I was able to use the service one year, as I had the simplest of simple returns to file. However, this year, as I had some additional things that needed to be addressed, it was a complete NIGHTMARE. And let me be clear, this also was not a very involved return. It's just that compared to the prior year it was, as I said, "involved".

From the first day I started the "wizard" that takes you through the process is not intuitive at all. In order to make decisions about classifications and categorizations, you truly need to know the "accounting" side of your personal finances, as well as your business. Second, I decided to try and utilize the Deluxe program, which for $8.95 I would be able to ask for help. Well let me tell you the joke that this is. First, I started getting help and by the end it was well over nine days of back and forth. Second, none of the people on the client support staff are on the same page. I literally had one person say to me, "I can't make that determination for you, because I do not know about your business that well, but do the best you can"...I AM NOT KIDDING YOU.I may be paraphrasing, but the words are almost exactly the same. And just so you all know, b/c I was so frustrated and needed help in this one specific area, I eventually received a reply with specific direction. So for the one person who said he didn't know what to do, to the person who was able to give me direction, you can see that it's literally a crap shoot in who you get. Oh, and by the way, you never deal with the same person. If you write in with a question, a person will reply to you. That said, however, if you need additional clarification, you will get a reply from someone else, NEVER EVER DO YOU GET THE SAME PERSON.

To leave your financial burden and responsibilities to a service like this, just so you can think you are getting it done efficiently is to frightening for me. Might I add, I have an MBA, and have been in business for close to 30 years, but I'm semi-retired, and my business accounting is nowhere near the sophistication it was while running my businesses in the past. So I figured why not try this. BEWARE AND STAY AWAY.

Ultimately I did not pay for the service, so I do not have a "proof of purchase" for this business. So I am unsure what I would provide in order to show I have actually had the experience I had. All I'll say is, if you do not believe me, it's on you. I did my best to wave you all away from this nightmare of a service. FreeTaxUSA.com is awful.

ALERT! SSI Recipients Don't Use This Medium and others subject to the PENDING PROCESSING GIMMICK!

It's been 7 weeks now since I've filed my taxes and which were filed electronically at that. Even the IRS site says I should have had my refund by now according to the IRS 9 out or 10 returns are processed and refunded within 7-21days. It all started with free tax USA when I signed up to have my refund put on a prepaid visa card which was suppose to be mailed to me with 7days. Thank goodness I didn't give them my real bank information I can only imagine what issues I would be having at this point. Anyway about 10 days at the time had passed and I realized that my debit card hadn't arrived yet so I called the card company from which the debit card was coming from. Now I had emails that verified that I had signed up for a refund to be put on this debit card and mailed to me. So I contacted the card company and they didn't have any information on me anywhere in their system I said that can't be and after about 30 minutes of denial and back and fourth with the representative for the card company I accepted the facts that they didn't have my info. So I then started the week long process that it took to find a way to contact free tax usa and still to this date have not had a single personal phone with anyone from free tax usa. Not a single call from them or even a email from them with a number for me to contact them at my convenience. All I've seemed to have gotten is once we file it it's out of our hands it's not on is any more at that point you need to contact the card company that's what they told me which told me they didn't even read my email where I explained that they didn't have my info which lead me to believe they didn't ever send the info to the card company. I never contacted the card company again seeing that I had already been told that the routing number and the account number that was given toe from free tax usa was not a number that was associated with their cards or accounts. So I then contacted tax hawk which I believe own free tax usa I think that's the case seeing where it says all returns go to tax hawk before they are released to the customer or vise versa or to the IRS. Well again it took 3 days of page scanning looking for a number and of course no number just like free tax USA no number to be had unless. Now hear this after all the trouble they have caused me they only talk to customers who pay them $14.95 to be able to speak to an agent I'm sure which is a waste of money seeing that they only point the finger and pass the blame on to another reason or company. Anyway when I emailed tax hawk with my info they responded back informing me that they had not one thing regarding my name or any of my info I'm their system as being a customer who had file his taxes through their online service. I was livid at this point. I filed my taxes on the 23rd of February its now the 5th of April. My tax return on the IRS website says return is still being processed no time as to when it will be completed. I'm a single guy with nothing major to review. I don't get it I was going to use this money to get a home seeing that I had lost my home of the last 9 years in January and I finally found a homeowner who was renting a place with a huge shop and all perfect for my needs something I've been looking for to have for years now it was a dream come true I was told I would have my return within 3 weeks max that most all 9 out of 10 returns are processed within 10 days since electronically filing them. This was an exciting time to finally had found a home to start over in after now basically being homeless for the last two and a half months now staying where I can my dog and myself. Not too mention that I'm losing all my belongings now on the 12th of this month bc I don't have a place to move my things to from storage I literally have everything I own from my entire life in the storage unit and it's got the few only things I have to remember my mom by all the things from my childhood that she had kept together for me all my furniture everything I have to my name is about to be sold unless I have someone step up and help me in this situation which I would be grateful svd and will take care of whatever it takes to clear up as soon as I get my refund back it's the worst experience of my life I have no one no family to ask for the help if anyone would be willing to help a desperate guy with some of this nightmare I'm living each day not to mention the stress it's putting on me thinking that I've about to lose my most prized possessions I have I will pay it back 10 fold anyway no one use Free tax usa if it's the last place to even use don't just take you tax return and do it yourself the irs will review it if something is wrong they will correct it. But it's strange how free tax USA has no way of contacting them and their father company doesn't have any of my info seems awefully suspect to me if I do say so. Some one feel free to contact me through here if anyone can help I thank you all from the bottom of my heart

