FreeTaxUSA Reviews Summary
FreeTaxUSA has a rating of 2 stars from 289 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with FreeTaxUSA most frequently mention state taxes, last year and customer service. FreeTaxUSA ranks 1st among Tax Preparation sites.
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Horrible experience
Horrible experience. It was the last day to efile and no matter what i did it wouldn't let me remove the state return from the order. They charged me 40 dollars for something I did not want, will not file and did not give them permission to add to my order in the first place. Everytime i went to back track to remove the state from the order it would sent me to a page that had no option to remove it. The only thing it would let me do was change how i filed the state so i changed it to mail. I never downloaded it IVE NEVER EVER FILED MY STATE TAXES AND I DON'T WANT TO I don't care if I had a 60 dollar refund or not I didn't want to file state. And they refuse to refund me. Its manipulative and abusive the way they won't let you complete the federal without going through the state then they just add it to your order themselves. Its wrong! It needs to stop. Date of experience: May 07,2025
I have done my taxes for years on turbo tax. Last 2 yrs I used Free tax USA. Both times delayed my refund. 1st time banking info incorrect. I asked for direct deposit to prepaid they were providing. The account # on my tax form was not the same as the direct deposit form they made for you to get the card. 2nd time I was told my Ss info on w-2 was incorrect. Well I know u entered it correctly when filing. I paid close attention. The amount that they put on my return was not what I entered. How do I know? BECAUSE I DOUBLE CHECKED WHEN FILLING OUT. THE AMOUNT THAT WAS ON ACTUAL FROM WAS AN AMOUNT NOT EVEN ON W-2. WHERE DID I GET THAT AMOUNT I GUESS I PULLED OUT OF MY $#*!!
Hello Charlene, I am very sorry to hear that your refund was delayed multiple times. I certainly understand that is extremely frustrating. We would be more than happy to help you figure out the issues with your tax returns. Please contact Customer Support within your account and we will look into these issues for you.
It was easy to use could not put my paperwork up to print it. Can't get in touch with anyone. I do not know if it was filed or not. They have all of my personal information which I do not like since they aren't responding.
Hi Jennie! I understand your concerns. Customer Support will be happy to help you. You can contact us by signing into your account and sending a message by selecting 'Support' at the top of the page. Customer Support will contact you within 24 hours. You can find the status of your return by going to the 'Final Steps' menu and selecting 'Check Status/Print Tax Return'. You will also be able to print your return from this screen. Please be assured that the information entered in your account is safe. You can view how we keep your information safe at this link: https://www.freetaxusa.com/safe.
They've somehow decided to send cashiers checks instead of direct deposit, through some 3rd party, although I set my refund for DD (and all of my banking info is correct). A $30 "check reissuance fee" has been taken from my refunds, on top of $40+ they've already taken--and of course I haven't received my refunds although they were posted on 2/22. Absolute scam, this is criminal.
Hi Matt. I am sorry for your frustration. It sounds like you chose the option to pay for your state tax preparation using our pay with refund option. There is a fee associated with this as well as a disclosure page stating that if the 3rd party bank is unable to deposit the funds for any reason, they will send you a check for the balance, less the fee of $30 for having to resend. All of this was agreed to when choosing the pay with refund option. I am happy to look into this further if you send us a message with your email address.
Filing maybe free but if you want your refund, they charge you. My refund was $65 but if you the refund you have to pay FreeTaxUSA so I never got my refund
Hi Ham! We do offer a 'refund transfer' option if you prefer not to pay our fees up front. This does have a fee of $19.99. This is completely optional and not required. However, we would love to look into this and see why you did not get any of your refund. Could you please send us a message with your email address (the one on your account) so we can look into this?
