[...] Not to be outdone, My Dollar Plan also has some free tax preparation services. [...]

One thing about the interface and interview screens is the frequent nag screens to purchase the upgraded product but oh well, you get what you pay for.

My biggest gripe is that it miscalculated my taxes. My wife still has student loan interest which is partially deductible. TaxAct erroneously deducted the full amount rather than the adjusted amount. I confirmed the figure with the tables on the IRS website.

Also, I made an error on a dependent’s SS number which caused initial rejection by the IRS. I then followed TaxAct’s instructions for re submittal but continued to get the same error. I have no way of knowing, but wonder if the free version simply refused to resend anything but the original return due to limitations of the free version? No idea, I just know it didn’t work.

I then went to TurboTax and used their web interface free version with free e-file. Everything went smoothly and was correct the first time.

Despite it’s nice interface and all, I do have to defer to accuracy. Therefore I would recommend one be careful of TaxAct. BTW, I happened upon a writeup from a year or two ago comparing the two and they revealed inaccuracies in TaxAct as well. Sorry I can’t remember where the article was but I did find it via a Google search.

Oh, and BTW, be aware that when you submit your returns, apparently these services keep some or all of your personal info on their servers and will notify you via their system of rejections.