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Comment by bdcs | Hacker News Reader

As far as I know, TaxACT[0] is the only tax software whose parent company doesn't actively lobby against tax filing simplification. I haven't used them nor do I have any stake in them, but I figure it is good for people to know of this TurboTax alternative.

[0] http://www.taxact.com/

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Has anyone actually used TaxACT recently and can compare the experience with TurboTax?

I've used TurboTax almost every year for the last decade, except one in which I used TaxACT because it was a lot cheaper (my taxes are moderately complex enough to send me into the more expensive TurboTax price brackets).

At the time the software felt shoddy compared to TurboTax in almost every way; it was certainly better than form-filling myself but it didn't inspire confidence.

I have used TaxACT for several years now. I haven't used turbo tax so I can't compare. But I have been very happy with TaxACT.

I also have been using TaxACT for a couple years. I used a few other only ones in the past and honestly can't really tell much difference. They've all seemed fine to me. That said, my taxes are your standard pile of 1099s type deal. Nothing too fancy.

If your taxes are complicated enough to pay for a high tier of TurboTax, you may be better off finding a good CPA.

I'm an independent consultant, use QuickBooks throughout each year, and have used TurboTax for quite a while out of inertia from having my data already in a friendly format in QB. I finally decided to give an actual CPA a try last year. Among other things, she has already saved me an order of magnitude more than her fee just by amending my old TurboTax returns. Not to mention the value of the time that she has saved me.

I would never go back to TurboTax (or TaxACT or similar) unless I was a straight W-2 salaried employee (and only maybe then).

I've used tax act since I was 18. It doesn't charge extra for schedule k s for all of those llcs we entrepreneurs have. Also, their capital gains and business expenses have seemed easier

There many tax software companies. The vast majority of them do not actively lobby against tax filing simplification.

Other than Intuit (TurboTax), H&R Block, and Jackson Hewitt, of course:

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/04/15/tax-preparers-...

Unfortunately, even TaxACT is a member of a lobbying group which fights against making filing taxes easier (ACTR).

Many? I was able to find 5 consumer tax software companies (including H&R Block). Any chance you could list a few others?

I find it hard to believe there are tons of them out there unless perhaps tax software is regional software and there's companies in some states that don't move beyond the state?

There are many. The top 14 are members of the Free File Alliance[0]. There are tens, if not hundreds more that do federal filing. Unfortunately many are cheap clones of TurboTax or re-skinned versions of Drake[1].

Disclosure - I'm the CEO of Common Form[2]. My co-founders and I are all ex-Intuit employees. We currently only cover the 1040EZ, but we're expanding as fast as we can.

[0] http://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp?ck

[1] https://www.1040.com/

[2] https://common-form.com

edit: formatting.

I'm surprised there are so many, I would have expected that keeping up with the changes in the tax law would be a pretty expensive barrier to entry, especially given the IRS sometimes isn't totally sure themselves. Although it seems like the vast majority focus only on the 1040EZ which I guess radically simplifies things.

Thanks for sharing I will give them a try next year. For some stupid reason it would never cross my mind to do my own research - I always thought it is doing it yourself, HR Block or Turbo Tax.

I just did TT and it cost me $37 for what TaxACT wants $12. Further if you want to pay from your refund, there is hefty $37 extra with TT. It looks like TaxACT doesn't have this fee...

Most likely the result of your return should be the same from both companies, as long as they understand tax law, and I would assume they do otherwise they would be gone long time ago.

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