TaxSlayer software

[mystang52]

For 2019 our income is solely W-2, pension and interest. With tax reform, I now use Standard Deduction. Since I have an approx $500 refund coming I'll efile. I've used TurboTax for eons. TaxSlayer wants all of $17, including efiling. Best I've seen so far is $40 or so for Turbo, $33 for H&R.
I figure since my filing is simple, I should go with the cheapest. Am I missing something? Yes I know it's not big bucks regardless but why throw money away (unless TaxSlayer is no good for some reason)?

 

[RunningBum]

I know nothing about TaxSlayer. I tried saving a few bucks using H&R Block instead of TT one year. Never again. It didn't handle a Roth recharacterization correctly, so I got a letter from the IRS. It didn't handle foreign tax credit correctly, so I got a letter from the IRS. I hate letters from the IRS. I don't need the stress. I pay a few bucks more for TT to do it right. I also like a couple things about the output of my tax forms a lot better. They index the pdf files to make it easy to jump to any form, and they print out the QDiv & CG Tax worksheet, which is how my taxes are calculated. H&R B did no indexing, and buried the calculations in another worksheet that was hard to find and different to read.

But some people are perfectly happy with H&R B, so why not save a few bucks. You're return may be very simple, and you may be fine with TaxSlayer, and save a few bucks. Doesn't hurt to try it for a year if you think it'll work fine. If you really don't like how it's going, you trash it and you're just out the $17 for trying to save $24. The bigger possible problem is that it does something wrong or leaves it out like I got burned on. Your decision on the risk. btw it's harder to review your taxes and find something missing than it is to find something wrong.

Hopefully a TaxSlayer user will jump in and give their opinion.

 

[Souschef]

Please correct me ifI am wrong, but I remember using Taxslayer with the AARP tax aide program.
As a TT user for many years, Taxslayer is not as user friendly.

 

[kaneohe]

a review of the various programs: https://www.macworld.com/article/31...botax-which-tax-program-is-right-for-you.html

Never have used Taxslayer but have used Taxslayer Pro in the AARP Tax Aide program. Don't know what the differences are but Pro works fine for basic work like OP's. We mostly use in a mode that is a hybrid between interview and forms mode........

 

[tenant13]

This is (will be) truly free: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

 

[frank]

I have used taxslayer and taxhawk. taxhawk is much better. federal is free, but there is a charge for state, which you can get a coupon online for and it ends up to be about 15. taxhawk is much more user friendly.

 

[zinger1457]

Turbo Tax offers their free edition as long as long as all you need is the 1040 form and don't need to use the schedules (1-3).

 

[wmc1000]

Check with your state. Here in Indiana they have several online vendors that provide free filing for both federal and state if you meet their "free" criteria.

For example, last year we used OLT.com and again this year we can use the state link to that to qualify for free e-filing. They also have others such as H&R Block, Turbotax, taxslayer, etc. Mostly for simple filings.

 

[lauradrops]

We have been using Taxhawk for a few years now. Very good and user friendly. Free federal and 12.95 for state. Use TAXHAWK25 for 25% off.

 

[Buckeye]

I have used TaxAct for many years and loved it but their price has gotten outrageous. I recently purchased TT Home & Business for $65 (including $15 discount) at Costco. The corresponding program from TaxAct is $125.

Historical prices of TaxAct:
2015: Plus Edition, $16.99
2016: Premium Edition, $31.99
2017: Freelancer Edition, $35
2018: Self-Employed Edition, $73
2019: Self-Employed, $125

I opened the old programs and confirmed the 2015/16/17/18 editions are comparable to the 2019 Self-Employed Edition with Schedule C and Schedule SE available for someone who is self-employed.

I know prices go up and there have been tax changes that needed to be coded but good grief!

 

[Jerry1]

This is (will be) truly free: https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

Turbo Tax offers their free edition as long as long as all you need is the 1040 form and don't need to use the schedules (1-3).

I agree. If my taxes were truly simple, I’d look for a free option. I’d even consider paper and pencil, envelope and a stamp.

 

[retiredunder50]

I work with the Taxslayer "Pro" version and I would hope this is better than the standard Taxslayer software. With that said, it does an abysmal job for your state return in NJ which seems to be your location. The "Pro" version doesn't properly account for much of the NJ tax code nor does it automatically transfer/populate/calculate some data on the NJ side. While preparing taxes, we have to maintain a multi-page form to fill out various fields and do numerous calculations AND THEN put the data on the NJ side. The Federal side seems decent although other competitor products seem to be easier to use. By the way, if your state income was below $100K, you could have filed for the last decade or so for free using the state's webfile site. That seems to have been replaced with another free filing site, but I can't find income restrictions just yet.

https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/revenue/elf1i.shtml

"State of New Jersey Services The NJ Online Filing Service is for resident income tax return filers, including first time filers. The service is free and most all taxpayers may use it. It allows filers to upload scanned copies of required financial documents and schedules, and provides e-check and credit card payment options for filers with balances due."

 

[ncbill]

For 2019 our income is solely W-2, pension and interest. With tax reform, I now use Standard Deduction. Since I have an approx $500 refund coming I'll efile. I've used TurboTax for eons. TaxSlayer wants all of $17, including efiling. Best I've seen so far is $40 or so for Turbo, $33 for H&R.
I figure since my filing is simple, I should go with the cheapest. Am I missing something? Yes I know it's not big bucks regardless but why throw money away (unless TaxSlayer is no good for some reason)?

H&R Block Deluxe Federal & State drops below $25 by Black Friday every year and is often cheaper the longer you wait (first update isn't until January 10 anyway)

 

[frank]

check out taxhawk. It doesn't cost anything to use the software until your ready to file and then you can print it out and do it on paper if you want.

 

[retiredunder50]

I almost forgot to mention another free alternative is to get both your fed & state returns prepared and e-filed for free by trained and certified VITA and AARP volunteers. I believe VITA is limited to returns for incomes up to $56K. AARP Tax aide program has no stated income limits, but complex returns may be out of scope. The programs are really for lower income & seniors.