Looking for alternatives to TurboTax for DIY tax filing

How does FreeTaxUSA handle investment income? I've got some stocks and crypto, and that's the main reason I've stuck with TurboTax despite hating their prices. Do they make it easy to import those transactions?

FreeTaxUSA handles investment income very well, including stocks and crypto. They support importing 1099-B forms from many brokerages, though the direct import feature isn't as extensive as TurboTax. For crypto, you'll need to have your transactions organized - they guide you through reporting it but don't sync directly with crypto platforms. If you have a large number of transactions, you might need to use summary information rather than entering each one individually, but that's true of most tax software. They have excellent guidance throughout the process that makes it straightforward.

Does it handle more complicated situations like rental properties? I've got a duplex I rent out and TurboTax has been decent with that, but I'm ready to jump ship too.

I'm a little skeptical about new tax software... how long have they been around? Is your data secure? I'm always paranoid about giving my financial info to smaller companies.

They absolutely handle rental properties! There's a whole dedicated section for rentals that walks you through all the potential deductions - even suggested some maintenance deductions I hadn't thought to claim. Really thorough. Their security is actually better than some of the big names - they use bank-level encryption and don't store your raw financial data after processing. They've been around for a few years but really grew after getting backed by some major investors in the fintech space. I was hesitant too but their privacy policy sold me - they don't sell your data like some of the bigger companies do.

Wait, how does this actually work? Does it just keep dialing for you? I've been trying to reach someone about my stimulus payment that never came and it's impossible.

Sounds like a scam tbh. Why would I pay someone to call the IRS for me when I can just keep trying myself? The IRS is a disaster but I don't see how this would actually work.

It uses a system that essentially keeps your place in line with the IRS. They have dedicated lines that continuously attempt to connect, and then when they get through, they conference you in with the IRS agent. It's not just "dialing for you" - they've optimized the whole process to maximize connection probability during peak times. I was skeptical too - why pay for something I could theoretically do myself? But after spending 8+ hours over three days trying to get through, it was absolutely worth it to me. Time is money, and the peace of mind knowing I wouldn't miss the call when it finally connected was huge. They don't take any of your personal info - they just connect the call, so there's really no scam element possible.

Do they have a good audit protection plan? That's the only reason I've kept using TurboTax. I'm always paranoid about getting audited.

They definitely do! Their "Deluxe" version includes audit assistance, and it's still way cheaper than TurboTax. It's not audit "protection" in the sense that they don't represent you in person, but they provide guidance on what documents you need and how to respond to IRS notices. I actually had a letter from the IRS questioning one of my deductions last year, and their audit assistance team walked me through exactly what to send and how to word my response. The whole thing was resolved with one letter. For the price difference, I think it's totally worth it, but if you want someone to physically represent you in an audit, you'd need to go with a CPA anyway.

I used it last year! It's legit free, but there are some limitations. It doesn't handle multiple state returns, foreign income, or some less common tax situations. If you have a straightforward return though it works perfectly fine. Only weird thing is that it's in the Cash App now which feels strange for tax software lol.