Hi tax knowledgeable people! I am a young person hoping to do my taxes on my own this year. I don’t want to go through my parents anymore. I’ve heard good things about FreeTax USA. Can someone walk me through the process of utilizing it? I just don’t know what to expect going in. All I will have is a W2 and 1098-T.
Thanks!
The site will walk you through it.
Robin said:
The site will walk you through it.
This. Especially if you have so few tax forms and don’t have special deductions to worry about.
Tip 1 (very important):
Don’t open free tax usa directly. Open irs free file and use their link to get to free tax usa. This way you don’t need to pay for state returns.
You can do your own taxes with Freetaxusa as long as you have enough info.
-
Will your parents be claiming you as a dependent? If so, make sure you check the box that says someone can claim you as a dependent.
-
How much, if any, of the scholarships shown on your 1098-T are taxable? If your parents are claiming the American Opportunity Credit on your behalf, it may make sense for you to report up to $4K of scholarships as taxable income. Doing this minimizes the total amount of tax your family pays.
@Jules
I’m an independent, so they don’t claim me on theirs anymore.
I just completed my own there. Pretty simple process.
Or you can use the IRS free file service. Please refer to the following link. https://www.irs.gov/file-your-taxes-for-free
Hi! I am also a young adult filing my tax returns for the second time. I decided to use TurboTax this year (FreeTaxUSA is also reputable), it was straight forward and I only had to pay $38-$39 for Federal and State tax filing. Our taxes are not complex, so it should be a breeze.
-
Have your tax papers and social security number ready
-
The service will ask you questions which correlates what you input from your tax forms or from your own knowledge of what you qualify for.
-
Then complete the process and e-file.
@Tatum
This is helpful! Thank you!
I suggest you go for free income tax return preparation by IRS-certified tax counselors through AARP Tax-Aide Foundation. They will explain your return to you, so you can confidently do your own return next year.
We start work effective February 1. Find a location near you at https://AARP.org
FreetaxUSA is amazing for me, but I’ve been doing it for years. If all you have is a W-2 (or even a few more complicated things) you should be fine. The greatest thing about FreeTaxUSA is that I used to use H&R Block and every time I needed a special form it was like “You need premium, give us $30 more bucks.” “Oh, now you need that form? Thats super-premium, give us $40 more”. FreeTaxUSA has never done that to me. There’s probably stuff out there that they can’t handle, but I haven’t found it yet.
Yeah it’s pretty straight forward and one of the cheapest options to file! I went through turbo tax every year prior & because I have dependents (3 kids) and earned income idk if that’s why but they’ve been HELLA charging me when I file with them and it sucked because I was pretty loyal to the company. Close to $300 in fees and crap. I think it’s absurd. And I couldn’t choose a “free for simple returns” option I even tried the direct link to it but as soon as I would sign in it would MAKE me use their expensive “live help” package which I didn’t even want. So I jumped into the pool with FreeTaxUSA and I paid $14.99 for the state, free federal and because I chose to use my return for the filing state cost, it was like $39.99 or something. You can choose to pay that $15 right then and it will save you the time of waiting for your return to go through a third party bank to withdraw their fees first and then send the rest to you. And it’ll save you the extra few bucks to use your return to pay the fees. But honestly when I filed I didn’t even have the Measley $15 in my pocket /bank so I opted to use my return to cover the filing fees.
Regardless it’s CHEAP. And completely actually free for a w2 federal. I’m not positive on the other you mentioned but otherwise, this is what I do know about. I hope it helps somehow. I know it can all be a lot especially at first but you’ll get it!
@Tao
I hope you got a big refund.
Yes. This is the best one out there.
FreeTaxesUSA has a list on their website on what isn’t free, so it’s not that shitty “oops document too hard! give us money because too hard :((((” halfway through filing. I had a W2 and 1099nec and they did it for free with 2 dependents, one of which isnt a child and the only thing I had to pay was to file through my state because im too lazy to file it myself
I have used FreetaxUSA for 8 years now. I highly recommend it to anyone that doesn’t have any crazy tax implications.
It’s good but find a local tax guy… someone in finance who does taxes on the side. I save so much money and he’s always able to get me way more back
Yes it’s so easy. If you don’t have deductions over the standard of $14600 then absolutely. Paying more for Turbo Tax is honestly overkill. All you have to do is upload your documents and it pretty much fills it out for you.
Use turbo tax if u have a easy tax form they don’t charge