TaxSlayer

TaxSlayer

 3.9/5 (523 reviews)
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TaxSlayer
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About TaxSlayer

TaxSlayer is a tax company that offers four tax preparation plans, including a free option for simple tax returns and paid options for more complex returns. Active military personnel can file their federal and state returns for free without restrictions. Each plan comes with some tax assistance, but the higher levels come with dedicated tax expert help.

Overall Satisfaction Rating

  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
  • 3 stars
  • 2 stars
  • 1 stars

Pros

  • Free filing for military
  • 100% accuracy guarantee

Cons

  • Limited tax expert help

Bottom Line

TaxSlayer offers tax preparation software that works for users in a variety of tax situations. The company has a 100% accuracy guarantee, and you don’t have to pay upfront.

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Page 2 Reviews 10 - 40
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 19, 2022

Four stars on your preparation for the busiest day in your business. I thoroughly enjoyed the three and a half hours of trying to file an extension while gently being “timed out” and having to log back in. Great fun Tax Slayer! Unfortunately I had to take my fun to another company - who by the way had me on my way within 10 minutes.

7 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 16, 2022

I'm trying to file a federal tax return using the simply free version of TaxSlayer, and every way you turn, they attempt to trick or force you into upgrading to a paid version. I have a very simple W-2 and that's all. I first tried to file free, but somehow ended up with the premium version. In order to switch to the free version, I had to delete everything I had entered and start over.

Then, once I had the free version, I wanted to claim the standard deduction, but the only way it would let me claim the standard deduction is by going through and entering an itemized deduction, which it then compares to the standard deduction, determines the standard will get me a larger refund, and goes with that. But by entering in the information for an itemized deduction, it automatically "upgrades" me to a paid edition, and once again, the only way to get back to the free edition is to delete everything and start over. If I don't enter anything into the itemized section, it doesn't apply a deduction at all and the refund I would get is only half of what it should be with the standardized deduction. I am more than fed up with their ridiculous and predatory tactics.

14 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 15, 2022

Due to faults in their programming, I had to file an amended return. Their own representative said it was odd that the program did what it did. They offered to escalate my problem to management. However, I was told the whole process would take several weeks and then they would make a decision if I had to pay for the amendment. Fine. I just wanted it over so I paid.

Everything went fine. A screen popped up and told me my amended return was successful. I paid $500 through them to go to the IRS and moved on. Logged in today to make sure everything was fine. It wasn't. I learned after calling Tax Slayer that there is a very confusing thing with banking that is not explained clearly on their website. The customer service representative knew exactly what the problem was. Great! Except when I asked her to stay on with me for less than one minute I needed to make sure it worked she said she couldn't and hung up. I sat on hold for 34 minutes. She literally could not wait for less than one minute to make sure it was okay. NEVER AGAIN! The whole experience has been a nightmare!

14 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: March 25, 2022

I tried to file with them this year. Don't expect to be guided through your issues. If you don't know it try another company. I went through the my whole tax return, filled it out correctly and was ready to file. I was told that it was correct and to e file only to have it rejected. So I went back to my return to fix the problem and there was no help to tell me what was wrong, after 3 weeks of phone calls and emails and chats with them they could not tell me how to fix it.

They had a glitch in their software and refused to admit it. So I went to another website, filled out a new return with their software and filed. It worked fine and that was that. After all of that I contacted them to get a refund and was told in no uncertain terms that they would not refund me because I had looked at the pdf file. I asked how I was supposed to file without paying and that they had assured me that it was all correct. So long story short I had to pay them for something I couldn't use and I was told that my issue was fixed. They basically called me a liar. Please do yourself a favor and don't use them. They can not help you or they will not help you. I paid for using something that didn't work. Nowhere else would this work. Bad company!

15 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: March 8, 2022

I have used TurboTax for 7 years. I am a CPA with extensive tax experience but I really like the way TTax helps you along. I tried TaxSlayer for the first (and last) time yesterday. They DO NOT HELP YOU. In fact, they expect you to know what you are doing and what you want before you can complete your own return! Who knows all that stuff? Not even me and I am brilliant...sort of. OK maybe not brilliant but I do know how to do things like taxes. BTY - They ended up charging as much as Turbotax! So. I am going back to TT. To be clear I am self-employed, retired, over 70, not blind, and have a very simple return.

