eSmart Tax Reviews

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Edited by: Tammy Burns

About eSmart Tax

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eSmart Tax is an online tax preparation software backed by Liberty Tax Service, which has over 2,500 offices nationwide and in Canada. With eSmart Tax, you can file both federal and state taxes online. Choose between three different filing packages to ensure your tax needs are met. The software guides you through the process step by step to ensure you don't miss any important deductions or credits.

Pros
  • Backed by Liberty Tax Service
Cons
  • No free option
  • State filing costs extra

eSmart Tax Reviews

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    Page 3 Reviews 40 - 240
    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaffProcess

    Reviewed Aug. 9, 2016

    I enjoyed their customer service. They're so kind and I appreciated their help. I felt like I could ask any question and they always had the right answers. Use all security measures as they help keep your information safe. I never worried about entering my information into their program. It was safe, easy and I was able to get information quickly and safely. My refund was significantly higher than if I did it myself and I was grateful for the program's assistance. It was easy and I still got more money back. It was very efficient and I enjoyed using the money! The filing was easier but still difficult and a little stressful. I wish there was a better system for completing this part. Filing is the most annoying part but I couldn't figure it out.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 8, 2016

    Everyone at the company was very helpful. They made me feel important and made sure all of my needs were taken care of before the conversation ended. I never had to worry at all about my information being stolen. They were very vigilant in making sure I was as secure as possible and were able to gain my trust. I had no need for a refund but as I am told they have a wonderful policy. They want to make sure they keep their customers so they do everything they can to make sure needs are met. It was a very organized filing experience. I knew where everything was and didn't need to search through piles of papers and folders to find what I needed.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed May 18, 2016

    Submitted my Federal and State returns in April, they were both rejected. I "fixed" both returns and resubmitted, as far as I knew both returns were accepted. Come to find out (over a month later - and way after April 15) that they had rejected both my returns again. I contacted support and they informed me that a new security update in the software was the reason, and it rejected my returns because either my name, date of birth, or address had changed since my last filing. Err, none of that has changed for over 3 years and I stated that to the support person multiple times. The only answer the support person could give me was "sorry for your inconvenience". Yeah? Tell that to the IRS now that my returns are late!!! You think they care that your company screwed me???

    In conclusion... the customer service is just awful for eSmart Tax, and as they are backed by Liberty Tax I'm thinking that this is just an extension of their own craps service. I will never use eSmart or Liberty Tax again. The experience was simply awful... and I get to pay a late penalty because they refuse to accept any responsibility for their errors. Go elsewhere, or be prepared to get screwed by this ghetto company. Thanks for nothing eSmart and Liberty Tax! Appreciate it!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed April 10, 2016

    First year for this worthless website. First, I couldn't print my return until it as accepted by the IRS and my State. I needed a form from the State return to file my local taxes, but I had to wait. Even though I had paid for this, I was not allowed to print it. I even called and wasted 15 minutes of my time until I was finally told that I had to wait. So, my returns are accepted, I was able to print out everything I needed. Then I tried to download to my computer. I tried this lots of times and every time I got the first page and the last page. All the pages in between were blank. Still can't figure this one out.

    So needless to say, I will be looking for another site next year. One that I can print my tax papers out when I pay for it and it also has to let me save it to disc. I keep all my taxes returns on my computer and backed up on a flash drive. Until this year, so I will be missing 2015 for the rest of my life. Never again eSmart Tax. You just weren't worth the trouble.

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    Reviewed March 30, 2016

    This is the worst website for interactivity and comprehension I've ever gone through. You cannot amend figures once they are saved, you have to figure out where the mistake is, delete all the info in that section and start again. Otherwise, you will try to change info over and over in vain. On top of all that, eSmart does not inform you of serious errors until you have filed and print your returns. Very poor tax prep website.

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    Sheri increased rating by 2 stars.
    Customer Service
    After a positive interaction with eSmart Tax, Sheri increased their star rating.

