No one exactly likes doing their taxes. Depending on your specific tax situation, you may have a significant number of forms to fill out and fees to pay, and it can be both complicated and confusing. However, taxes are still an important thing that you need to do every year. So, what should you be looking for in your cheap tax preparation option?
Here are four things to be on the lookout for so you can simplify the process.
- Pricing Tiers
The most common thing that most people are going to look at when they’re looking into an online tax service is the pricing tiers. Free tax filing is available through most online tax services, but they’re typically only for extremely simple tax situations, most commonly when you’re filing as a single person or married couple working a traditional job with no kids. Check to see all pricing tiers, including what situations they cover.
- Supported Tax Forms
Next, you’ll also want to see which tax forms are supported with a specific software. Especially if you have more niche things to report, such as investments and interest, you’ll want to make sure that your tax software actually supports all of those tax forms. Additionally, check to see whether you may need to upgrade to a higher tier for those tax forms, as it’s not uncommon for this to be the case.
- Extra Support and Benefits
What kinds of extra support are available for your tax services? Even with the best online tax software, you may still have a number of questions as you go through the filing process. What tier do you need to be in for chat support with a real human being? Can you add it on as its own purchase, or do you have to increase your tier completely? This extra support can help you get through a complicated tax process more easily.
- Import and Saving Options
Some questions on your taxes may have to do with your previous year’s tax return. If you still have the tax return available, you may be able to look at those taxes and manually input the information that you’re being asked for. However, many tax return sites nowadays are able to offer import options both from their own site and from many other tax sites. That means the places where you would need to fill in information from last year’s tax form are typically already filled in.
Conclusion
An online tax service can be a great tool if you’re looking for an easier way to do your taxes every year. However, it can also be very difficult to find a great online tax software that works well for your specific needs. As long as you know exactly what you’re looking for, it can be surprisingly easy to find a great online tax service that fits both your needs and your budget – just use these four elements to double-check your tax service.
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