I’m not going to shill too hard for a tax prep company, but I’ve used FreeTaxUSA for years and am satisfied. Cheap, simple, no hidden fees I’ve noticed.
I've used them for five or six years. They keep getting better. The name sounds super sketchy, but they're legit.
They do charge for oddball forms, but they're super up front about that. Like when you select the forms they tell you the price. I have multiple income streams and multiple weirdo tax situations (farming, day job, three consulting firms, my own consulting) and it still only takes me 30 minutes to do my taxes with them.
> The name sounds super sketchy, but they're legit.
I've told them to change their name, and my relative has told them to change their name.
Their marketing department is...dumb, IMO. (My relative told me about a semi-recent marketing campaign, and it was laughable.) But quite frankly, I prefer a company where the marketing department is the only incompetent one.
Tell your relative they're doing really good work, but a little change to their website might do wonders. Nothing crazy, maybe just something to make them not look like identity thieves.
>I prefer a company where the marketing department is the only incompetent one.
I have never thought about that, but it is exactly spot on. They're really good at what they do and really bad at selling it. Word of mouth seems to be the only way they get customers. I read about them on reddit and started using them. Now I tell everyone about that service.
Tell her to show them this thread and how they're effectively turning into a laughing stock in spite of a great product (well, at least hoping my comment sends the message so she doesn't have to be so upfront about it :P).
I would love to keep using them, but looking at my current tax year, I want to file a specific state form that they do not support. For estimated taxes calculated by annualized income installment method because my income is tilted towards the end of the year. I haven't paid any estimated taxes for the first two quarters, and without this I'd have underpayment fees.
I did ask them about this two years ago, so if they don't add it for 2023, I'll have to look into other options.
They do charge for oddball forms, but they're super up front about that. Like when you select the forms they tell you the price. I have multiple income streams and multiple weirdo tax situations (farming, day job, three consulting firms, my own consulting) and it still only takes me 30 minutes to do my taxes with them.