I used freetax this year and after receiving notice that irs had accepted I tried to get back in to the site to check on it, since no arrangement had been made to pay what was due to the irs and after two hours of changing user name, password and getting codes to supposedly get in.Im still unable to get to access it. I have now left my phone number and they are supposed to call back but after all the issues I have my doubts on
Hello James. I am so sorry to hear you are having a hard time getting into your account. We are committed to helping our customers gain access to their accounts. Please email support@freetaxusa.com so that our Customer Support team can help you gain access to your account.
This is the second year I used this site. Last year worked ok, but this year it will not let me show that my Schedule C net is not subject to Self-Employment tax. I am a notary, and that income is exempt from SE tax. Also, it computed deprecation on my car incorrectly. I am a retired tax professional, so I don't need tax help, but you can't even get hold of them regarding technical problems with their website.
Hi Scilla! I am so sorry for the frustration that you are experiencing with our site. We do have a way for our software to exempt notary income from SE tax. I am also very sorry that you are having trouble getting a response from our support team. I would like to personally look into this and see what has been happening. Could you please send us a private message with your email address (the one on your account) so I can get this figured out?
FreeTaxUSA website says state return is free if AGI less than $45,000, but it lies. My AGI is $42,000 and it's telling me I have to pay $15 to file state. The IRS website is promoting FreeTaxUSA as a tax filing site that has free federal AND state returns for all states. Just another situation where a tax site says you can file free but then asks you to pay once you've filled out all the forms.
Hello T.D.! Iam very sorry for the frustration you ran into. If you accessed our website from the IRS link and are experiencing any problems, please reach out to Customer Support for assistance. You can contact support by signing into your account and click on Support. We look forward to assisting you!
There is a reason Free Tax USA gets a 2.5 star rating - uber confusing site! Despite many time wasting messages to their CS no one suggested or explained state tax could be free and I do NOT need to pay $15 for filing my state return! Very confusin product site with their varous options and upgrades. They could save staff payroll by having phone support! It's too complex a subject and does not lend itself to electroinic CS - it just wasted our and your time! Two different log in requirements for their deluxe, pro, or free service! Would NOT refund my $15 in spite of my bad experience!
Hello Rob. We apologize for the frustration you have experienced and for any confusion. We do offer a Free file version, due to IRS regulations an account must be created from the IRS link or your states website. Our Federal return is always free. We do also offer several upgrades so our customers can speak to customer support through Live Chat or over the phone. However, we reply to our customers via email very quickly as well at no additional upgrade. We would be happy to look further into this. If you have contacted us through our Customer Support team, please direct message us your email address here so we can look into the issues you experienced and help come to a resolution. Our Customer Support team strives to provide an excellent Customer Support experience and we would like to help make this right. For further questions, please contact us at support@freetaxusa.com.
There products are uber confusing! Two different log in requirements for their deluxe, pro, or free services?! Very user unfriendly! I unwittingly paid for state returns by using their upgraded version despite multiple messages to CS - no one pointed out the uber confusing structure and that I could file state for free on their free site! Not even a HQ number, or contact to voice complaints! And of course no phone support whatsoever on their free version. Different CS reps respond to you making for more confusion to an already UBER confusing product ( and subject in general) They could afford to staff up less if they actually had phone support. The multiple emails back and forth are VERY time consuming
For customer and CS rep! They refused my request for a refund, even after pointing out the totally confusing nature of their structure and user unfriendlyness of it and lack of CS.
Finally a free tax site that is legitimate! I found no hidden fees or expenses! I do a simple return and this site is perfect for me! They do offer other products for tax returns a bit tricky but their prices were a so reasonable compared to other sites that offer that type of products. The first year I didn't have state taxes so it was completely FREE to file! I now live in a state that I do pay taxes,and exactly as they promised 14.99 no more! Awesome job đź‘Ź
Hi Terri! We're so happy you've had a good experience using our software. Thanks for sharing your positive review. We appreciate having you as a customer!
