TurboTax alternative that prepares your return for you

Why do people look for a TurboTax alternative?

TurboTax is the most widely used consumer tax product in the United States and it earns that position: the interview is polished, the situation coverage is broad, and the import connections to payroll providers and brokerages save real time. The reasons people leave are rarely about capability.

TaxFile answers the last one differently, which is the difference worth testing. Rather than asking whether you drove for work, it reads the documents you upload and surfaces the deductions and credits that follow from what is in them, then shows its reasoning next to each figure. You still review and approve everything before anything is filed.

Where TurboTax is genuinely the better choice: if your return includes capital gains on Schedule D, rental income on Schedule E, cryptocurrency, foreign income, or you need a prior year or amended return, TaxFile does not handle any of those and TurboTax does. TaxFile prepares W-2, 1099, Schedule C and Schedule SE returns, federal and state, for the current tax year. If your situation sits outside that, use the tool that covers it.

How much does it cost to file taxes with TurboTax?

TurboTax does not have one price. It sells across a Free Edition for simple returns, do-it-yourself tiers (Deluxe and Premium), Live Assisted where an expert reviews your work, and Full Service where an expert prepares and signs the return. Each level costs more than the one below it, the state return is charged separately on the paid tiers, and the published figures move during the filing season, typically upward as April approaches. The current numbers are on Intuit's own pricing page and we will not quote figures here that may be stale by the time you read this.

The structure matters more than any single number, because the structure is what produces the surprise. Three things move you up a tier, and all three are common.

The prompt usually arrives partway through, once you have already entered most of your figures, which is why so many people search for what TurboTax cost them rather than what it costs. If you want the whole market laid out before you commit, the tax preparation fees page covers what software, storefront chains and CPAs each charge, with the survey data behind the averages.

TaxFile prices the other way round. $39 for a simple federal return, $89 for self-employed, $199 for business, plus $19 for each state return. Entering 1099 income does not move you to a different tier, because the self-employed price is the price whether you have one 1099 or nine. There is no free tier, which is the honest trade: if your return is a single W-2 and you want to pay nothing, TurboTax Free Edition or Cash App Taxes will serve you better than we will.