26 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: March 2, 2022

By far worst experience with Taxslayer this year. DO NOT file as Married filing separately with taxslayer. They say it is free for federal and state all the way up until you are ready to hit "file", then blam a $95 charge?! Seriously $95 for a simple married filing jointly with no deductions, no dependents, no unemployment, on schedules nothing. Nowhere does it say on their website that married filing separately denotes charges (at least not easily findable). When I asked for a refund as I never intended to have my credit card info used for a fee, the answer was "nope, so sorry, your taxes are filed, no refunds". I will be disputing this with my credit card company, and will definitely be taking my business elsewhere! Such a shame after using taxslayer for the past few years, they seemed legit but obviously something has changed in the culture there. Buyer beware.

14 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: March 2, 2022

This is by far the worst company I have ever dealt with. They filed by state tax incorrectly so I paid $384 in taxes that I do not owe and charged a hefty fee to do it. I called their customer service for a refund of their fee because they did not file it accurately as they guarantee and I will have to file an amended return to get my money back. They said no refund and offered no assistance in checking the return to correct it. They tried to blame me for their error. We were forced to dispute the bill with our credit card company and wait for the results. This company is raking in fees for shoddy service and should not be in business. They know most people will not question their results and will be paying taxes they do not owe and being charged a hefty fee in the meantime. I would like to see a class action suit filed on them.

17 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 26, 2022

Let me preface this review by telling you what TaxSlayer advertises. They advertise that they can get your refund and that you can pay to get a tax professional's help if you need it. Well, let me tell you what; both are not true. My tax returns kept getting rejected after I paid over $50 for a simple tax return. (Which by the way, I don't know of a way to ever get a free tax return because even with 1 W2, you have to pay the $54 and change - that right there should have been the first red flag). Moving on, after 4 rejections, I pay an extra $20 for a tax professional to answer my question (it was regarding the Recovery Rebate Credit that I had to answer even though I was not claiming my child this year).

I proceeded to ask Customer service. A few questions while waiting on the tax professional, and get this, they told me TaxSlayer HAS NO TAX PROFESSIONALS, just CUSTOMER SERVICE PERSONNEL like himself because this is [do it yourself software]. Of course, I asked him why I paid an extra fee for a tax professional then. He tries to back track and tell me that he misspoke and that those are tax professionals, but they would have to get ahold of me first. At this point, I am wondering if I am going to get someone licensed to assist in Tax preparations and what kind of help I would be getting when they reach out. I suggest everyone ask if the person responding to them is a CPA or has any financial licenses to even be authorized to give Tax related advice.

The customer service portion is literally someone who has no business giving anyone Tax advice and I learned that after they told me not to report the Recovery Rebate Credit. Then the Rep continued to interchange the EIC, Childcare Credit, the Recovery Rebate Credit, and the stimulus packages. I was beyond confused at this point. After I tell him I cannot ignore an IRS letter, he tells me that I cannot input the Recovery Rebate without putting the child's info in. I once again tell him I am not claiming the child this year and so he tells me to take the child's info out. I literally had just told him that it tells me something is wrong whether the child's info is in there or not. Still cannot get an answer from them and we are on person number 2 at this point.

Person number 2 is not a CPA and has absolutely no reading comprehension skills. I am on week number 2 of taxes not filed and NO ONE at TaxSlayer who can tell me what to do with this damned Recovery Rebate. Also WTF Biden for this god-awful stimulus plan for the advanced child credit. I never asked for it and now I am having problems filing since I'm not claiming my child. Perhaps if it wasn't for that document, my taxes would have been done by now. On top of that because I'm not claiming my child this year, I HAVE TO PAY IT BACK!

So after TaxSlayer cannot help figuring out why I cannot seem to get a successful tax return filed (which btw they say that they have done their part in filing it and that they cannot control the IRS rejecting it. They recommend sending the documents in by mail..did I not just pay to e file? Oh, but they don't give refunds even though their tax professionals cannot help either) but now I have to find someone who can help me get paper documents so that I don't get penalized because you cannot use another tax software company once you filed a rejected return, AND I will likely have to owe $1500 back to federal for Biden's stupid "Recovery Credit". Thanks for the wasted $75+ TaxSlayer, you are completely useless and misleading.

14 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 23, 2022

Filed "free" edition and paid triple digits for filing on "free" edition. Waited longer for my return than people who filed after I did. Unreliable updates on tracking refund. Still waiting for any kind of update to the status of my return...

14 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 22, 2022

I filed with TaxSlayer last year and the IRS said that my processing was being delayed. After about 4 months I got a letter from the IRS that said I would have to travel 3 hours to Knoxville to the Federal Building to prove my identity. Come to find out TaxSlayer had changed the routing number on my return which put up a red flag to them. 12 weeks later I got a direct deposit from TaxSlayer minus the $90 they charged me. Guess What, I am such a genius that I used TaxSlayer again this year and you guessed it. Same Problem.

