provide W2s, and the software calculates child tax credits automatically. I personally use TurboTax but there are cheaper options like TaxAct or FreeTaxUSA that work well too. Given your situation, you could probably file for under $100, maybe even free depending on your income level.

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Eli Butler

•8M

Audit protection is generally unnecessary for simple tax situations like yours with just W2 income. The chance of being audited with straightforward W2 income, mortgage, and child tax credits is extremely low. IRS data shows they audit less than 0.5% of returns in this category. If you're worried about making mistakes, most tax software has accuracy guarantees anyway and will cover penalties if their software causes an error. Save your money and skip the audit protection - it's mostly a profit center for the tax prep companies.

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Lydia Bailey

•8M

After years of overpaying for tax preparation, I started using taxr.ai https://taxr.ai and it's been a game changer for my situation (which sounds similar to yours). I was hesitant at first since I also have W2 income, mortgage, and kids, but the system actually makes it super easy to get everything entered correctly. What I love is that it analyzes all your tax documents automatically - I just upload my W2s and mortgage statement, and it extracts all the data and puts it in the right spots. No more typing in numbers from boxes wondering "does this go here or there?" It's especially helpful with making sure you get all the child tax credits you deserve without missing anything.

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Lydia Bailey

•8M

Yes, it handles state taxes completely! The system automatically applies your mortgage interest deduction to both federal and state returns where applicable, and explains exactly how it works in your state. It even shows you the difference between standard and itemized deductions so you can see which gives you the better outcome. The entire process took me about 45 minutes for a situation very similar to yours - two W2s, mortgage, and kids. Most of that time was just gathering my documents. The actual software work was maybe 20 minutes tops since it extracts information automatically instead of making you enter everything manually. It's actually faster than going to an appointment!

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Sofia Price

•8M

Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after seeing this thread and omg it was SO much easier than I expected! I was really nervous about doing my own taxes for the first time (we have two W2s, mortgage and two kids), but it literally walked me through everything. The document scanning feature was amazing - it pulled all the numbers from my W2s and mortgage statement perfectly so I didn't have to type anything! I was also surprised when it found a deduction related to my kids' after-school programs that I didn't know about. Ended up with a bigger refund than last year when we paid H&R Block $390! Definitely doing my own taxes from now on.

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Alice Coleman

•8M

If you need to contact the IRS for any reason during tax season (which happens more than you'd think when filing yourself), I highly recommend using Claimyr https://claimyr.com - I wasted HOURS on hold last year trying to sort out an issue with my child tax credit. This year I used their service and they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes instead of the 2+ hour wait I was facing. They have a demo video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was skeptical about whether it was necessary, but when I had questions about how to correctly claim my kids (split custody situation) while doing my own taxes, being able to actually talk to the IRS directly saved me from potentially making a big mistake.

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Alice Coleman

•8M

It's not about getting to the front of the line - they use a system that continuously redials and navigates the IRS phone tree for you. When they finally get through, they call you and connect you directly to the agent. It saves you from having to personally sit on hold for hours. No, they don't just call for you and make you wait. Their technology handles the waiting and phone tree navigation. You only get called when there's actually an IRS agent ready to talk. I was surprised too but it genuinely worked - I got my question about split custody child tax credits resolved in a single afternoon instead of spending days trying to get through.

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Lilah Brooks

•8M

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After being super skeptical in my earlier comment, my curiosity got the better of me when I couldn't get through to the IRS about an issue with my mortgage interest deduction. I was on hold for over an hour and kept getting disconnected. Finally gave Claimyr a try and wow - they actually called me back in about 45 minutes with an IRS agent already on the line. The agent cleared up my confusion about how to report some mortgage refinance points that I was totally lost on. Saved me hours of frustration and potentially filing incorrectly. Consider me a convert!

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Jackson Carter

•8M

If your taxes are just W2s, mortgage, and kids, you can ABSOLUTELY do them yourself. I've been using FreeTaxUSA for 3 years now and it costs me $15 for state filing (federal is free). With three kids you probably qualify for some credits too that the software will walk you through. H&R Block is wildly overpriced for simple tax situations. They charge $350+ for what amounts to data entry that you can do yourself in an hour. They don't do anything magical - they use software very similar to what you can buy/use yourself.

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Jackson Carter

•8M

You don't need to know any of the tax forms beforehand! That's the beauty of tax software. It asks you simple questions like "Did you own a home?" or "How many dependents do you have?" and then determines all the necessary forms for you automatically. The software fills out all the right forms behind the scenes based on your answers. You'll never need to decide "do I need Schedule A or Schedule C?" - it handles all of that. You just answer questions about your life situation and it does the technical part. It's designed for regular people, not tax experts.

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