Review of IRS-Authorized E-Filer e-Smart Tax 🌟🌟🌟1/2

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

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

e-Smart Tax

🌟🌟🌟1/2

Liberty Tax
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Summary: Recommended. Fairly easy to use and ok for most tax filers. However, if you need to use the 8919 with Sched. 4 line 58, report unreported wages, or show that you are contesting being filed incorrectly, you cannot do that on this site.

Security & Confidence

Security: 3 security questions, reCaptcha, email verification, automatic logoff after 10 minutes.
Claimed Security certificates: GoDaddy, TRUSTe (I confirmed both.)
BBB Accredited: No
BBB Rating: A+
BBB consumer rating: 🌟 (1 review)
Trust Pilot consumer rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 (0 reviews)
Consumer Affairs consumer rating: 🌟🌟.4 (53 reviews)
Glassdoor employee rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 (2 reviews)
Indeed employee rating: 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ( reviews)
Google Safe Browsing: ok

User Experience

Completion mode: Import from competitor(!), sometimes guided, but major sections are not
Forms: Since all the major sections are self-guided, you'll have to have some understanding of your taxes. I couldn't try to use the EIC form, which isn't listed as supported, because it incorrectly handled my income. It doesn't seem to support 8919, so my income went onto sched. 1, c, SE, carryover worksheet.
Navigation: Tabs and subtabs, section menus, next/back buttons
Interface: Sophisticated, responsive, Audit Risk indicator, sometimes autofills info, such as employer info from the EIN.
Helpful links to info: No, but you can click on the common questions button on the right to search for answers as a sidebar to your return.
Guarantee: eSmart Tax Guarantee
Satisfaction Guarantee nothing other than being able to abandon it until you file - LOL
Accuracy Guarantee: "If an audit finds an error in calculating your return and it results in penalties from the IRS, [they] will reimburse you for those penalties and interest." LOL
Biggest Refund Guarantee: nothing happens if they fail, LOL

Test Results

Filing status: Incorrectly chose qualifying widower for both federal and state since it didn't ask if my spouse was an alien.
Option to donate to Presidential Election Campaign Fund: No
Salary correctly indicated as employment instead of consultant income: Instructions told me to put it as miscellaneous income, in which I had to choose the "1099-MISC with an amount in box 3" - there was no obvious way to access that form otherwise. However, the amount didn't appear on the income screen and didn't carry over to the EIC. I finally had to report my income as business income, put it in the 1099-MISC there, and put the missing income in another section of the business income for "other income". Because I couldn't correctly report my income, my credits and refunds were off. After switching to a substitute W-2, I got better results.
Allowed me to report my full income easily: No. In order to report all my income, I had to file it as other income on 1099-MISC in boxes 3 & 7. Using the W-2, I was able to file my income and provide a note for the IRS.
SS-8 filing acknowledged: No
Reporting missing SSI/Medicare taxes (Form 8919): No, 8919 & Schedule 4 line 58 isn't supported.
Leave a note to the IRS: Yes
Reporting Interest/Dividends with no 1099-INT/DIV: Yes
Reporting healthcare: Easy
Taking Additional Child Tax Credit: Automatic, correct
Taking EITC: This site as listed as not supporting the EITC on irs.gov, but it does. Correct amount on both federal and state returns after using W-2.
Taking WI Homestead Tax Credit: Manually add, and calculate credit, then got the right amount.
Errors: Incorrectly completed city as Milwaukee from zip code. It wouldn't allow me to enter my 1099-MISC in other income with just box 7 income without giving me a warning, and had no option for entering a full 1099-MISC, and it didn't include this income in any credit calculations, causing $0 for refunds. So it had to be entered as business income, which caused incorrect AGI and taxes, leading to incorrect credits and lower refunds than should've been received. I got a warning to add a note about my homestead tax credit although it's not needed.
IRS refund: $0, then $1625. After using W2: $2,605.
State refund: $0. then $221. After using W2: $239, then $923 after adding Sched. H.
States supported: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, GA, HI, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, ME, MD, MA, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VA, VT, WA, DC, WV and WI
Fees: $19.99 for state
Customer Service: 🌟🌟🌟Initially, I had to wait 3-5 minutes between response spurts from the agent, Joy R., but the frequency increased. She defended the site's results, implying I was wrong, until I forced her to understand that her site was in error because it doesn't support form 8919 and reporting unreported income. She was professional, analyzed and provided solutions, and was patient, but was not empathetic and shifted blame to me until finally acknowledging the site's weakness. I was unable to submit chat feedback because the feedback form required that I categorize my comments, but the drop-down menu to specify that category wasn't functional.
Support types: Email, chat

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!

If you appreciate this article, please 🏅upvote/like👍, 🤩resteem/share and share it to Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn and wherever else you can!