16 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 16, 2022

Their "free" service is just lure and never have been received. They're just playing terms and definitions. Simply free is never simple. Just profited by confusing poor people and charging them after. Fraud, shady money under the disguise "free" tax preparations. This people are scam, bait and manipulation.

12 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 4, 2022

I qualified for a Free Simple Tax Return - that is not what I got. I am single with no children, support told me that I had claimed Earned Income Credit for children! I did not enter social security numbers or dates of birth for children because I do not have any. I am single with no deductions! I was looking for an alternative to TurboTax but ended up paying the same. Also I had to sign out and sign back in a few times for it to accept my Florida Driver's License information. I would not trust this software! If I have issues with the IRS, I am going to be livid!

16 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Jan. 20, 2022

I signed up for the simple Free return, because Social Security is my only income. I filled out everything giving all my personal information and then at the end they showed a charge of $54.95. I will not pay this and it seems like a bait and switch to me. So now TaxSlayer has all of my personal information and I cannot find any way of canceling or removing my account.

23 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Nov. 28, 2021

I was unable to get my return for months, then it was all wrong, didn't get my refund, got a recovery rebate, I didn't file for it nor ask for it, now Uncle Sam wants it back. They screwed up and overcharged me for their service, never again will I use this service, they need to pay for screwing up. They will pay, I'm just warming up. I Highly don't recommend...

13 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Oct. 30, 2021

They stole my refund & changed the automatic deposit to their bank account! The IRs is investigating this in their fraud department. They also calculated mine incorrectly. These people are thieves! I will get this information out to the public AND whatever consumer review I can!

18 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Oct. 20, 2021

I am absolutely livid. When filling out my forms, there was one field that kept not saving every time I tried to fill it out. I went back to that page 100x, I tried to close and restart my browser, I tried to use a different browser, I tried to use different devices. At this point, it was 5 pm and their customer support line was closed. So I submitted my taxes as they were. I called the following business day to ask how I could amend the return. There is a charge of $45 to file an amended return. So I called back and asked if they could waive that fee since the glitch was on their end - I wouldn't need to file an amendment if the service had worked properly.

I was told that the TaxSlayer website does not work on Safari or Internet Explorer - only the most updated version of Chrome. I have a brand new ipad I was working on, in Chrome. And it wasn't working. The support person told me it says on their homepage that you have to use Chrome. It does not say that ANYWHERE. Not on the account page, not on the main website. They refuse to do anything to fix my issue. The second support person I spoke to tried to make it seem like my fault. I have never been so angry with a company in my life. I've lost days of my life and hundreds of dollars to this nonsense at this point.

13 people found this review helpful
Rated with 3 stars
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Oct. 10, 2021

Taxslayer is pretty good. But, it's not like Turbotax, where you *KNOW* it's foolproof. I'll talk about Taxslayer first to be clear. I take responsibility for math errors EVEN THOUGH I've NEVER had MATH errors on a return before using TAX SLAYER. (I either hired an accountant or used TurboTax.) Using TAXSLAYER the past 4 years, the IRS has adjusted my math -- either kicking me another $1, or requesting I give them back $5. Seriously. So the IRS is actually really nice and accurate about fixing math errors.

This year the TaxSlayer error caused more of a hiccup. Something about filling in box 30 (regarding the stimulus) caused me to owe $200. Basically, another math error. TurboTax might cost $400 but you never ever ever receive a letter from the IRS. Seriously foolproof. TurboTax is a bit shady though, as like you make $1, and somehow they work out a $2000 refund for you. So, yeah, that's why I stopped using them. That and the price was a bit steep just to file some taxes. So I don't know what to do next year. Anyone know a good accountant? LOL.

3 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Oct. 1, 2021

I choose TaxSlayer due to their ad for FREE filing. Was I ever WRONG. After giving all my info they said it was going to cost $100! I was stuck so agreed. They even took their pint of blood BEFORE IRS sent out the refund. Later to find out IRS sends the return to a 3rd party bank (theirs) which charges an additional $39. Even though my bank info was on the return! When I called they just ran me around saying it is just the way it is. DO NOT USE THEM!! THEY DONT CARE AS LONG AS THEY GET THEIR MONEY.

14 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Aug. 25, 2021

I've used TaxSlayer's tax services for two years in a row. My wife and I have a very simple tax situation: almost no investments and we took a standard deduction for both years (just like we do every year). Both years we expected a $600-$700 return. Instead we got a letter from the IRS a few months after we filed saying we owe $1100-$1400. Tax Slayer took our fee but never took responsibility for any of the mistakes we made in filing. Our tax situation is a simple one. Any mistakes that we made should have been picked up on by Tax Slayer before we filed. I now am convinced that Tax Slayer only wanted our money and couldn't have cared less if our paperwork was correct or incorrect. All they wanted was their fee. I will never use this company again.

