I need to correct my comment because I realized that my kid couldn’t use the free version after all this year due to a HSA which required upgrading to a paid version. That’s probably why the state option wasn’t free any longer.
MA state filing was free in the online version of TurboTax that the kids used.
We use the deluxe version for our taxes and they charge to file the MA state return on that. They don’t charge to fill out the forms, just to file it electronically. So I just print it out and mail it in instead.
My kids have used the TT Freedom edition for the last three to four years, and PA state tax return was free.
The freedom edition is free for people with AGI under $34,000, or active duty military, or qualifying for earned income credit.
It doesn’t mention PA but it has been free for us.
My 4th year college kid had 2017 income from another state (where she goes to school) which was refunded to her in 2018. Even though that $120 refund wasn’t taxable, Turbotax wanted $59.99 to upgrade to Deluxe, which would include the required Schedule 1. One line on one page! An unintended consequence of the new post card sized federal return, I guess. So I ended up doing a paper federal return for her, but at least I could file her state and local returns for free. And yes, I know that I should have taught her to do her own returns by now…?
If you start with TT free version or basic, if you have more than W2 income, then it will want you to upgrade.
The freedom edition is a special version that offers free filing to people that qualify (AGI under $34,000, military, EITC eligible), as mentioned above. That freedom edition should handle all schedules.
I know it handled kiddie tax for D in the past without problems.
You know you are on the right page if it says “see if you qualify” and asks some questions about income and such.
My daughter’s was very simple. She had very little income just from an on campus job. One day when she was home for a visit, we printed a form off the IRS web site, filled it in, she signed it, and we mailed it in.
Our accountant throws in the kids returns for free ( because we have ours plus family trusts he is doing plus an estate return for the last two years) so they are lucky and don’t even have to do them.
On the state DOR website there are links to about a dozen companies that offer free federal and state. So we all learned something. And the kid will know for next year.
My D used good old paper and pencil method!
The nice thing about online tax software is that for my kids you just have to enter the W2 and answer a few questions, and the software does the rest. Direct deposit refund was received within a week I think.
And if it’s free it’s a great bonus!
HR block free through the IRS website let us do HSA and two states as part year residents.
My D used H and R block…she said it was very easy and quick. It’s also free, but you can pay for certain optional add ons. My D paid extra for them to store the info to help her out when she files next year
Kiddo used Turbo Tax Online Free and he had two states to file in. But it was confusing. Intuit makes it very very easy to “accidentally” purchase more than you need. Their fear based messages about buying their “protection” packages are annoying and frightening to a young person who’s never used the package before.
Since he is overseas this spring, he gave me his account info so we could work on it together. (I signed completely out before he submitted the returns to ensure there wasn’t any problem with session security.)
Thanks for that info, @ordinarylives. I think it’s time to switch next year because TurboTax is getting too pricey and they are always out to upsell which is annoying. We’ve been using them forever but they were ticking me off this year.
Credit Karma is another place you can do your taxes for free, haven’t used it myself…has anyone here tried it?
@natty1988 No, but will have the oldest use it next year, as she makes too much to use the free editions on the IRS site and CK seems to have no upper income limit. We’ll see about kid 2 as she’s getting more and more complicated returns. However, there’s a nice list on the website of what forms are supported.
@ordinarylives hope it works out well for you!
No. And just them offering it made me delete my account with them (I have credit monitoring through a credit card now anyway).
[quote] A third kind of free tax prep, offered by Credit Karma, is blazing a new path: paying with your privacy.
Credit Karma Tax takes the intimate details of your tax returns — like how much you earn and pay for your mortgage — to target you with financial advertising.
Today, Credit Karma says it is using income data from customer tax forms to inform its personal loan business. It isn’t, so far, using information like who’s about to get a big refund or bill — but Credit Karma also hasn’t imposed any limits on tax return data it could use in the future.
[/quote]
That is different from the truly free, no upsell ones we’ve been talking about here, linked on the IRS free file page.
Paper returns here too. Grad school kid has free-lance income (some without 1099s) and payroll income from two states. This resulted in a Federal return, a part-year return for State 1, and a non-resident return for State 1 for that one payrolled gig after moving to State 2. So glad that State 2 doesn’t have a state income tax.