I paid the $14.99 upfront and that was a mistake. I tried to login to the account and it's giving me an issue with that. My federal taxes wasn't filed and the fee was to file my state taxes but that didn't happen. It's too much. Don't use this site please
Hello Jacqueline. We are sorry for the frustration this has caused. That is correct, our software does offer a free Federal return and has a small fee of $14.99 for the state return. Customer Support would be happy to provide further assistance in logging back into the account and helping determine why the return was not filed. Please email them at support@freetaxusa.com
Filing late in a hurry, took a chance on this software. It seemed to work, all data entered, preview looked ok. I just needed it to print so I can mail it. It prints an empty form.
Wasted an hour with this garbage. Not free, charges $15 for state. Says it will print but it wastes paper and ink on an empty form. This site would get a lower review if allowed.
Hi Mark, we are sorry to hear of the inconvenience you have experienced with our website. Federal is always free and there is a fee for the state return, just as it states on our website. It sounds like you may need an update to your Adobe program for the return to print. Please reach out to our Customer Support team through your account and they will be happy to further assist you.
These pieces of trash have no phone number because someone, like me, would call them every day to remind them of how worthless they are. They charged my card just to let me know afterwards, that all they could do is give me a print out. I am reporting it to my card company on Monday as theft. If my card company decides to pay it, that is up to them. Maybe if enough people reported this, the card companies would notice the pattern. This is a scam site. I will be posting this on yelp too, under at least four accounts. Does anyone else have any ideas on how I can hurt this company? Are there any other websites where I can try to convince people they are scam artists?
Hi Johnny S. We are truly sorry to hear of the frustration. The IRS does not allow self-preparation software companies to e-file prior year returns. The fee we charge is for the preparation of the return regardless of the method used to file the returns. We do try to alert customers to the inability to e-file prior year returns and do appreciate your feedback regarding this. It sounds like you do not wish to use the return and would like a refund. Please login and select to contact our Customer Support. We will be happy to assist you. We do not currently offer phone support but do respond quite quickly via email. Thanks!
I usually pay hundreds of dollars for our taxes to be done every year and never fails there's more than a few people sharing how much money they saved "doing my own online... It's super easy..." So I used freetax USA highly recommended from the IRS too! Its been over 5 months and still no refund. Ive gonna letters about id verification and refund is being reviewed, I reached out to freetax USA for help since I thought I added it on just in case turns out they have no idea and can't help. Never use this company horrible and you'll be left in the dark and it's seriously affecting me mentally because I've put my family in a financial bind and the burden of using this company is making me suicidal. God awful feeling knowing I've caused my family to struggle because I trust a company to complete my simple 1040 return.
Hi Elisa, I am so sorry to hear of the struggles you are facing. Once a return is accepted, the IRS determines the order, processing, approval and timing of the refund disbursement. If you were sent an ID verification, the IRS sends those and you will need to contact them to verify the identity and to determine why they are sending the verification. It sounds like you contacted us and did not receive assistance. I would like to follow-up with you on this, will you please private message me your email address so I can review the assistance and see what can be done? Thank you for being our customer this year. I look forward to further assisting you.
I did my taxes on April 6th and so far nothing is even showing up on the wheres my refund page. I can't find anywhere to contact someone either. It says my returns have been accepted and there's no issues like as of April 10th. Its now almost been 2 months and I want some answers. This is ridiculous and obviously a scam. Someone needs to reach out to me asap in regards to this please and thank you very much.
Hello Lila, we are sorry for any frustration this has caused. Our customer support would be happy to look further into this. Please contact Support from within your account, so they can give more information regarding the return. If you are having trouble signing in, they can also be contacted by email at: Support@FreeTaxUSA.com.
I helped my grandson do his taxes on this website. When we were done, I said well he would get a $63 return. Next thing you know we're being told his refund will be $22 because they took $41 for the state taxes which we never approved having done And they never even processed the Pennsylvania State return after they took the money and we still have not gotten his tax refund. Stay as far away from these people as you can because they rip off artist and they will never get back to you after you contact support.