15 people found this review helpful
Rated with 5 stars
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Aug. 3, 2021

In the past, we used a CPA to do our taxes. Now that our taxes are more simple, I shopped for a high-quality and affordable tax software company. We found Taxslayer! Taxslayer was simple to use and worked exactly as advertised.

2 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 20, 2021

Was referred to them by Mypoints.com ..Their promo code didn't work . ** Nor their offer of points per dollar. I paid 70 bucks when it should've been around 45.00. plus my incentive. After calling and spending 10 minutes on the phone they tried to tell me they weren't an affiliate..It is their paid advertising.. Will be challenging it on my credit card..and filing a complaint with the IRS...Scam artists.

9 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: July 5, 2021

Taxslayer incorrectly calculated my return. They included EIC which I was not eligible for. Besides getting $300 dollars less, it delayed my refund while the IRS corrected it. Very poor service and they won't give me a refund of their service.

8 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: June 23, 2021

It's been 2 1/2 months since I filed with TaxSlayer for my 2020 returns with the IRS. Using my refund to pay for TS services, due to IRS delays TS will now forcibly take money out of my personal account to recoup costs. Bad business!

4 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: May 17, 2021

I was lured into using Taxslayer by its "FREE" services, which proved to be untrue at the e-file stage. When I sought tech support, I was given a royal run-around and then ignored. Having given sensitive detailed personal and financial info, I realized I had better bail out. Surprise! There is no option to delete your account… not even by phone.

8 people found this review helpful
Rated with 5 stars
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: May 17, 2021

After years of paying TurboTax disingenuous fees, I was wary of using any tax software. Last year I prepared my own taxes, but I wanted to save some time and take advantage of deductions I didn't know about when I filed solo. TaxSlayer delivered. Their design is a little kludgey but basically intuitive. I checked all the calculations in Excel, and ran into some math that didn't check out, so I called them. In the heart of tax season, I was able to speak with a rep in under and hour. They pointed me to a worksheet I didn't know about. Including it allowed me to increase my refund slightly. In sum, TaxSlayer is not fancy, but it is straightforward, has good customer support, is truly free, and may save you a bit of time and money, and will certainly save you frustration compared to TurboTax. Thank you!

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Rated with 3 stars
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: April 14, 2021

I have used this company for several years with no trouble.. Today I received an invoice from them requesting payment for their service because the irs hadn't sent our refund after two months even though the fee was to be deducted from refund..I also received a letter from the irs today stating that the Tax Slayer debit card account had rejected the refund because only my spouse's name appeared on the account..We have always filed married joint return..After waiting over two months for our refund the irs says it will be another 8-10weeks due to the SNAFU created by tax slayer who is now demanding direct payment instead of waiting like I now have to..Probably won't use them again. Not to mention the missing $2100 of $4200 in stimulus money the irs says they sent for deposit on March 17.

5 people found this review helpful
Rated with 4 stars
Verified Reviewer
Original review: March 12, 2021

I was guided by an experienced tax person, so that made it easier to use. I like how easy it is to go back and look at what was done & the previous year. It met my tax needs. I have not used any others so I cannot compare it to another tax product.

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Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 25, 2021

The software was very easy to use. But hands on assistance is Hard to get. Also I was charged 100 dollars in all for a software that was advised as 39 dollars. And also I normally use Turbo tax and I receive my taxes in no more than 2 weeks ddd.. but it’s has been 22 days since my taxes was received and I still don’t have anything. So overall it’s a no for me..

9 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
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Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 8, 2021

When I went to the TaxSlayer website to begin my 2020 filing, I was not offered any choice of plans. Upon completing my return, I was automatically charged for the premium plan — again, no choice was offered. Later, in going back to the site, a page opened showing a variety of plans, including a basic plan for $17 that would have served my simple needs just fine. This is the plan I would have chosen had I been given the option earlier. I contacted support (2 days after payment) but was refused a refund for the difference between the plans. This was a total lack of transparency and choice, resulting in overcharges on this website!!!

22 people found this review helpful
Rated with 1 star
Verified Reviewer
Original review: Feb. 5, 2021

I am not self-employed, did not claim any self-employed income, 1099 income, or schedule C income, and they keep charging me for the self-employed product. I started over the filing and it did it again! Fraud!

14 people found this review helpful
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TaxSlayer Company Information

Company Name:
TaxSlayer
Website:
www.taxslayer.com