Credit Karma e-filing

I thought this might interest you. I've had a CreditKarma.com login since the Equifax breach, but recently I noticed that they do state and federal taxes and e-file them for free. Unlike most free e-file services, there's no restriction by income, occupation, or any other factor.

There are a few situations they don't handle, notably residence in two states during the year. But they have a long and impressive list of forms they handle.

Their interface is much superior to the H&R Block software I used last year, IMHO, and I can't remember a year when I spent less time preparing and filing my taxes. They ask a series of questions in plain English, with reference to form numbers, frex "Did you have any investments? You might have received forms 1099-R" (paraphrased from memory).

I keep a workbook through the year for estimating my taxes. Credit Karma were within $2 of my Federal estimate; the discrepancy was due to the difference between tax tables and tax rate schedules. For New York State, there was an issue on the sales tax line item, which I've reported to them. but I was able to work around it.

Just like the "big boys", they let you know when the IRS and New York's DTF accept your e-filing.

Credit Karma Tax is a subsidiary of Credit Karma. The information in my Credit Karma account was automatically auto-filled in my tax returns. (They'll import H&R Block or Turbo Tax files, but I didn't test that.) I declined to let them share the other way, since the disclosure page said that was not required for the tax computation and filing.

Reply to
Stan Brown
Loading thread data ...

I need two states, so my interest is academic... What do they get out of it? They must have spent a good amount to develop it; how do they make a profit on it?

Reply to
Frustrated

That's disclosed on the Web site. They present targeted offers (as does the parent Credit Karma). If you accept one, they get a commission.

I found the offers were few in number and actually useful, but easy to ignore. I did accept one last fall, a credit card with 1.5% cash back, a $150 sign-up bonus, and no fees.

Reply to
Stan Brown

BeanSmart website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.