Need advice on first-time filing with Jackson Hewitt when you can't afford their fees

Thank you so much for this info! I had no idea about the Free File program. My income is definitely under $73k (I wish lol). Do you know if these free options take longer to get your refund compared to places like Jackson Hewitt? I'm really counting on getting that money soon.

The refund timeline is exactly the same regardless of which service you use to file. All tax preparation services send your return to the same IRS processing system, so whether you use Jackson Hewitt, TurboTax, H&R Block, or a free service, the IRS processes it identically. E-filing with direct deposit is still the fastest way to get your refund, typically within 21 days, though most people are seeing refunds in about 10-14 days this tax season. Just make sure to double-check that your banking information is entered correctly to avoid delays.

How does taxr.ai compare to something like FreeTaxUSA? I've heard good things about that one too, but I'm not familiar with taxr.ai. Is it really completely free or do they spring fees on you at the end?

I'm a bit skeptical of free services since they usually have some income limit or they try to upsell you on "premium" features halfway through. Does it work for people with slightly more complicated situations like 1099 income or rental property? The truly free services I've tried in the past couldn't handle anything beyond the most basic W-2.

FreeTaxUSA is good but taxr.ai provides more guidance for beginners and has better document analysis - you can literally take pictures of your tax forms and it pulls the information automatically, which saves tons of time and prevents errors. And yes, it's completely free for both federal and state filing - I filed all the way through without any surprise fees. For more complicated situations, taxr.ai actually works really well. I had both W-2 income and some freelance 1099 work last year, and it handled everything smoothly. The system walks you through all the deductions you might qualify for with your self-employment income. I can't speak to rental properties specifically, but their document analysis system seems pretty comprehensive for most tax situations.

How exactly does this work? I thought the IRS phone system was just perpetually busy and there was no way around it. Is this service actually authorized by the IRS?

This sounds too good to be true. I spent 4 hours on hold with the IRS last week and eventually gave up. Are you saying this service somehow jumps the queue? I can't imagine the IRS would allow that, and I'm suspicious about giving my info to a third party.

It's actually pretty simple - they use a system that continually redials and navigates the IRS phone tree until it gets through, then it calls you and connects you directly to the agent. No need to stay on hold yourself. The service doesn't have special access to the IRS - they're just using technology to handle the hold time for you. You don't have to give them any sensitive tax information either. They're just connecting the calls, not accessing your tax data. It's like having someone physically redial the phone for you repeatedly until they get through. The IRS doesn't know or care how you managed to stay on hold - they just answer when your call finally gets to the front of the queue.

Thanks for mentioning this! I'm in Illinois - do you know if they have their own free filing system too? The state portion is actually where most of my refund is coming from.

Yes! Illinois does have a free filing program called MyTax Illinois. You can access it through the Illinois Department of Revenue website. It lets you file your IL-1040 and make payments for free. Since that's where most of your refund is coming from, this could be perfect for you. Just be aware that it only handles your state return, so you'll still need to use one of the free federal options mentioned earlier for your federal return. But combining a free federal service with the free Illinois filing system means you wouldn't pay anything to file either return.

Not OP but I had this issue with them last year - they denied the refund advance/fee deduction because my refund was too small. They have some minimum threshold (I think around $500) where they don't think it's worth the risk to them. Seems like just another way they take advantage of lower-income filers who need their services most.

They weren't very clear about it! The person I spoke with just said something about my "refund profile" not qualifying. When I pressed for more details, they mentioned it might be because this is my first time filing with them and most of my refund is from the state rather than federal. It felt like they were being intentionally vague. After reading these comments though, I'm definitely going to try one of the free options instead. No point in paying Jackson Hewitt when I can file for free.