How TurboTax Screwed Me Out of $217 in 2024
Every tax software company lies about being "free" but TurboTax is the worst offender. The FTC even found TurboTax engaged in deceptive practices with their advertising. They sucked me in with their bullshit free filing ads, then hit me with upgrade prompts every five fucking seconds.
Here's exactly how they screwed me: Started filing for "free" on a Saturday night around 11pm. Got through my W-2 no problem. Then I entered my HSA contribution - $3,500 that should save me money on taxes. BOOM. Big red popup: "Upgrade to Deluxe required - $79." Fine, whatever.
Keep going. Enter one small stock sale, like $200 profit from selling some Apple shares. Another popup: "Investment income requires Premier - $149." Wait, what? I already paid $79. Nope, gotta upgrade again.
By the time I finished entering my rental property info and a 1099 from some freelance work, TurboTax wanted $229 for federal plus $64 for state. $293 total. For filling out the SAME DAMN FORMS I could download from the IRS for free.
I got so fed up that I tested my exact tax situation on four different platforms. Same forms, same numbers. The results pissed me off enough to switch permanently.
FreeTaxUSA: The One That Doesn't Try to Screw You
After getting burned by TurboTax, I found FreeTaxUSA and it's been my go-to for three years now. Yeah, the website looks like it was built in 2003 and the interface is uglier than hell, but they're actually honest about pricing. $14.99 total. That's it. No bullshit upgrade prompts.
I threw the exact same tax nightmare at FreeTaxUSA - rental depreciation, stock sales, HSA contributions, 1099 income, the works. Same $14.99 price from start to finish. No popups trying to upsell me. No "surprise, you need our premium tier" garbage.
The interface is clunky and looks outdated, but it walks you through everything step by step. When I had a question about calculating rental property depreciation (because the IRS forms are written in gibberish), I used their chat support. Got connected to an actual human in maybe 8 minutes who knew what they were talking about. Didn't cost extra.
Why TurboTax's Pricing is Pure Evil Now
TurboTax used to at least be honest about what things cost. Now they use this "up to $X" bullshit pricing where you don't know the real cost until you're 90% done. ProPublica documented how TurboTax has fought for decades to keep tax filing complicated and expensive. My return started at "up to $79" and ended up costing $217. Why? Because I entered some fucking investment income halfway through.
The worst part? Try to downgrade after they've trapped you in the expensive tier. I spent 20 minutes clicking around their interface looking for a way to go back to the cheaper option. Found a tiny "switch products" link buried in some menu, clicked it, and got a popup warning that I'd "lose features." What features? The privilege of paying $138 more for the same tax forms?
State filing costs another $64 no matter which tier you pick. If you worked in multiple states or moved during the year, multiply that. I ended up paying $217 total for a return that FreeTaxUSA handled for $15. That's a week of groceries or a car payment. For filling out forms.
H&R Block: Better Than TurboTax, Still Not Great
H&R Block improved their free tier this year to include more stuff than TurboTax's restrictive free option. Independent reviews consistently rate H&R Block as competitive with TurboTax but at lower prices. You can actually file bank interest and some investment income for free now.
But they still nail you around $37 for state returns, and their paid tiers aren't exactly cheap. At least they include professional support without making you pay extra for it. When I tested their chat feature, I got connected to someone who actually knew tax law, not some AI bot.
TaxAct: The Expensive "Free" Option
TaxAct's pricing is backwards as hell. They claim to be free for federal returns, then charge like $40 for state filing even on their "free" tier. Detailed comparison studies show TaxAct's total costs often exceed competitors once you add state filing. Most people need to file state taxes, so you're paying 40 bucks minimum.
Their higher tiers are competitive, but why would you pay more when FreeTaxUSA does everything for 15?
The Real Cost of "Premium" Features
Here's the thing about all those fancy features TurboTax brags about: most of them are bullshit. Automatic import from 300+ brokerages sounds great until you realize manual entry takes five minutes and saves you a hundred bucks.
The AI error checking? I've found mistakes in TurboTax returns that their "advanced algorithms" missed. FreeTaxUSA's basic error checks caught the same issues.
Audit protection for like $50? The IRS audits less than 1% of returns. You're better off putting that money in a savings account. Tax forum discussions consistently show problems with audit protection services not delivering promised support.
What I Actually Recommend
If you have a simple return (W-2, maybe some interest), use the IRS Free File program or the new IRS Direct File program, which expanded to 25 states in 2025. Both are actually free and work fine - Free File is available for AGI under $84,000 in 2025.
For anything more complex, FreeTaxUSA is the way to go. PCMag named FreeTaxUSA one of their Editors' Choice winners alongside TurboTax for 2025. FreeTaxUSA looks like a 2005 website but at least it's honest. It does taxes correctly for 15 bucks total, and that's all that matters.
Only use TurboTax if your employer pays for it or you genuinely need their hand-holding interface and don't mind paying over $200 for the privilege. Their customer support is good, but it's not $150 better than FreeTaxUSA's.
The Bottom Line on Tax Software Pricing
After testing all four platforms with my own tax situation - rental income, stock sales, HSA contributions, the works - the math is simple. FreeTaxUSA charged me 15 bucks total. TurboTax would have been over $200. H&R Block came to around $90. TaxAct hit $90-ish.
They're all doing the same basic tax calculations. The difference is how much they charge you for the privilege. Stop paying premium prices for the same damn 1040 forms.