("citation needed" But be aware that you have to agree to the sale of your personal information to use the free sites and that the free options don't support many common forms such as K-1's and 8995. This is documented in the End User License Agreement (EULA) you must accept to use the software. "citation needed" There is also significantly higher risk of data loss and hacking with online sites that is avoided by using downloaded software) note this is subject to debate, but has been left in the wiki since it is reported to be unacceptable to delete comments from others in the wiki. Read the individual services supported forms and privacy policies and draw your own conclusion.) "citation needed"
IRS FAQs Related to Strengthened Taxpayer Control over Tax Information [irs.gov]
"The general rule expressed in both the 1974 regulation and the 2007 regulation is that taxpayers – not the government - control their tax information. No tax information can be disclosed or used without taxpayer consent."
1: Free Tax USA
(100% free for AGI $45,000 or less through FreeFile, Federal + State)
(no income limit, free federal, $15 for state)
https://www.freetaxusa.
2: Cash App Taxes (Formally Credit Karma Tax)
(no income limit, free federal and free state)
https://cash.app/taxes
3: OnlineTaxes
(100% free for AGI $45,000 or less through FreeFile)
(no income limit, free federal, $10 state)
https://olt.com/main/home/default.asp
4: MyFreeTaxes
https://myfreetaxes.com/
5: IRS Free File: Do your Taxes for Free (for AGI $79,000 or less)
https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-f...s-for-free
https://irs.treasury.go
6. New Pilot for 2024: IRS Direct File
only supported in some states, limited functionality for this pilot
https://directfile.irs.
7. IRS Free Fillable Forms
(no income limit, federal only, not full featured software)
https://www.irs.gov/e-file-provid...able-forms
List of states with free e-file directly with their dept of revenue: https://thefinancebuff.
Deluxe download software supports essentially everything in premium. No need to pay extra for capital gains, rental properties, etc.
Download vs online tax software: https://thefinancebuff.
How to opt-out of sharing your information with Intuit TurboTax or H&R Block Online: https://www.washingtonp
"You may use Turbo Tax or H&R Block online to save money filing your taxes. But did you know that by clicking "agree" to some of their privacy prompts, you may be letting them use you?"
H&R Block has been sued for "collaborated with Meta and Google to embed "spyware" on its website to make money from scraped tax return data.
"RICO class-action data privacy lawsuit filed against H&R Block, Google, Meta"
(Note these were the online versions of their tax software, not the download/desktop version this deal is about)
Citations: https://www.classaction
https://finance.yahoo.c
https://themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/...o-facebook
https://www.warren.sena
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
187 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Although H&R Block, TaxSlayer, and TaxAct did it illegally (ie without permission) in the past.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-poli...collecte
FreeTaxUSA states [freetaxusa.com] "We do not collect or sell data from the information on your tax return. That information is always kept confidential between you and the IRS."
OLT seems safe too (privacy policy: https://www.olt.com/main/home/pri...curity.ph
Cash App seems the most likely to share your data, but I think they primarily want to sell you their own services. Privacy policy: https://taxes.cash.app/pages/privacy-policy
Agree that download is probably the safest in theory, although this may be more risky with TurboTax now that they require an Intuit account to activate. Even their EULA says they can use and maintain your information according to their Global Policy Statement. https://turbotax.intuit
Edit - actually H&R Block has a similar statement: https://www.hrblock.com/pdf/HRBlo...eement.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
You might need to pay for a second state download if there are taxes due in that other state. I don't think premium vs deluxe is a factor for the out of state bit.
Leave a Comment