I know people's tax returns are stuff are pretty individualized, but I wanted to give a snapshot for those debating filing through CreditKarma (CK)'s new-this-year tax filing for free (i.e. you're paying with your information) VS HRBlock, long trusted tax return company that offers free filing online VS TurboTax.
My personal biases: I've never tried CK obvi, nor HR Block before. TT... T've found annoying in the past few years despite using them each year because they keep upcharging and costing more and more and offering less and less benefits.. you pay for 'deluxe' because unless you do almost nothing in your life they'll push you into the deluxe mode, and they no longer offer you audit protection unless you pay an extra $44 into MAX defense. They also charge just as much for state taxes.
So, let's dive in.
My Fed return estimations on TT: $131 estimate for CK: $56. HRB: $56.
Why such a drastic difference? Well, first, I am not a tax guru or anything like that, I'm an average joe, and I'm only going by the documents I have (W-2, bank docs). There are several things I can think of... the first being.. I blame the lack of intuitiveness for CK, and the lack of delving into questions + automation of the bank system the way TT does. HRB was more intuitive and nice to use, but lacked in delving quite the same way too. CK was particularly confusing when it came to the bank document questionaire, despite having the printed forms right in front of me. TT has had years to hone in their program and system, you can import your bank statements for more accurate assessments, and CK is pretty new to all of this. While I answered the questions the same way when prompted, I found that CK skipped many steps and I had to go back and manually type in things like my nursing uniform expenses (as we changed uniforms this year, forcing us all to go buy new ones) and my charity donations for clothing items. TT also uses It'sDeductible which makes entering in donations much easier to use... CK gives you a $500 max option, and little else it seeeeeems like. HRB also has a deducible thing that's automatic, but values items at a lower price than TT, so the same items that were $1050 on TT were only $900 on HRB. As I got a whole new wardrobe, I donated maaany items and some of them fairly high priced ones, so the automatic value calculators made the process more accurate and nicer.
My state tax, I am happy to say, was entirely on point on all accounts: $63 return.
BUT. The major kicker here is TT's fees + their muuuch higher fed price in comparison to the other two programs. TT seems like a winner there, $131 vs $56 from the other two sites... but on top of making me nervous that they're calculating things at a much higher rate somehow, they charge $72 total for both the fed + state taxes. This drops any gains I really got from it to the price range of CK and HRB.
The total with TT for my return: $122 The total for CK for my return: $119 HRB: $119 as well.
The difference: TT paid, with fees, is $3 more. None are offering audit protection in these price ranges, though TT certainly provides the option without having to input any new info vs HRB or CK which is basically an online form that helps you file yourself.
So, which one to pick?
If you're rooting for the underdog and want to stick it to TT for charging more and offering less every.. single.. year... CK is a clear winner for a mere $3 cost because you're helping a business start up a new tax service by using them. HRB has always been around and will always be around far as I can tell.
If you've got complex taxes and are a nervous/worrier type that tends to fumble paperwork badly enough to require audits and things? TT might be worth your time and money if you want to file yourself, but according to tax experts you might as well just spend the money upfront making sure people who HAVE to stand by their work do it right the first time. (source bottom of the page.)
If you are single or married, and have a standard set up (some bank accounts and stuff, a job, a house, etc.) CK/HRB is fine.
If you have to file in multiple states, or more uncommon issues like that, TT is more suited to you as CK does not support this. Unsure about HRB here.
If you like the idea of a trusted brand and don't want to pay for your tax returns: HRB is a good program to go with, and they were a little more user friendly than CK was. Not that CK was impossible to use, I obviously got the same number through either program (and to be honest, the stuff I went back and entered in did not impact my taxes at all as far as crediting towards them, I just like to be thorough) but HRB was a little cleaner impo.
And finally, if you don't have to pay state taxes, I'd say TT would have been a good option in my particular case. I would have gotten $96 back with an audit rate just as low as every other year I've filed with them if I didn't file state taxes too.
While it seems like a win-win to support CK by doing the state taxes through them + fed taxes on TT, CK does not support this.. it's all or nothing unfortunately.
So what am I going with? CK. For the first reason mentioned. I like supporting new options and the more people that use their service means more options and cleaner layouts next year. There have always been free options available with HRB and the IRS themselves... but more options are always welcomed.
To conclude:
- turbotax has been around for years and will continue to be, and is a reliable option for those that want to file themselves. But you're paying for their services, it is no longer free and has not been for a long time, and their audit protections are not really what they're cracked up to be. Also, it seems as if they randomly tack on higher estimations on some things, and their fees make the higher numbers a bit delusional.
- Creditkarma is new to the game this year, and while it isn't nearly as pretty as turbotax for those used to it, it is a turbo-tax like layout and I hope will continue to improve.
- The IRS already offers the forms for free online, so if you have a basic tax return and can follow instructions, it's too easy.
- And finally, HRBlock is a well trusted company that's been around a long time, and they are one of the few people before CreditKarma that have offered free tax returns to higher incomes (up to the $64k range). Their online free one was very neat, to the point, without a lot of the fluff and I appreciated their layout.
Hope this helps anyone trying to figure out options to help them complete their taxes this year.
February 27, 2017 at 04:29PM