    Reviewed Feb. 17, 2016

    I filed both my returns. I paid $39.90, which has been charged to my bank account. An email arrived saying my taxes were submitted, then eSmart Tax about the status, I'm told I must send information that isn't pertinent to my taxes much like others' complaints.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Feb. 5, 2016

    My son tried to submit a simple tax form for a very small refund and it was rejected through this system. The company then emailed requesting personal information including a copy of a Driver's License which is not relevant to tax reporting. They said it would have to go through a verification process. This is not acceptable. We have filed through free fileable forms with no issue. The IRS can verify pertinent information themselves, they do not need a third party to do it. This company is seeking information for some other reasons. I would not trust them to do taxes for anyone. If you're in their system, I suggest deleting your account. I would report this company to the IRS. They should not be linked to the IRS website. Furthermore, simply try to get a hold of someone, where is their phone number?

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    Reviewed March 13, 2015

    eSmart Tax bought "CompleteTax." I used CompleteTax for years with no problems, the software was excellent! eSmart needs a lot of help. First, there were fields on forms that were incorrect and didn't match the IRS form. After I reported it I was told it was incorrect and they would advise IT and I would be notified within 48 hours (I still haven't heard back). After submitting all my tax information the software didn't support my state tax return. Support said I would have to go to a Liberty Tax office. The Liberty Tax office had no idea what I was talking about. They said they don't handle anything with eSmart and they would have to prepare the entire return. If you're a high school or college student with only a part-time job, this may work for you. If you have anything progressive, don't bother! I ended up paying a extra and going with TurboTax and had no problems. It supported all my tax preparation needs.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed March 2, 2015

    I did not file 2013 taxes, so am having troubles with the AGI (entered 0, that was rejected, created own pin, rejected, creating electronic filing pin through IRS website - didn't work and their phone line was busy). After multiple rejects to this one problem, I simply want to use a different e-filing service or mail my forms the old fashioned way!!! They have put in a request for my refund, yay! I think other e-filing services are more thorough and accurate but their customer service, at least for me, had the answers I needed!

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedReliability

    Reviewed Feb. 20, 2015

    Filed taxes with eSmart on Feb 1st 2015. I used the it's.gov under fee file and chose a company. After filing and submitting to irs (or so I thought). I received an instant email stating I would receive another email once taxes were accepted. 2nd email never arrived. Seven days later I contacted eSmart via the online chat support and was told to send a copy of social security card, Driver's licence and a utility bill. I completed this step and contacted customer support via online chat again 24 hours later and was told it would take 5-7 days to verify information then I would receive an email that my taxes were approved to resubmit.

    Contacted customer support again 7 days later and was told they would escalate my case. At this point I expressed my concerns that the company was fraudulent. The next time I tried to log in my password did not work. This company now has my entire identity in their hands and I paid for a service I did not receive. I did file my taxes with another company and was successful. I wonder how many people have been taken by this company. Very concerned. :(

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 1, 2015

    Without doing adequate research, I foolishly went ahead and filed using this service. I chose the e-file option and thought everything was fine. About 1 hr. after submitting, I received an email from ESmart stating that my return had been accepted and to check WMR for further updates regarding the processing of my return. 5 days later, I checked WMR and it showed no receipt of my return. I called the IRS and the agent confirmed that they had no record of me filing.

    Customer service at ESmart claimed it normally takes up to a month for the IRS to acknowledge receipt, which is false. The IRS told me it generally takes anywhere from 24-48 hrs. for them to acknowledge an e-file. I'm currently looking at using TaxSlayer or Turbo Tax now. Wish I had done my research, I would have saved myself all kinds of time and headaches....

