Filing your taxes in the United States is a notoriously difficult and confusing process. That’s on purpose.
“Only in America is filing taxes such a complicated mess,” Business Insider aptly put it.
Unlike many other countries, which send each citizen an estimated tax filing that includes itemized deductions, earnings, and charges, the U.S. knows how much you owe but makes you guess the number yourself.
And if you get it wrong, you could be hit with penalties and interest. There’s also the (albeit remote) possibility of going to jail.
Woman calls out TurboTax
In a viral video with more than 1.6 million views, content creator Caroline Rendon (@carolinesadventure) shared the confusion she experienced while filing taxes.
“Can someone explain to me why there’s such a big difference between TurboTax and this website that ChatGPT told me to use as an alternative?” Rendon said, referring to FreeTaxUSA.
Rendon explained that she filed her taxes with TurboTax last year and figured it would be easy to use it again this year, especially since she thought she could link her business’s QuickBooks (business accounting software).
She wasn’t able to link to her QuickBooks, however. After going back and forth with TurboTax with no resolution on the QuickBooks issue, she decided to try an alternative.
After doing the process all over again with FreeTaxUSA, Rendon saw a big discrepancy with how much it said she owed.
According to Rendon, TurboTax has her owing $198 in federal tax and $2,839 in state tax—$3,037 total.
Meanwhile, Free Tax USA states that she owes $2,058 to California ($781 less than with TurboTax) and the federal government owes her $1,392.
That’s a $2,371 difference.
“I don’t understand. What is going on with TurboTax? Don’t use TurboTax, it sucks,” Rendon says in the TikTok.
She also notes that it would have cost $273 to file with TurboTax. With Free Tax USA, she says she only had to pay $15 to file her state return.
“At this point, I’m convinced taxes are a scam. Has this happened to anyone else?!” Rendon wrote in the caption.
How much does it cost to file taxes?
There are free or lower-cost tools to file your taxes, but people find that the numbers often vary across platforms. Thus, consumers are often uncertain they’re paying the right amount.
Oftentimes, it feels like a game of roulette. That’s why many people hire professionals to do their taxes for them or use a guided platform.
For the average nonbusiness-owning taxpayer, it takes about eight hours to file taxes and costs about $160, NOLO reports. That number jumps dramatically for business owners for whom it takes an average of 24 hours (three back to back work days) and costs about $620.
The IRS has multiple options to help you file your federal taxes for free. You can find them here.
TurboTax tea
A ProPublica investigation found that TurboTax, one of the country’s most popular online tax filing systems, purposefully tricked people into paying to file taxes when the service was eligible to be free.
Multiple state attorneys general opened investigations into the company. In 2022, they reached a $141 million settlement with TurboTax. Victims were reportedly to receive up to $90 each.
Commenters react
“I work for FreeTaxUSA.. the owners are seriously the nicest people and our software is so user friendly and affordable,” a top comment reads.
“Oddly, FreeTaxUSA is recommended by IRS but TurboTax isn’t,” another person pointed out.
“I’m a CPA and even I use FreeTaxUSA to file my taxes—that being said, it might be worth previewing the actual return to see where the discrepancies are,” a third said.
@carolinesadventure That’s a $2,629 difference!! HOW?! And why does TurboTax want me to pay $273 just to file when another site does it for $15?? At this point, I’m convinced taxes are a scam. Has this happened to anyone else?! #taxseason #TurboTax #FreeTaxUSA #isitascam #taxesareascam #taxes #2024taxes #cataxes ♬ original sound – Caroline 
The Daily Dot reached out to Rendon for comment via email and Instagram direct message and to TurboTax and FreeTaxUSA via email.
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