https://www.taxslayer.com/switch/?
Has anyone used Taxslayer? Price is good … $20 supports all Forms.
As a Turbotax user for many years, is it worth the change/learning curve. When I had rentals TT was great for maintaining Depreciation Schedules… no longer an issue.
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TaxSlayer Simply Free includes one free state tax return . Each additional state return is $39.95.
Same as TurboTax
If your return is not complicated, why do you need the tax software?
You want to teach an old dog new tricks.
I have been using tax software since the early 80s when it was available as “shareware” … remember that?
I cannot even think about doing it by hand and then transferring the numbers to GA. Compared to that TT Deluxe at $45 (Amazon Price) looks like a deal
My question is… is it worth $25 savings to have to learn to ride a new horse… That $45 is looking pretty good.
OK, I have SS, Pension, Dividends, RMD, and MF Distributions. No longer with Rentals nor thanks to Trump, no itemizing deductions.
Seems like you might qualify for one of the free filing services:
https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free
If not, TaxSlayer should be just fine for you. I’ve used it to prepare returns as a volunteer for VITA (which you might also qualify for if you want someone else to do your return). The income limit for VITA is a bit lower, but our site is pretty flexible on income, especially for seniors. It wouldn’t hurt to ask your local site if you’re interested in that.
https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers
I’d be tempted to try TaxSlayer myself this year because of the high price and my overall displeasure with turbotax. (I too am a longtime user of turbotax). However I would need to know if it can import information from my prior years turbotax file as well if it can import 1099’s and other forms from my brokerage accounts. Has anyone looked into that or does anyone have hands on experience with TaxSlayer? Thanks in advance.
I do. Usually $1-$5 for a sample of the software
Actually shareware was free although they asked for a Donation.
The most famous was PC File by Jim Button.
We did our Christmas Card Address Labels with PC File.
I was in a Position where I could get Review copies of most…
Later graduated to Smart Software followed by Paradox… now we use Google Sheets.
Google Sheets shared file is great.
Wife Updates… I print the labels.
I’ve only used the tax preparer version, and the consumer version may be different. The one I used can import from prior years of TaxSlayer, but not from other software. It doesn’t import forms automatically. That said, entering the information doesn’t take that long, and the only thing that’s really useful from last year is your names, SSNs, and address, along with a few other random numbers (e.g., carryover losses). I wouldn’t put too much value in importing data from prior years. TurboTax likely touts this benefit to try to retain their market share without competing on price.
Turbo Tax imports all of the Name Addr SS# etc
plus the names and EINs of all of last years income… includes Dividend Payers, Bank and 1099 issuers Name & address etc
It saves typing and gives me the list from last year. When I print the Return I see the blank amounts of those not done for me to either update or delete them.so I don’t miss anything.
I was looking at Youtube reviews that compared the top 4 including TS.
Some do not let you see the actual Fed form until you are done. Some do not let you work on the State till the Fed is done.
I generally print the return a couple times as I work on it and make Pencil Notes.
So for me, I am, thinking that Turbotax Deluxe including state at $45 at Amazon and Costo is worth the time saved
Oh right, I keep forgetting that all the tax software makes you enter irrelevant information that doesn’t appear on tax forms.
Tax Slayer will save all of that from year-to-year. If you have a bunch of forms, it will take a bit longer the first year if you switch.
It does say this on the Tax Slayer site:
“We make switching easy — import your eligible W-2 or upload a prior year return to autofill your income info in minutes.”
I have used TaxSlayer as a AARP TaxAide volunteer. It is fine, but for my personal taxes I use FreeTax USA - I like the interface a bit better and like OP got tired of the cost of Turbo Tax.
Let me fess up.
At my age, I wondered if it was worth learning another Tax Program and doubling my Data Entry to save about $20, which I can easily afford… so I decided to order TT Deluxe from Amazon, on sale for $45.
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BTW, I had trouble installing the CD on Friday Night… said could not connect to my Internet. We are cordless… Internet is great. Decided to wait till Monday to call… we know what weekend help is like.
Worked Sunday night… all good.
Was a longtime (30+ year) user of TaxCut/HR Block, but switched to FreeTaxUSA a couple of years ago. Bit the bullet the first year on having to enter all the info and learn new interface, now all the data carries over year to year. Works for me.
I’m in the same boat as PP. I’ve used the CD version of TT Premiere for years and it’s worth a few bucks not to have to learn to jump thru any new hoops… I noticed Sunday night they had most of the forms working. I especially like form EV credit form #8936 with the TT filler. By itself form 8936 is not intuitively navigable.
I bit the bullet and purchased TurboTax Premier again. $64 I think it was on Amazon but after some 5% cash back points from my Chase Amazon Visa card and some “digital” credits from Amazon for choosing a bit slower shipping on some prior orders it came to around $45. Well worth it for all the data pre-fill plus automated import of financial forms (1099’s, etc) from Schwab plus the eFile.
I just checked my TurboTax PC version. They won’t be ready to e-file returns with the new EV forms, 8936 and 8911 until Feb. 2.
I tried it last year and it could not properly fill out from 8606. Switched back to TurboTax……
Used Tax slayer for Many many years with no issues if that helps. They are good to military families. So we went with them at the time. My children’s taxes as well.
Turbo Tax notified me that it is ready to file with all forms. I was waiting for the EV and charging station credits to be included in the e-file.
I’ve been using FreeTax USA in recent years. Used to do taxes manually. Talk about cramming for a school exam type anxiety. The software makes it easy to crunch the numbers and they give you legitimate IRS tax forms to save in PDF format. The federal is free to e-file in my case. Spent maybe $20 to e-file state. The time saving was worth it to me after all these years of doing taxes on paper myself.