FreeTaxUSA Reviews

Summary of a Reddit comment

Using an AI to verify a FreeTaxUSA return found an NIIT calculation oddity, an AI error and their own entry mistake.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA cannot handle wash sales exceeding the total loss, which TurboTax handles by marking the excess as gain.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They hit glitches on a California nonresident return in FreeTaxUSA and support insisted the result was right, so they switched to TurboTax. They did get a fast refund from FreeTaxUSA and may return when their taxes are simpler.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Super happy with FreeTaxUSA last year, but this year AMT from ISOs and a capped charitable donation were unsupported and support told them to use other software.

Summary of a Reddit post

First-time user who found FreeTaxUSA easy overall, but noticed it rounds each entry separately instead of rounding after adding like items, leaving their income a couple dollars short of a hand calculation.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Saved a lot switching from TurboTax but found chat support lacking about a rejected AGI, even ghosted once.

Summary of a Reddit comment

The Fidelity consolidated 1099 import produced weird entries that had to be manually corrected; everything else was fine.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Switched from TaxAct and liked the document import, though the Fidelity combined document had issues, and saved about a hundred dollars.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA suggests a net investment income tax figure but does not recalculate it if earlier inputs change, which led to a small error.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA's stock/1099 upload only picked up interest from a consolidated 1099, though results otherwise nearly matched TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit post

First-year FreeTaxUSA user who says the program works well but that its state refund estimate was far higher than what the state actually paid, so the summary numbers were unreliable for them.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Filed on FreeTaxUSA and used its beta import, which brought in interest, pension and IRA data well but got capital gains wrong; the Roth contribution from alimony was also not accepted.

Summary of a Reddit comment

After years with TaxAct, loved FreeTaxUSA's UX and ease of use but hit a roadblock with Form 3921 for ISO exercises.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They use FreeTaxUSA for free federal filing and their state site for state, calling it clunky next to paid options but filing for free in about half an hour with a fairly simple situation.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA showed a wrong Form 8615 result that fixed itself after clicking in and out of the section.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Found FreeTaxUSA's 1099 import split a sale into two boxes with blanks, and fixed it by combining the entries manually.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They find FreeTaxUSA a joy for their partner's simple W-2 and 1099 return, but it repeatedly failed to guide them through their own multi-state return with K-1 forms, so they use TurboTax for that.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Filed this year and noticed the state fee steadily creeping up and audit-defense upsells on almost every page, more than they remember, so plans to try OLT next year.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Needed an hour the first year for RSU income and a backdoor Roth, but liked FreeTaxUSA's simple website with clear steps better than TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Fifteen years of federal filing with zero issues, fast and easy with prefilled prior-year info, but its Colorado state software flagged credits they were not eligible for.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Handled a rental with a mid-year switch from personal use, though guidance on property tax allocation was buried and they had to check the forms.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Wants FreeTaxUSA to import more forms; it kept saying a form was needed but they could not generate it.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Only had difficulty with crypto one year; otherwise super easy, simple and fast, and amending was very easy.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Paid for FreeTaxUSA's premium support and called about a state deduction question; after much back and forth and some wrong answers, they arrived at a workable answer.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Many years with no problems on FreeTaxUSA, but this year it could not handle their return because of a PTP K-1, forcing them to use TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Likes FreeTaxUSA's interface but found an issue with one form that could not be overridden, unlike in TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Moved from TurboTax to FreeTaxUSA but finds multi-state credits less helpful, with vague instructions that frustrated them the first year.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Filing with a 1099 on FreeTaxUSA and finds it much like TurboTax, though the sections are a little vaguer and they have to look up what each Schedule C section means.

Summary of a Reddit post

Filed with FreeTaxUSA one year on a low income and was surprised it still cost money, apparently for the state return, despite the name.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Usually uses FreeTaxUSA but had to use TurboTax this year because FreeTaxUSA could not handle a complex situation.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Was charged for state by FreeTaxUSA until restarting through the IRS Free File link with a new account, after which filing was 100% free.

