DogNose Data Werkz

Last year, just four days before April 15, the dreaded tax day, I gathered my assorted documents and visited irs.gov to see my options for e-filing. My tax information was not very complex; I had a single W-2 and a few 1099s that indicate interest that I had earned from my bank accounts.

The services below may have been updated since last year (but I doubt it). All of them are free.
H&R Block’s TaxCut Free File
The interface is good, but was sometimes slow. It seemed like each page had to load all the buttons and images over and over again. It did not prompt me to enter the information for one of my forms; I had to search for the form and then choose to enter the information. Overall, this is a decent service.

TaxACT Online
The interface was very clean and easy to use. The service was quick. The questions were the most strait-forward I’ve seen. It also asked for each form I had, unlike H&R’s service. My only problem was that my first attempt to create a password was rejected even though they rated it as “strong.” I recommend this service above the other two.

eSmartTax by Liberty Tax Service
The interface was clunky and slow. Little was explained to me. I was unable to finish it because the site kept giving me a network error. They asked me questions, all all the services do, but it still seemed like I was filling out the obtuse tax forms myself. Avoid this service.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.