Why you should avoid using TurboTax for your 2025 tax filing

I just felt compelled to warn everyone about TurboTax before we all start filing our 2025 taxes. After doing some research and watching a documentary about their business practices, I'm honestly disgusted. First off, they constantly advertise as being "free" but then hit you with fees right before filing. They've actively lobbied against government-sponsored free filing programs that would help average taxpayers. What's worse is how they've helped gut IRS funding. Instead of the IRS going after wealthy tax evaders who hide billions, they're auditing regular people for tiny mistakes like not reporting the $15 I made selling my old blender online last year. There are legitimate free tax filing services out there (NOT TurboTax). I used one this year and had zero issues. TurboTax's aggressive marketing makes you think they're the only option, but they're deliberately misleading people. I just had to get this off my chest. Has anyone else had terrible experiences with them? What alternatives have you used successfully?

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18 comments

Christian Bierman

•8M

You're absolutely right about TurboTax's deceptive practices. I've been a tax preparer for 12 years, and the "Free File Alliance" situation is particularly frustrating. TurboTax and other major tax prep companies actually lobbied to prevent the IRS from creating their own free filing system. What many people don't know is that if your adjusted gross income is under $73,000, you can use the IRS Free File program through their website. Different companies participate, but you have to access them THROUGH the IRS website (irs.gov/freefile), not by going directly to TurboTax or others. Other good alternatives include FreeTaxUSA which has a free federal filing for any income level (state returns cost about $15) and Cash App Taxes (formerly Credit Karma Tax) which is completely free for both federal and state for most basic tax situations.

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Christian Bierman

•8M

FreeTaxUSA handles self-employment income very well, including all Schedule C requirements. They walk you through the process step-by-step and allow you to claim all legitimate business expenses including home office deductions. For home office deductions specifically, they support both the regular method (calculating actual expenses) and the simplified method ($5 per square foot up to 300 square feet). Their interface for this is actually clearer than what TurboTax offers in my opinion.

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Lucas Lindsey

•8M

After getting frustrated with TurboTax's hidden fees last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it completely changed my tax filing experience. I was skeptical at first because I had tried other "free" services before, but this was different. What I love about taxr.ai is that it actually reviews your tax documents for errors or missed deductions that other systems overlook. Last year I almost missed a $1,200 education credit because I didn't realize my continuing education qualified. The system flagged it for me and walked me through the documentation needed. Their document analysis tool saved me hours of manually entering information. I just uploaded my W-2 and investment statements and it pulled everything accurately.

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Lucas Lindsey

•8M

It handles complex tax situations very well. I have a side business and some investment income, and the system guided me through everything including rental income and deductions. Unlike TurboTax, there were no surprise upgrade fees when I entered my 1099s or rental information. Security is actually one of their strongest features. They use bank-level encryption for all documents and data transmission. They're also SOC 2 compliant which means they've been independently audited for security practices. They don't store your full documents after processing, and you can request complete deletion of your data after filing.

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Sophie Duck

•8M

Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai. I was skeptical from my earlier question, but it really did handle my rental property and freelance income well. The document scanner saved me at least 2 hours of data entry. The biggest surprise was when it caught a depreciation error I'd been making for years on my rental property. TurboTax never flagged this! Apparently I could have been depreciating certain improvements separately from the building itself. This single correction saved me about $340 in taxes. The interface is different from what I'm used to, but much more straightforward once you get going. No more answering 50 irrelevant questions before getting to what you actually need.

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Anita George

•8M

After spending HOURS trying to call the IRS about an issue with my refund last year (TurboTax messed up something with my filing status), I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and it literally saved my sanity. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I had been trying to reach someone at the IRS for THREE WEEKS. The Claimyr service got me connected to a real human at the IRS in about 20 minutes. I was honestly shocked since I'd spent hours listening to "all our representatives are busy" messages before. The IRS agent I spoke with was able to fix the filing status issue that TurboTax had messed up. Turns out I was owed an additional refund of $780 that I would have completely missed without speaking to someone directly.

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Anita George

•8M

It works by using an automated system that continually calls the IRS for you and navigates through all the initial menu prompts. When it finally gets through to where you'd normally wait on hold, it holds your place in line and calls you when an actual IRS representative comes on the line. That way you don't have to sit listening to hold music for hours. I completely understand your skepticism because I felt exactly the same way. The reason it still works is that most people don't know about it, and the IRS phone systems are so understaffed that they typically can only answer a small percentage of calls each day. The service just ensures you're one of the calls that gets through. It's similar to how some doctor's offices use systems to confirm appointments - it's using technology to navigate an inefficient system.

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Austin Leonard

•8M

I need to eat some humble pie here. After being really skeptical about Claimyr in my earlier comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to get through to the IRS about a CP2000 notice I received (claiming I underreported income). Holy crap it actually worked. I got a call back in about 35 minutes telling me an IRS agent was on the line. The agent was super helpful and we discovered the "missing income" was actually from a 1099 that had been reported twice by accident. Without speaking to someone, I might have just paid the $1,460 they were claiming I owed. The agent cleared it up immediately and is sending a corrected notice. I'm still shocked this worked. Sorry for being so dismissive before.

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Logan Chiang

•8M

I actually used to work for a tax prep software company (not TurboTax but a competitor) and the stuff that goes on behind the scenes is unbelievable. These companies spend MILLIONS lobbying Congress to keep taxes complicated and prevent the IRS from offering pre-filled returns like they do in other countries. The whole industry exists because they've created an artificial problem. In most developed countries, the government sends you a pre-filled tax form that you just need to verify and sign. But here, we've made it so complicated that people are scared to do it themselves. The free filing program? That was a deal the industry made to prevent the government from creating its own free filing system. They promised to offer free services but then hid them and created obstacles to finding them.

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Logan Chiang

•8M

There have been several efforts to reform the system. Senator Elizabeth Warren has introduced the "Tax Filing Simplification Act" multiple times which would require the IRS to create a free online tax preparation and filing service and allow taxpayers with simple returns to receive pre-filled tax forms. Unfortunately, the tax prep lobby is extremely powerful. Companies like Intuit (TurboTax) and H&R Block spend tens of millions on lobbying against these changes. They've successfully framed any government involvement as "big government overreach" rather than the simplification it actually is. There's also been some recent IRS funding increases in the Inflation Reduction Act, but specific reforms to the filing process itself have been stalled.

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