Before trying Free Tax USA, I tried Turbo Tax, & Tax Act. Both of those tried to get me to upgrade to their "premium" $57+ product, even though I make less than $33,000 per year and should not be charged any fee. I then tried Free Tax USA. Last year, I used the free edition of Turbo Tax, even though I made more last year.

Free Tax USA worked great. It did not try to get me to upgrade, even though I had close to $10,000 in dividend income. I am also an author with royalties (less than $1,000). It handled that correctly too.

I live in Nevada, so did not need to file a state income tax return. If there were glitches with the software in the past, then I suspect they were all fixed, because I did not see any. I used Turbo Tax last year, and they had a glitch in that my tax was not properly calculated. I had to pay a small amount for interest and fines because of that.

This is actually a very fine product that may not have quite all the bells and whistles of its competitors, but offers solid performance and ease of use.

According to other reviews I have read about, the federal filing is free. They make their money on the state return, which at this time is only about $15. They also have a deluxe version that costs $7, which includes a limited audit assist feature, unlimited amendments, and priority customer support.

The product is updated every year and tested by the IRS & each state before it is approved for use. Millions have used it to file their returns since 2001.

It will handle most major tax issues like self-employment income, rental real estate, capital gains transactions, the various types of K-1 related income sources, affordable care act, etc. It also handles many uncommon tax situations as well.

On the other hand, it currently does not handle (taken from their website - https://www.freetaxusa.com/supported_forms.jsp):

1. Foreign employment income (Form 2555)
2. Non-resident alien returns (Form 1040NR)
3. Customers or preparers living outside the United States when they file their taxes
4. At-risk limitations (Form 6198)
5. Installment sales (Form 6252)
6. Tax for children with more than $2,100 in investment income (Form 8615)
7. Prior year minimum tax credit (Form 8801)
8. Archer MSAs (Form 8853)
9. Casualty or theft gain or loss for business and income producing property
10. Additional tax on excess contributions to IRAs
11. Donations of high value property over $5,000 such as collectibles, equipment, or real estate.

I think it is great they offer their free service. So they get a couple stars for that.:)

I signed up for their Deluxe service for $7, that is a great deal and it is only payable when you finish the return. Their online chat was responsive and generally knowledgeable and helpful, even on a busy day (April 18th). So if you are going to try this service, I definitely recommend trying Deluxe.

They did offer the ability to import information for my 2015 return from TaxACT (and several other large providers), which impressed me.

They offer two-factor authentication (sending verification codes by email or text). For this type of sensitive financial and personal information, I thought that was an important security feature for them to offer, and I was glad to see it on their web site.

This was the first year I have tried FreeTaxUSA. In the past I had used TurboTax for a number of years, then switched to H&R Block TaxCut, then switched to TaxACT. So I have lots of experience using other products, and with complex tax situations. I file complex returns including married joint return, homeowner, itemized deductions, charitable contributions, Schedule C (small business income), child tax credits, children in college, and withdrawals from retirement accounts.

My first impression was that the product is not nearly as mature is I would expect. Just entering my W-2 and 1099-R forms, I was running into limitations such as the FreeTax web site would not accept data that was on the forms such as parenthesis or dashes, the W2 had two address lines but FreeTax only accepts one address line, the 1099-R had a box blank but FreeTax insisted I had to enter a 0. Based on how many years they have been offering this service and how many returns they have processed, this immaturity surprised and disappointed me. It did not inspire confidence.

The deal-breaker for me was that when I entered the 1099-R from a well known investment firm, there was a box checked "Taxable amount not determined". TaxFree was then calculating the entire amount as taxable income. I contacted customer service and they advised me to check a box on the 1099-R that said "SEP/IRA/SIMPLE". Then FreeTax did calculate the taxable amount correctly. However, at that point I had lost confidence because that box was not checked on the 1099-R form from the investment firm. So FreeTax provided a work-around, but I was unable to enter the 1099-R "as is" as it came from the investment firm and to still get correct calculations.

Because I had lost confidence in FreeTax, I moved on to try the online version of TaxACT 2016 instead.

One final comment, beware all the glowing reviews (4.8 stars out of 5) on the FreeTax web site. They only let people submit a review after they have completed their return. So those are only reviews from their satisfied customers. It would be a lot more impressive (and accurate) if they would also accept online reviews from customers who had given up on submitting a return through their service. Therefore, I submitted a review on this web site instead.

Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?
Why the hell isnt the site working?

Fairly easy to follow, good directions

Has anyone received their returns yet? See alot of people talking about how long its taking