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    Reviewed April 16, 2014

    Another reviewer made the comment that they figured they would give eSmart Tax a try since they were CCH and had their prior information. We did the same thing. Now we will have to amend our return because they don't support rental property, even though the old software did. They didn't have any warnings that they didn't support rental property, but when we contacted them (and had to wait several hours to get through on the "instant chat") they were unconcerned with that fact. We will never use them again. In a way, we didn't use them this year since we'll have to amend the return anyway. Adding insult to injury, the software is poorly designed and executed. I am an accountant and I had difficulty navigating the software, plus everything I looked up as a question went unanswered and I had to look outside of their software.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedReliability

    Reviewed April 11, 2014

    I was using Complete Tax before it became eSmartTax. I figured I would give them a try, since they already had all my info from last year. That was a waste of time and money. The new service is terrible. The itemized deduction worksheet on my state return was incorrectly calculated and resulted in the rest of the return being wrong. The error was caught by the state department, and eSmartTax has so far ignored my requests to look into it. They offer their service with full guarantee of accuracy, but the program used an outdated worksheet calculation. It is really unacceptable for a tax software to make such mistakes, and their customer service doesn't stand behind the product or the guarantee that comes with it. In short, it's unreliable, and their customer service is non-existent.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed April 9, 2014

    I had been using a different online tax prep service for years with no problems. That site disappeared this year, and foolishly started using eSmart Tax without adequate research.

    Problem #1: while reviewing our return, a screen popped up informing us that our Federal return had been filed, even though we had hit no "Submit" or "Approve" button. We decided to wait and see what happened.

    Problem #2 - we get email from eSmart that our California return had been rejected by their system(?) due to overpayment of State Disability. My wife had two W-2s, and by their own admission, their software was not set up for this. "Tier 2" Customer Support" took a few days to figure this out, and we had to resubmit our CA return.

    Then Problem #3: We get a question from our auto insurance carrier about business mileage, and in order to keep the numbers in line, we check our return with eSmart, only to discover that there is only one Schedule C (under my wife's name) when we had filled out two separate C's as we have done for years. There are entries for expenses on this form that were only input for the other form, and the totals are obviously combined. They claim this is how we put the info in, but we know we did not as we would not have put those unrelated expenses under my wife's name.

    Then after hours long live chat session, they say the only solution is to file an amended return, which of course their buggy software "does not support". But if I contact my local Liberty Tax office, I can get a discount! I am supposed to pay more because their software stinks? Their customer service keeps referring to the return as proof of our input, and cannot (or more likely will not) understand that the return is the result and proof of the problem. Also, it took them almost 45 minutes to understand that I could not follow their own instructions to review my return because the return had already been filed and the software (once again) won't allow a review of a filed return! These are extremely incompetent people, except when it comes to stealing your money to produce faulty returns that they make no effort to correct. They just give you a lot of circular reasoning to avoid your questions and complaints. They are among the worst services I have ever encountered.

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    Customer ServiceOnline & AppStaff

    Reviewed April 6, 2014

    I loved Complete Tax, but eSmart Tax has killed it. It is terrible. Last year, my old returns were not imported. This year, the UI is smoother. However, I realized before I filled that there were no questions about household employees. I have a Nanny and need to file Schedule H, which was fully supported in years past. NO LONGER. I was told via a long chat, that I could not have an employee unless I was self-employed. Clearly someone who does not understand the tax code at all. Tried to call and see if anyone in the brick and mortar stores could help and just got blown off. So frustrated that I put all the time into being a beta tester for their incomplete software.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed March 1, 2014

    For years I have used CompleteTax online tax prep service for filing my returns. Recently CompleteTax was sold to Liberty Tax and is now called eSmart. I never had an issue with CompleTax as it was a great service. However, my recent experience with eSmart has not been good. After filing my federal return and then printing my 1040 and schedule (which you can't do until you file your return), I noticed that my Schedule A deductions were not added correctly. After three weeks of emails and over an hour of online support chat sessions, I have received nothing but empty promises, I have yet to receive any kind of resolution from eSmart.

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    eSmart Tax Company Information

    Company Name:
    eSmart Tax
    Address:
    1716 Corporate Landing Parkway
    City:
    Virginia Beach
    State/Province:
    VA
    Postal Code:
    23454
    Country:
    United States
    Website:
    www.esmarttax.com