This is my review of the 2018 IRS-Authorized tax e-filer, 1040NOW.NET . My original article, Review of IRS FreeFile Companies, became too big to keep as one article. Go there for all the details of my test of the 12 providers, and links to the reviews of each.

IRS FreeFile - Should I Use It? - Plus Earned Income & Child Credits is the prologue to this series - you may want to start there. It includes a chart based on both what the IRS reported about each provider and a few changes I made based on what I discovered, as well as other info about e-filing, including the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, and my explanation of the criteria I used to test each provider.

I figured I wouldn't have any luck but most people probably won't encounter the problems I did. In any event, I suggest that you do the 1040 paper version (or you can edit the PDFs on your computer, which I think is easier) to make sure the provider you choose doesn't screw up before you e-file. Also, again, remember that I used special circumstances to test these providers - many people will not encounter these problems!

Note: "Option to donate to Presidential Election Campaign Fund:" refers to the opportunity to have $3 contributed to the election campaign, but doesn't cost you anything. It appears to come out of the taxes paid. It also pays for pediatric medical research.

Note: Customer Service Support types are those that are offered free-of-charge for free e-filing. Certain companies offer phone support for paying customers.

Note: The word "responsive" below is a programming word that means that the program changes what you see on the same page and ensuing pages. For example, if you answered "yes" to having gotten married this year, it would show you fields to enter info about your new spouse, but if you answered "no", that wouldn't appear or - if shown already - would disappear. Responsiveness is programming that is designed to make your experience more pleasing, easier and it adjusts to your screen-size (which is called "mobile first").

Given the complexity of tax laws these days, and the peculiarities of the scenario I set up, I am not surprised that every company had a problem helping me, and some either refused to or couldn't because of site limitations. All companies offered some sort of FAQ/written help section, but they varied in quality, completeness and accuracy.

THIS TEST SCENARIO DOES NOT TEST ALL POSSIBLE SPECIAL SITUATIONS, AND SOME ASPECTS OF IT ARE UNUSUAL, SO WHEN MAKING DECISIONS BASED ON THE REVIEWS I'VE PROVIDED, MAKE SURE TO TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION BEFORE CHOOSING YOUR E-FILER.

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1040NOW.NET

🌟🌟

1040 NOW TAX CORPORATION
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Summary: 🚧Not at all recommended for anyone except experienced taxpayers who know exactly what to file and just want to do it faster. Some forms are not functional, such as the 8812 (Additional Child Tax Credit for those who can't get the Child/Dependent Tax Credit). Very slow customer service response time.🚧

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Security

Security: 1 security question, optional 6 digit Sign-in PIN, 3-factor access to return (password, first name, last 4 digits of SSN); logs you out after 15 minutes of inactivity.
Claimed security certificates: TrustGuard, GeoTrust (I confirmed them both.)
BBB Accredited: No
BBB Rating: B-
BBB consumer rating: 🌟.3 (9 reviews)
Trust Pilot consumer rating: - (0 reviews)
Consumer Affairs consumer rating: - (0 reviews)
Glassdoor employee rating: - (0 reviews)
Indeed employee rating: - (0 reviews)
Google Safe Browsing: ok

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User Experience

Completion mode: Guided through pretty much everything but without the AI to figure out what you need.
Forms: up to 5 separate returns. Basically, if you do NOT understand which forms to fill out, this site is a bad choice because it cannot auto-determine filing status, dependents for child/relative/additional credits, EIC, Homestead, etc. - you must already know what applies and what doesn't. Radio buttons that you incorrectly click (i.e. you don't need to click ANY of them, but accidentally clicked one, such as after an "IF" sentence) cannot be cleared. In other words, this website is NOT for people who don't understand their taxes!
Navigation: links at the top in order of progression, with buttons above for state, federal, print/e-file, save/logoff, back/next buttons at top & bottom. If you go back to another area, it will not return you to where you were when you're done.
Interface: Simple, clunky, question-based, not responsive on pages except to incorrect entries, responsive between pages; offers a notes field for yourself to use (bottom right side)
Helpful links to info: NO. Almost every link I tried only referred me to irs.gov, or revenue.wi.gov for my state return.
Guarantee: Accuracy Guarantee: "If you are assessed an IRS penalty and/or interest due to a calculation error by 1040Now, [they] will pay for your penalty and/or interest subject to applicable laws and conditions."

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Test Results

Filing status: You must determine your status - it directs you to irs.gov if you click the help link.
Option to donate to Presidential Election Campaign Fund: Yes
Salary correctly indicated as employment instead of consultant income: Only option was to mark it as other income on the 1099-MISC. I had to know to find and complete the 8919, which mentions the SS-8. Through this, I was also able to enter my real wages. I then submitted it on a W-2, but there was no place for a note to the IRS about the problems, nor a substitute W-2.
Allowed me to report my full income easily: No, but I was eventually able to report it as other income by going back into my 1099-MISC to select an option that hadn't been there the first time. Then I switched to W-2.
SS-8 filing acknowledged: Yes
Reporting missing SSI/Medicare taxes (Form 8919): Yes, correct
Leave a note to the IRS: No
Reporting Interest/Dividends with no 1099-INT/DIV: Yes
Reporting healthcare: Easy
Taking Additional Child Tax Credit: No, "reserved for future use" on page
Taking EITC: Yes, correctly calculated after I switched from 1099-MISC to W-2.
Taking WI Homestead Tax Credit: Manually claim
Errors: in the EIC form, although I'd indicated the children as being students, the greyed-out checkboxes for that were not checked. It didn't calculate any EIC or additional child credits - 8812 only showed "reserved for future use". It screwed up both my IRS and WI amounts and charged me to file in WI.
IRS refund: I owe $413! Not viewable for unknown reason. $1,757 after using W-2.
State refund: $1168! Not viewable due to fee charged incorrectly. $1,407 after using W-2.
Feeless states supported: If your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is $66,000 or less and:

1. you live in one of the following states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, GA, IA, ID, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NY, OK, OR, RI, SC, VA, VT or WV, or
2. you are 60 or younger and you live in one of the following states: CO, CT, DC, DE, HI, IL, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MT, NE, NJ, NM, OH, PA, UT or WI.

Fees: $17.95 despite the fact that I qualify for free state filing according to the above.
Customer Service: 🌟The form states: "[Please allow up to 24 to 48 hours to retrieve our response]," which is not acceptable for time-sensitive tax filing. *4/12/19: No response thus far to my request for help!
Support types: Email, start via webform

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If you see any incorrect or incomplete, or you want to comment or give feedback, please leave a comment. I had a problem with the editor blitzing some of the content when I saved it. This series of articles took me 1.5 weeks of solid work for more than 12 hours on most days. Please show your appreciation!

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