5 of the Cheapest & Best Ways to E-File your Taxes
Efiling? Try These 5 Free Options
I’ve always used paid Turbotax & H&R Block electronic and software products to do my own taxes, however, there are some great free and much cheaper options available for those who have relatively simple returns and a low enough adjusted gross income (less than $57,000). After researching the marketplace, here are the five options that topped my list if your goal is to have the cheapest e-file tax return.
FreeFile: You can fill out forms online through the IRS website fillable forms website and then e-file. The only problem with this route is that you can’t prepare or submit your state return through the IRS. This can be a bit of a pain if you have to go elsewhere to do your state return (and all the data that you’ve already entered does not transfer with you). For state returns, the IRS lists 15 approved e-file vendors to choose from, many of whom offer free e-filing on federal returns. I’ll highlight a few of the best offers below.
Turbotax: Offers a free e-file edition for those with and adjusted income of $31,000 or less ($57,000 or less for active military), or to those who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit. If you choose to file a state e-file, it’ll cost you $27.95. If you choose to upgrade to another version, your data is transferred.
H&R Block: Also offers a free-file edition. Free e-file edition, like Turbotax, also costs $27.95, if you would like to add the state e-file. H&R Block offers free audit support. I used H&R last year and really like it. They are offering 25% off their online editions right now. To use it, your Adjusted Gross Income must be $57,000 or less and you must be age 52 or less.
TaxAct: Offers a free-file, and $17.95 for the two combined – cheaper than H&R Block and Turbotax – however, they are not as reputable. Eligibility requires your adjusted gross income be $51,000 or less and your age be between 18 and 57.
TaxSlayer: Offers free federal and $17.95 state e-file for those with an adjusted gross income of less than $30,000. The cheapest selection, if you qualify, but not as well renowned of a name as the other options, so tread lightly with this one is.
There are no vendors that offer free-file to those with adjusted gross income over $57,000. If your income is higher and/or you have a complicated return, I’d recommend going with the most appropriate paid Turbotax or H&R Block editions.
E-Filing Discussion:
- What’s the cheapest way that you’ve been able to file your taxes, while getting the best return?
- Have you done your taxes yet?
- How are you filing your taxes this year? (take the poll)
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I am G.E. Miller, & 
Don’t forget that you can often file your state return for free through your state’s Dept. of Revenue (or equivalent) website.
I just finished up my tax returns using H&R Block’s TaxCut (the free-file version), and I was able to avoid the $29.95 state fee by doing it myself online through the state’s website.
It’s not that hard usually. You’ll already have the information you need to complete your state return. Just make sure you save a PDF copy of your Federal return and you’ll be set. If you can’t print to a PDF, look up CutePDF and install it.
It’s worth doing it yourself. It really doesn’t take long at all!
Has anyone used TaxAct before? How is it?
@ Paul – some good tips. Just to emphasize Paul’s point, Turbotax, H&R Block, and some of the other software won’t allow you to transfer data automatically from your free federal e-file. Instead, it would have to be a manual entry based on the information you input for your federal return. I haven’t tried this method, so not sure how easy it is. How long would you say it takes, Paul?
If you’ve used TurboTax free version before, they will automatically transfer last year’s data and charge you for it at the end. From what I could tell, there’s no way to avoid this data transfer, so you have to pay $15 to file if you’ve used TurboTax before.
Question:
I use the purchased version of TurboTax (due to it being easier to deal with some investments I have); Can i still use any of these services to file them free? I make under the limit. Do i just print the forms to PDF and email it to them, &c?
Sorry, taxes can be a worrying time. Thanks for any guidance up front!
-=allen
@ P. R. – Good heads up.
@ Allen – If you used a purchased version, I believe you get 5 free e-files with it, so there’s no need to go directly through the IRS site – not sure if it transfers over to a state site for free. You may want to check out your individual state’s site. My state had a listing of products that you could use.
@G.E. Miller: Ooooo… i must be thinking of the stupid fee you pay if you want direct deposit from the IRS.
I’m hiring someone this year, though next year I’ll probably file for myself. ::bookmarked::
Just a note, TaxACT Standard allows you to prepare, print and e-file your federal return for free with no restrictions on income or age. TaxACT Deluxe (which has additional support features) is $9.95 and the TaxACT Ultimate Bundle (which combines Federal & State preparation) is $16.95. If you use TaxACT Standard and need to file a state return, the cost is $13.95.
Please update this. express1040.com now says “STATE Only $12.95″.
TaxSlayer is $14.90 for federal/state, but it’s easily the worst website I have ever experienced, so I’m not giving them any money.
My return is really simple, so I usually use one of the better services to make sure I didn’t miss anything, and then fill out one of the cheap services by hand and just double-check that I got it right.
Another really cheap, but crappy one is taxsimple.com for $9.95
freetaxusa.com looks identical to express1040.com, but the price is different!
freetaxusa.com “STATE Only $9.95″
express1040.com “STATE Only $12.95″
They’re practically the same website! I don’t get it.
That was practically nice ideas to save on taxes. Thanks for the post. It really brings an essential task to the level of lower expense but the same worth of work…
@ Paul – some good tips. Just to emphasize Paul’s point, Turbotax, H&R Block, and some of the other software won’t allow you to transfer data automatically from your free federal e-file. Instead, it would have to be a manual entry based on the information you input for your federal return. I haven’t tried this method, so not sure how easy it is. How long would you say it takes, Paul?
TurboTax all the way for me. Definitely not the cheapest option, but as a stock market and real estate investor and a business owner, I have found their tax preparation process very easy and straightforward. Never had a problem with any of my returns and it beats paying a few hundred dollars to an accountant.