Review of IRS-Authorized E-Filer FreeTaxUSA 🌟🌟🌟

reveurgam (60)in #review • 5 years ago (edited)

This is my review of the 2018 IRS-Authorized tax e-filer, FreeTaxUSA. 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.

FreeTaxUSA

🌟🌟🌟

TaxHawk, Inc.
Provo, UT
Summary: Somewhat recommended for most standard filers but those with special circumstances may not be supported.

Security & Confidence

Security: Phone number & email verification, 3 security questions, and it'll log you out if you're inactive for several minutes (but saves progress).
Claimed certificates: digicert, TRUSTe, securityMETRICS, BBB (A+) (I confirmed all of them.)
BBB Accredited: Yes, since 2005
BBB Rating: A+
BBB consumer rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟.2 (11 reviews)
Trust Pilot consumer rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 (3 reviews)
Consumer Affairs consumer rating: 🌟 (24 reviews)
Glassdoor employee rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟.8 (5 reviews)
Indeed employee rating: 🌟 (1 reviews)
Google Safe Browsing: ok

User Experience

Completion mode: self-guided for income and misc., as well as most state credits and adjustments to income, but walked me through the IRS deductions & credits section. Also offered a refund maximizer. Limited choices for school district based on my address.
Forms: It tries in several areas to simplify things for you by asking questions to reduce the number of forms you have to fill out. It handles IRS, then state.
Navigation: Tabs, section buttons (start/update), drop-down menus for major areas
Interface: Comfortable, sophisticated
Helpful links to info: Lots of them, with the ability to give yes/no plus open-ended feedback about it.
Guarantee: Guarantees
Accuracy Guarantee: "In the event any of the formulas and/or calculations utilized in any of the Products and Services offered by FreeTaxUSA are incorrect, then FreeTaxUSA will reimburse you any penalties and/or interest imposed by the Internal Revenue Service and/or your state of residence to the extent that such are imposed as a result of any such erroneous formulas and/or calculations. The Accuracy Guarantee is limited to penalties and/or interests as stated in this section and to no other amount(s)."
Maximum Refund Guarantee: "If your refund is larger or your tax liability is smaller using a different tax filing method, we will refund any fees from using our service and provide you a coupon for a free amended tax return." LOL Free=nothing

Test Results

Filing status: It chose the best of 3 for me.
Option to donate to Presidential Election Campaign Fund: Yes
Salary correctly indicated as employment instead of consultant income: Not really. I had to submit it on a regular W-2 because the site couldn't accommodate my situation.
Allowed me to report my full income easily: No
SS-8 filing acknowledged: No
Reporting missing SSI/Medicare taxes (Form 8919): Yes. After completing W-2, no.
Leave a note to the IRS: No
Reporting Interest/Dividends with no 1099-INT/DIV: Easy
Reporting healthcare: Easy
Taking Additional Child Tax Credit: Yes, correct.
Taking EITC: Yes, correct.
Taking WI Homestead Tax Credit: Mostly automated. After completing W-2, it was disabled, but I finally found the question to make it work.
Errors: After logging in, I selected take me back to where I'd left off, but it took me back to the start. It didn't have an option to mark my income as being on the wrong form, but I was able to report the unreported balance, and then it forced me to complete Sched. C. Because I couldn't correctly report my income as employment, it incorrectly calculated my EIC as $160 than it should have been, my additional child tax credit was short $57 and my state refund was $18 short. The result was $567 less than what I'd calculated and about $1,000 less than TurboTax. With "business income", I ended up owing money and got only partial credits on my federal return. The question for the WI HTC didn't appear - I had to click on the link in the drop-down menu for the state.
IRS refund: $1,625, viewable, summary
State refund: $905, not viewable until you pay, summary only
States supported: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, and West Virginia
Fees: $14.99 for state return (my state isn't a free one)
Customer Service: 🌟🌟I had to send a message on their web support form, and it noted that a response might take up to 24 hours. Responses received within half an hour or less. I was told by customer support that there was no way to correct the problem of my income. The agents' communication was kind, patient and apologetic, although it took several responses before they figured it out. A request for help with the Homestead Credit helped me to discover that the site had skipped the rent/own question which activates the use of Sched. H.
Support types: Email only

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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