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FreeTaxUSA 2025 Review: A Cheap Way to File Your Federal and State Taxes
This service stands out as an affordable option for filers as Tax Day, April 15, approaches.
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FreeTaxUSA provides a great value for a low price tag. You canfile your federal taxes for free, regardless of your situation. And if you have to submit a state return, that'll run you only $14.99.
This means that if you have rental property, cryptocurrency sales, retirement distributions orself-employment income -- anything that can lead to higher filing costs on other services -- you can include it in a free federal return using FreeTaxUSA.
The downside is you’ll have to fill out most, if not all, of your tax forms manually. And despite its extensive contextual help, FreeTaxUSA lacks a wider range of free support tools. You'll need to pay for live chat and access to a tax specialist.
- Free federal returns
- Extensive contextual help
- No restrictions on federal forms
- State returns cost extra
- No live chat without upgrade
- Text-heavy interface
Who should use FreeTaxUSA tax software?
FreeTaxUSA is a good choice for taxpayers who received more than $1,500 in interest -- like me -- havehealth savings accounts, dependents or plan to itemize deductions. Each of these tax situations can push you to a paid tier on services likeTurboTax,H&R Block orTaxSlayer.
Tax filers who received long-term care or death benefits, usually from an insurance company or the government, also should consider FreeTaxUSA. It includes support for Form 1099-LTC, which isn’t available in similar free tax software. And, if you earned significant money in other countries, FreeTaxUSA includes Form 1116 for claiming the foreign tax credit, another form not usually included infree tax software.
Self-employed filers looking for a cheap way to file their taxes could be well served by FreeTaxUSA. While FreeTaxUSA doesn’t let you import 1099 forms, you can enter as many as you want, completely free. This is also the case withCashApp Taxes, though the service’s professional tax support is basically nonexistent.
We recommend freelancers looking for tax help from a professional well-versed in self-employment taxes considerTaxSlayer, which offers a wider range of services at a cheaper price than TurboTax and H&R Block.
Some rare tax situations not covered by FreeTaxUSA include nonresident alien returns (Form 1040NR), at-risk limitations (Form 6198), casualty or theft, gain or loss from a business, and donations of property over $5,000.
If you’re looking for free live chat features or a completely free tax-filing option, FreeTaxUSA is not for you.
How much does FreeTaxUSA Cost?
FreeTaxUSA markets its tax software as four different levels of service: Basic for simple tax returns; Advanced forhomeowners and itemized deductions; Premium for landlords and investors; and Self-Employed forfreelancers, contractors and gig workers.
But in reality, all of FreeTaxUSA’s plans offer free federal returns and state returns for $14.99 each. The plans all run the same software as well. Moreover, once you get into the tax preparation process, there are no other mentions of the tiers.
The only paid products that FreeTaxUSA actually charges for outside of state returns are help and support and audit defense:
- Deluxe support: $7.99
- Pro support: $49.99
- Audit defense $19.99
How does FreeTaxUSA work?
FreeTaxUSA offers a clean interface and a thorough question-and-answer model that will leave you confident you have maximized your refund and filed your taxes correctly.
I used the tax service to file my tax return this year because I didn't qualify to file for free with TurboTax or H&R Block. Paying $14.99 to file my federal and state returns beats shelling out a minimum of $70 for TurboTax or H&R Block Deluxe anytime -- even if I lose out on a more premium experience.
Filing my taxes on FreeTaxUSA for the first time made me appreciate how well TurboTax and H&R Block guided me through the process previously. FreeTaxUSA will coach you through your return, but not with as much intent or ease as those industry heavyweights. I felt like I was on my own, which could be scary for some filers. You'll largely have to rely on contextual advice and email communication from FreeTaxUSA if you have questions, unless you pay for priority support and personalized tax advice.
File uploading is also limited to W-2 forms, which FreeTaxUSA's software allows you to upload from your computer or snap a picture of. Uploading your previous year's tax return will also save you time in filling out your personal details if you're new to the service. But that's it. Every other form will require you to input your tax information manually.
For these reasons, if you can qualify to file for free with TurboTax or H&R Block, do it. Just avoid upsell options you don't likely need. Since FreeTaxUSA also has paid services, expect to see a few ads for paid services if you file with the service as well.
The best part of FreeTaxUSA is that it does the basics of tax-filing software exceptionally well. And that's exactly what many taxpayers like myself require -- no bells and whistles. The software tells you exactly where to find the information it needs to know on your tax forms and will point out anything that looks unusual so you can double-check your work.
FreeTaxUSA also offers a Refund Maximizer feature that reviews your existing deductions and forms and asks additional questions that might increase your refunds. It includes a helpful checklist of IRS forms you may have missed, to that end.
As it turns out, I have a tax bill this year. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if another service would lower what I owe or even land me a small refund. So I uploaded my tax forms onto H&R Block, which I used to file last year, and it gave me the same tax bill, but a higher cost to file.
I'm sticking with FreeTaxUSA.
Are FreeTaxUSA Deluxe and Pro Support worth the cost?
You won't likely need FreeTaxUSA Deluxe or Pro Support if you have experience filing your own taxes online. But for those withcomplicated tax situations, Deluxe and Pro Support can offer great value.
For $7.99, FreeTaxUSA Deluxe gives you unlimited amended returns, live chat and priority support. Live Chat is available Monday through Saturday between 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. until April 30. Hours change after tax season.
Pro Support offers everything Deluxe does, plus personal tax advice, phone support and live screen share with a tax professional. You can start working on your return on your own and schedule a call with a tax pro anytime. Pro Support will cost $39.99, a fraction of the cost of similar services provided byTurboTax andH&R Block.
Other notable features
FreeTaxUSA displays a running total of your expected refund, which is similar to other software. You can receive your refund with FreeTaxUSA by direct deposit or a check in the mail. You can also receive your refund up to five days early by signing up for a new Go2Bank debit card.
FreeTaxUSA's maximum refund guarantee gives a full refund to customers plus a coupon for an amended tax return if any other tax-filing method results in a larger refund. An accuracy guarantee also ensures that FreeTaxUSA will reimburse you for any penalties or interest resulting from any software miscalculation. Audit defense is also available for $19.99. It lasts three years for federal returns and four years for state returns.
If you need to amend your tax return or file an extension, you can find the options by hovering over "account" on the top right portion of the screen. In this same menu, you can download copies of your federal and state tax returns for your records.
Is FreeTaxUSA right for me?
FreeTaxUSA won't hold your hand while you file your tax return like other options on ourlist of the best tax software do. But its free federal returns and unrestricted tax form offerings make it a worthy choice for anyone looking to file their taxes on the cheap.
Tax filers will need to manually input information for most forms. Yet FreeTaxUSA’s clean, stripped-down process lets them get the job done efficiently and add professional support for a fraction of the price that other services charge.
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The editorial content on this page is based solely on objective, independent assessments by our writers and is not influenced by advertising or partnerships. It has not been provided or commissioned by any third party. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products or services offered by our partners.
About the Author
Danni Santana
EditorDanni Santana
EditorDanni Santana has spent nine years as an editor and business journalist covering industries like sports, retail, restaurants, and now personal finance.He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. His biggest loves outside of the newsroom include, running, cooking, playing video games and collecting sneakers.
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