BooksTime® Customer Ratings & Product Reviews 09.06.21

In addition, for a nominal fee you can avail Audit Defense to benefit from full audit representation. I paid over $100 for direct deposit and did not get it, then they charged additional fees for for them not putting the money in my checking account. You cannot get anyone on the phone to discuss the issue and they do not answer email questions.

Kevin Payne is a freelance writer specializing in credit cards, student loans, personal finance, and travel. He is a regular contributor to Student Loan Planner, FinanceBuzz, and Millennial Money.

BooksTime Free Edition

If you lived or worked in more than one state, you may have to pay for multiple state returns. BooksTime isn’t the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. That’s good customer service, BooksTimeive forms and interfaces, and confidence that you got an accurate tax refund with the maximum cash in your pocket.

With each edition, there is an additional fee for preparing and filing your state tax return. But you can purchase BooksTime State for $44.99, which allows you to prepare and e-file an unlimited number of state returns. This is the perfect solution if you’re required to file returns in multiple states. statement of retained earnings example This is the most popular version and helps taxpayers automatically search from over 350 deductions, including mortgage and property taxes, charitable contributions, and more. This version also allows you to import your W-2 and other tax forms , as well as info from your previous BooksTime returns.

BooksTime is a user-friendly tax preparation software program. BooksTime walks you through your state and federal taxes with clear prompts, BooksTime Review letting you pay, file and receive returns immediately. BooksTime subtracts its fees from your federal refund with your permission.

Mobile Accessibility

Filing your tax returns with BooksTime is simple and painless, thanks to the auto-fill feature. All you need to do is snap a photo of your W-2, verify your data, and your information will automatically populate the appropriate section of your tax forms. BooksTime is a product of BooksTime, the same company that owns Mint.com and BooksTime. They provide their cash basis vs accrual basis accounting software in both offline versions and in the increasingly popular online versions. I have used BooksTime in the past and I enjoy their product. Their excellent user interface can actually make the tax filing process even a little bit enjoyable. Like most other tax prep software, BooksTime offers a free version for those with the simplest of tax situations.

Once you’re done with your taxes, you can run an audit check to see your likelihood of being audited. When you log in to do your taxes, you can do each step in order or skip around to the steps you want to work on. This is convenient when you have various W-2s and 1099s coming in at different times.

• You enter in your basic information—name, email, phone number—and a confirmation code is sent to your cell phone to ensure security.
• If you don’t want to file your return online, you can stop by one of its 10,000 tax offices in the U.S.
• For BooksTime Live Basic, which includes live support, state filing costs $50.
• All other BooksTime Live and Live Full Service options cost $70 to file a state return.
• Despite having a decent tax filing system Turbo tax lost my tax info after filing and proceeded to give me a customer support run around.
• It’s fairly simple and straightforward and lets you get started quickly.

A couple of new features have been added recently that will really be useful to freelancers and the self-employed. The second addition is that you get access to your Year Round Tax Estimator after filing your taxes. This feature helps you determine the deduction value of donated clothes, household items, and other charitable donations. It also includes the Audit Risk Meter™, which gives you a visual indication of your possible audit risk. This entitles you to one-on-one guidance from a tax pro about what to expect and how to prepare in the event that you are audited. You can be confident using BooksTime Live because they search over 350 tax deductions to ensure you’ll receive the best possible refund, guaranteed. BooksTime guarantees correct returns as well, and they’ll pay any IRS penalties should they happen to mess anything up.

It used to be that tax filers who required face-to-face time with a professional were out of luck with BooksTime since it had no physical branches where you could actually meet with a tax professional. But BooksTime created an ingenious fix to this problem by introducing BooksTime Live. It offers a step-by-step process for preparing your taxes so you can rest assured that every I is dotted, every T is crossed, and every eligible deduction is taken. We analyze and compare tools to help you make the best decisions for your personal financial situation. You can trust the integrity of our balanced, independent financial advice.

