Tax filing preparation help can be expensive. Luckily, if you don’t want to pay someone hundreds of dollars to do your taxes, you do have other options. Check out the four cheap tax preparation options in this post for getting your taxes done at little or no cost to you...
The following post is by MPFJ staff writer,Laurie Blank. Laurie is a wife, mother to 4 and homesteader who blogs about personal finance, self-sufficiency and life in general over at The Frugal Farmer. Part witty, part introspective and part silly, her goal in blogging is to help others find their way to financial freedom and to a simpler, more peaceful life.
Tax filing preparation help can be expensive. Personally, we’ve used the same guy for over twenty years. We’re lucky in that he runs a small-time operation and only charges us about $130 to do our taxes, even though we’ve got a somewhat complicated return with lots of deductions and small business expenses.
I’ve toyed around with doing our taxes myself, but it’s so easy just to hand him a list of our income and expenses, write him a check and be in and out of his office within 20 minutes.
Luckily, if you don’t want to pay someone hundreds of dollars to do your taxes you do have other options.
Here are some of the more popular places you can get your taxes done for cheap – or for free depending on your individual income and tax situation.
Check out the four options below for getting your taxes done at little or no cost to you.
Online Tax Software
Online tax software is all the rage these days for doing your taxes cheaply. Several tax companies have created tax software that makes it easier for much of the mainstream public to do their own taxes simply by following step-by-step instructions.
Here is the scoop on two of the more popular tax software options.
TurboTax
TurboTax has four different options for online software tax filing:
- The Free Edition ($0 to file for federal and $0 to file for state - best for EZ filers or those with no deductions
- The Deluxe Edition ($39.99 for federal and $36.99 for state – best for those with property and charitable deductions)
- The Premier Edition ($54.99 for federal and $36.99 for state – best for those who have investment and other more complicated income sources and deductions
- The Self-Employed Edition ($79.99 for federal and $36.99 for state – best for the self-employed)
Most of the TurboTax prices are cheaper than you’d pay if you had your taxes done by a CPA or tax specialist.
TaxAct
TaxAct is another popular online tax software option for do-it-yourselfers or those who are good at following directions. Here’s the scoop on some of their options:
- TaxAct Free ($0 for federal and $0 for state – for 1040EZ and 1040A filers)
- TaxAct Plus ($29.95 for federal and $37 for state – for those with common deductions such as homeowner deductions and charitable deductions)
- TaxAct Freelancer ($44.95 for federal and $37 for state – for independent contractors and other self-employed individuals)
- TaxAct Premium ($59.95 for federal and $37 for state – for filers with all types of deductions)
TaxAct has a lot of great packages to help filers in all tax situations file their taxes cheaply as well. Most of the packages available with these two companies are cheaper than what you’ll pay if you hire a Certified Public Accountant to do your taxes.
IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
This is a program implemented by the IRS to help certain income groups get help with tax filing for free. The VITA program will give you free tax filing assistance if:
- Your income is $54,000 or less
- You have a qualifying disability
- You have limited English speaking skills
Just go to this IRS website to find a location near you. Note: the IRS also has another program (they talk about it in the link I shared a minute ago) where they’ll help seniors age 60 and above file their taxes for free as well.
IRS Free File
The IRS also has a program called IRS Free File which allows you to file your taxes for free if you make less than $66,000 per year.
Note that you probably need to educate yourself a little bit about the tax laws if you’re going to use this program unless you’ve got a straight W-2 situation with no deductions.
Whereas the Turbo Tax and TaxAct programs come with specific instructions to guide filers through, IRS Free File pretty much leaves you to figure it out on your own.
United Way My Free Taxes
United Way has partnered with H&R Block to offer free tax filing help to people with incomes under $66,000.
Just go to the My Free Taxes website to learn more about how the service works and for locations near you.
If you fit the parameters of the services they offer, you can get your taxes done for free through United Way.
As you can see, there are several cheap and free options for tax filing for people in most all income situations. Knowing your options at tax filing time will help save you money as you file your taxes.
***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/x_jamesmorris/2592570286/in/
