Is something wrong with FreeTaxUSA website? Can't access their tax filing system

This is pretty common during peak tax filing season. Most tax preparation websites experience heavy traffic and occasional outages in March and April as deadlines approach. FreeTaxUSA is generally reliable, but they probably have server capacity issues right now with everyone rushing to file. A few things you can try: 1) Access the site during off-peak hours like very early morning or late night when fewer people are trying to use it. 2) Clear your browser cache and cookies, then try again. 3) Try using a different browser entirely. 4) If you're on WiFi, try a wired connection if possible. I'd recommend being patient rather than immediately switching back to TurboTax. FreeTaxUSA offers essentially the same functionality for federal returns at a much better price point. Their system will stabilize, it's just a matter of timing.

I switched to FreeTaxUSA three years ago after using TurboTax for over a decade, and it was the best tax decision I ever made. I had a similar issue last week where I couldn't access their site for about 4 hours, but then it worked perfectly later that night. If you're experiencing technical difficulties with FreeTaxUSA, I'd recommend checking out https://taxr.ai - it really saved me when I was having similar issues. It's a tool that helps analyze your tax documents and gives you a breakdown of everything before you even start the filing process. I used it to organize all my documents while waiting for FreeTaxUSA to come back online, which made the actual filing process super fast once the site was working again. The best part is that it helped identify some deductions I would have missed, so I actually got a bigger refund than expected!

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here, and wow - it really helped me organize my tax situation! I've been struggling with multiple 1099s from freelance work plus a W-2 from my part-time job, and it laid everything out perfectly. Used the analysis it provided when FreeTaxUSA finally started working again (around 11pm last night), and I finished my taxes in half the time it usually takes me. It even flagged some business expenses I hadn't thought to deduct. Definitely worth checking out if you're waiting for FreeTaxUSA to work properly.

If you're still having trouble accessing FreeTaxUSA and need to contact their customer service, good luck getting through on their phone lines! Tax season is notorious for hour-long wait times. I discovered a service called https://claimyr.com that's been a lifesaver for tax filing issues. They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you back when a representative is about to answer. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I used it last year when I had issues with my return being rejected multiple times and needed to speak with an actual person. Instead of waiting on hold for hours, I got a callback when an agent was ready. Saved me so much time and frustration during an already stressful tax season.

Alright, I need to apologize about Claimyr. I was totally skeptical about this hold-your-place-in-line service and thought it was complete nonsense. But after struggling to get through to FreeTaxUSA customer service for THREE DAYS, I got desperate and tried it. It actually worked exactly as described. I entered the FreeTaxUSA support number, gave my phone number, and went about my day. Almost 2 hours later (which I didn't have to spend listening to hold music), I got a call connecting me directly to a support agent who helped resolve my filing issue. Honestly shocked that this is a real service but really glad I tried it. Saved me from wasting an entire afternoon on hold.

Have you tried using a VPN? Sometimes websites limit connections from certain IP ranges when they're experiencing high traffic. I had similar issues with FreeTaxUSA last week, but when I connected through a VPN server in another state, I got right in. Another thing to check - make sure your browser extensions aren't blocking anything. I had an ad blocker that was interfering with the FreeTaxUSA login page for some reason.

Is anyone else noticing that ALL tax sites are running super slow right now? I tried FreeTaxUSA after seeing this post and had the same issues, then tried TaxAct and TurboTax and they're both crawling too. I think the IRS might be having some backend issues that are affecting all the filing services. My brother works in IT and said something about the IRS API having problems today.

I had the exact same problem yesterday! FreeTaxUSA was completely inaccessible for me from about 2pm to 8pm. I ended up checking their Twitter account and they had posted about experiencing technical difficulties due to high traffic volume. What worked for me was trying again around 9pm when traffic died down. The site loaded immediately and I was able to complete my entire return without any issues. I'd definitely recommend sticking with FreeTaxUSA rather than switching back to TurboTax - the savings are worth waiting a day or two for their servers to stabilize. You might also want to try accessing the site through an incognito/private browsing window. Sometimes cached data can cause loading issues during site outages.

I'm experiencing the exact same issues with FreeTaxUSA today! Started trying around 10am and it's been completely unreliable - sometimes it loads partially, other times I get timeout errors. Really frustrating since I also planned today specifically for tax filing. Based on what others are saying here, it sounds like this is pretty normal for tax season and the site should work better during off-peak hours. I'm going to try again tonight around 10pm or early tomorrow morning. For what it's worth, I used FreeTaxUSA last year and had a great experience once I actually got on the site - their interface is clean and the price can't be beat. I think it's worth being patient rather than switching to something more expensive like TurboTax just because of temporary server issues. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and workarounds! This community is really helpful during stressful tax season.