Summary of a Reddit post

Has filed with FreeTaxUSA for a couple of years and notes the state return fee every year, which has crept up, though federal is free.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Finds FreeTaxUSA great except with multiple 1099s from different brokerages, and hopes imports improve.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Found FreeTaxUSA rough edges, such as obscure K-1 boxes and awkward in-state exempt income handling, and moved to OLT.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA told them to use other software because it could not handle a simple Form 8829 item, so they bought TurboTax Desktop.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Used FreeTaxUSA for the first time; not quite as intuitive but got the job done cheaply.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA does more complicated forms for free but its document upload is glitchy with a combined INT, so each box must be reviewed.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They were sold on FreeTaxUSA until a publicly traded partnership document turned up that it could not handle, which forced them to go back to TurboTax to finish their return.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Notes FreeTaxUSA lacks e-file support for California LLC form 568 and estate returns, so they plan to paper-file that form.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Uses FreeTaxUSA to check their own work and finds its S corp support weak: no Form 7203 and no S corp capital gains on Form 8960.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA handled Fidelity 1099s but struggled with Schwab ones, so they use summaries for manual entry.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Used FreeTaxUSA for years but missed California Form 568 for a single-member LLC, which led to FTB letters, penalties and back to TurboTax desktop; great for simple returns.

Summary of a Reddit post

Federal return went fine, but the state return was held up and was not processed until they called and emailed combined PDFs of their W-2s and 1099s.

Summary of a Reddit post

Filed with FreeTaxUSA and was impressed, but a line-by-line comparison with TurboTax found rounding differences and a net investment income tax calculation difference.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They found FreeTaxUSA struggles with consolidated JP Morgan 1099 forms and is not a one-size-fits-all option, so they stay with TurboTax when discounts and cash back offers stack up.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Uploaded 1099-DIV and 1099-INT forms directly to FreeTaxUSA and all read correctly, though it misread the W-2 PDF a few times until fields were rechecked.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA handled Form 8606 correctly but it took troubleshooting and running the numbers themselves, as the entry fields are not crystal clear.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Needed some poking around to get basis correct in FreeTaxUSA, easier in TurboTax, but found the savings worth it.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Did not have great luck getting FreeTaxUSA to handle Treasury percentages for index funds, so went back to H&R Block.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Ran both FreeTaxUSA and TurboTax and got the same return, except FreeTaxUSA charged a small state e-file fee.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They hit the same HSA overcontribution penalty confusion in FreeTaxUSA, fixed by choosing a manual split and putting the full contribution on their own account instead of the default split.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Only issue was that the overtime deduction question asked about regular but not double overtime, likely needing an amendment.

Summary of a Reddit comment

New filer who found FreeTaxUSA rounds entered amounts instead of keeping the exact figure, which was unfamiliar to them.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Saw a larger refund in TurboTax than FreeTaxUSA because of deductions on self-employment income and was unsure where TurboTax helped.

Summary of a Reddit comment

They used FreeTaxUSA last year and found it nice, but say it does not hold your hand as much as TurboTax, though they plan to use it again anyway.

Summary of a Reddit post

While entering overtime pay on FreeTaxUSA, found it asked only for the half-rate premium and nowhere to enter 1.5x or 2x hours, leaving them unsure how overtime was being calculated.

Summary of a Reddit comment

While entering a K-1 it asked about a box then said to do taxes somewhere else.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Found FreeTaxUSA mostly okay but poor support and lacking loss-carryover support.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Very easy, but complicated scenarios with K-1s and Roth contributions needed a TurboTax chat, so they will try again next year.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Only issue is certain K-1 income types; otherwise loves it.

Summary of a Reddit comment

First year was good; one minor complaint is having to click through the whole return to get back to the income section.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Just as good as TurboTax, except K-1 worksheets for QBI, at-risk and interest limits gave inputs without instructions.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA showed a balance several hundred higher than TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Found FreeTaxUSA fine for simple returns but could not import hundreds of stock trades, so paid for TurboTax instead.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Usually uses FreeTaxUSA but a special situation was handled wrongly there, so they used TurboTax this year.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA went well until a K-1 box made it say it could not handle the return, so they plan to try again next year.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Used FreeTaxUSA for years but it cannot handle foreign pension income or the foreign tax credit, forcing a switch to TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA gave a smaller refund than TurboTax, which also offered union dues and job-related deductions.

Summary of a Reddit comment

After moving states mid-year, could not get FreeTaxUSA to understand they had not underpaid one state, so used TurboTax this year.

Summary of a Reddit comment

The W-2 PDF import missed a few fields that had to be fixed manually.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Only problem is that FreeTaxUSA cannot import brokerage documents like TurboTax, forcing manual entry.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Enjoyed using FreeTaxUSA but suspects their info was shared, as scam calls rose to many a day days after filing.

Summary of a Reddit comment

FreeTaxUSA made them work out California rental numbers themselves where TurboTax did the calculation, so they went back to TurboTax.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Frustrated by TurboTax's long-standing poor handling of 1099 options, which FreeTaxUSA handles perfectly; only complaint is that the return sits on their server.

Summary of a Reddit comment

Has used FreeTaxUSA for years with no complaints; interface kind of clunky but not a real problem for the price.