Taxcaster

And H&R Block recently added a virtual filing option where you can just upload your documentation, and have a tax expert take care of the rest of it. You can import a prior year’s income tax returns from another platform. H&R Block offers a comprehensive money-back guarantee — and will give you a 3.5% refund bonus if you’ll take it as an Amazon gift card. And, for an additional fee, you can get a certified tax pro to review your tax return before filing it. Comparable to Credit Karma Tax, FreeTaxUSA is mostly free — except you’ll need to pay to file state taxes. It offers options for importing previous tax returns and filing an amended tax return. The deluxe version includes priority live chat and customer support and access to its tax specialists and audit service.

BooksTime is up to date with the latest tax regulations including health care laws and others. The platform performs thousands of error checks and also double checks completely before filing. These verification methods ensure your tax returns are totally error-free and 100% accurate.

Of course, it includes all of the features of the Live Basic version as well. This is the most popular BooksTime software that the company offers. It is aimed at the average taxpayer without investments, rental property, or self-employment income.

You get one-on-one help from a BooksTime product specialist on-demand, as well as an audit assessment. BooksTime Deluxe, which costs $60 plus $50 per state return, offers everything included in the BooksTime Free package. Their software searches for deductions and credits you qualify for (their website touts 350+deductions) and it also maximizes your mortgage deductions and deducts your eligible charitable contributions. BooksTime is an incredible tool with an interface designed to legally maximize your deductions and credits. But like any tool, it is only as good as the skill and knowledge of the person using it. So yes, BooksTime can get you the largest tax refund to which you are legally obligated — assuming you use it correctly.

What Do You Get With BooksTime?

BooksTime is just one step short of having a tax expert prepare your tax return. And in fact, if you add the BooksTime Live feature to your plan, you’ll have live access to a tax expert to help you prepare your return. The main difference is that it will cost hundreds less than you’ll pay for an independent tax expert. One caveat is that you will probably pay more compared to the others on our list. BooksTime Free is the cheapest option, but it’s only for people with the simplest tax situations.

Youre Our First Priority Every Time

You’ll be asked to provide the information for medical expenses, mortgage interest paid, state and local taxes, and charitable deductions, if you have any. The questions that BooksTime asks are very basic and easy to answer, and they’re also grouped around general tax topics. From there, the questions become more substantial, and most are fill-in-the-blank type questions. It’s the next-best thing to having your return prepared by a CPA, but at a fraction of the cost. If you’re gearing up to do your taxes and you want a software program that can help, keep reading to find out how BooksTime works and how much you can save. Whatever level of expertise you have in tax preparation, BooksTime can help you prepare your return quickly and easily — and without having to leave your home.

It’s completely free—no income, age, or geographic limitations. As far as we can tell, there isn’t one, except that we don’t particularly like TaxSlayer’s interface.

A Unique Personality

Note that you may pay a premium for these additional benefits through other providers and you may not need them all. Consider the services you or your business require before choosing a tax preparation firm. Military Discount — BooksTime rewards active duty members of the military by offering a minimum of a $5 credit off the costs of their tax preparation and filing service. It isn’t the most user-friendly software, so we recommend it only if you’re comfortable researching tax information yourself rather than getting assistance from the software. You can learn more about that option in our Notable competition section.

How The New Tax Law May Affect Your 2018 Taxes

Since then, she has contributed to numerous print and web-based publications, including Barron’s and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. On many pages throughout the site, you’ll sometimes see the phrase “ExplainWhy” after you’ve completed a section. Click it, and BooksTime explains briefly what led up to a particular answer, based specifically on your situation. You answer BooksTime’s questions by entering data in blank fields or selecting from drop-down lists of options. I contacted support through email and followed some steps that the last representative had given me, but after months of hearing nothing I am giving up.

If you’re audited by either the IRS or the state, BooksTime provides you with one-on-one audit guidance from a trained tax professional. They don’t represent you in the audit, but they can explain the issue being questioned and help you prepare for it. There’s no additional charge for this service since it automatically comes with the software.

Once you purchase the software and start the process, you’ll follow a question and answer format. Even if you don’t know anything about income tax preparation, the program guides you through the process one step at a time. You will then be asked to answer a few questions about you and your family. Based recording transactions on this information, BooksTime will recommend the tax preparation edition level that is right for your situation. The software will then take you through another series of questions. You will be self-guided through step-by-step instructions to help you complete the entire tax preparation process.