Hi Nancy, we're sorry to hear you did not have a good experience using our software. We do not require that state taxes are paid for or filed through our website. They are added or removed from your order on the "Filing" > "Order Products and Services" page before filing. If you have contacted our support team already and are not satisfied, we would be happy to look into this directly. Please private message us your email address.
We are a typical retired couple. Our taxes include social security, W2 income, stock sales, mutual funds, home interest payments, etc... nothing overly complicated. I used TaxAct/TurboTax for over 20 years and was not dissatisfied, but they kept increasing their charges, so I looked for another provider. Let's just say that I am glad I did! I uploaded my prior year taxes (pdf file) and everything came across without error! I found the web interface to be easier to use than TaxAct and I was not charged extra for having investments. Assuming everything comes back with IRS approval, I will be back again next year. Great product!
Hello Jim! We're so glad you had a good experience using our software! We really appreciate the positive feedback and hope to see you back next year.
2023. Would not let me e-file. Federal and state. Never had this problem with you before? What's up with that? We'll be changing my platform next year.
Hello Victor, I am sorry for the frustration you have experienced. If you are unable to e-file, there's usually a specific reason. The IRS might require that you mail a paper return if your circumstances require it. We'd be happy to look into this for you. Please send an email to Support@FreeTaxUSA.com.
I'm a young adult, filed my own taxes for the first time last year. I used FreeTaxUSA. I didn't have much of an idea what I was doing, but this service held my hand the whole way. It'll ask you ALL the questions you need to maximize your return and feel confident you're not missing anything. Anything you don't understand, it'll have a little "?" question mark to click on that gives you all the details. I will say, you will need to be proficient in reading comprehension and have the patience to take your time with it. Other people in these reviews seem to be victims of their own human error. I've once again used this site this year, and it went off without a hitch. I specifically took the time to write this review because I love it so much, it makes tax season practically stress free.
Hello Kali! Thank you for your kind and honest review! We strive to provide an affordable, user-friendly, tax filing service. We are happy to hear that our software helped make your tax filing less stressful. Thank you for your continued support!
State fee of 14.99 is charged to you for the preparation of the state taxes. So if in the end, when you go to actually filing, and for some reason they say they can't file for you (happened to me), you still get charged the fee.
So be aware that the filing is free, but if they don't file, you still have to pay.
Hello, Pam. I am very sorry of the frustration this has caused. The fee we charge is for the preparation of your state return. The fee is the same whether you e-file or mail the return. In general, the IRS determines if a return is eligible for e-file or not. Our Customer Support team would be happy to review your account and see why it cannot be e-filed, as well as answer any questions you have. To contact them, please log into your account and use the "Support" button in the upper right corner of the screen. If you aren't able to sign in, you may also contact our Customer Support team by emailing them at Support@FreeTaxUSA.com.
From the business
FreeTaxUSA is an authorized IRS e-file provider. The company has securely filed millions of federal tax returns with the IRS. Each year, the website helps taxpayers save millions of dollars in tax preparation fees with free federal and low-cost state offers.
Each tax year, a team of tax analysts updates the software to the latest federal and state standards. The software incorporates new credits, deductions, and changes to the tax code. Once the software is updated, it goes through a rigorous testing and approval process with the IRS and each state. This ensures the software is ready for the new tax season.
FreeTaxUSA is 100% made in America. All customer service representatives live and work in the United States. When you file your taxes with FreeTaxUSA, you are supporting American families and creating American jobs.
We don’t provide tax advice, account specifics, or customer support through SiteJabber. The safest and quickest way to get support is to sign in to your FreeTaxUSA account and click on the ‘Contact Support’ link. You can also click on the ‘Support’ link at the top of the FreeTaxUSA.com homepage.
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Hi Milece! We are sorry to hear of your experience. There is always a way to remove a product before filing the return and the state is never required to be filed. It sounds like there was some confusion there. We apologize for that inconvenience. We do show that our support team was able to work with you to resolve this issue.