Pros & Cons
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- Fast, understandable interface
- Supports all major IRS forms and schedules
- Thorough coverage of tax topics
- Generous US-based support options
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- Context-sensitive help could be more plentiful
- Help content quality could be better
TaxSlayer 2026 (Tax Year 2025) Specs
| All Major IRS Forms and Schedules | |
| Chat Help | |
| Context-Sensitive Help | |
| Hyperlinked Help In Interview | |
| Imports Competitors' Returns | |
| Mobile Access | |
| Phone Support for Tax Topics | |
| Searchable Help Database |
TaxSlayer is a budget-friendly tax preparation app that supports all IRS forms and schedules, making it especially suitable for gig workers and microbusinesses. We like the service's snappy, straightforward design, and this year brings back-end improvements to its support system and tools. However, the quality and availability of its help content could still be better and competitors have progressed faster. If you want the best guidance and user experience available, you should look instead to Intuit TurboTax, our Editors' Choice winner for premium tax services. FreeTaxUSA is also an Editors’ Choice thanks to its exceptional value, as it lets you file your federal taxes for free without compromising on coverage.
Pricing: Affordable (Especially the Classic Version)
TaxSlayer comes in five versions that look and work the same. Unlike some competitors, TaxSlayer charges more for extra services rather than additional forms and schedules. The Simply Free tier is free for both federal and state returns if you claim W-2 income, take the standard deduction, and file as single or married with no dependents. It also supports unemployment income and education credits, and deductions. This is less than what the free version of H&R Block offers.
The next level of service, Classic (currently $22.99 for federal returns), is a good deal, especially for gig workers and other self-employed individuals. It includes all major IRS forms and schedules and imports W-2 and 1099 data.
The two most expensive tiers, TaxSlayer Premium ($42.99 for federal returns) and TaxSlayer Self-Employed ($52.99 for federal returns), include priority support and unlimited phone access to tax professionals. Self-Employed also comes with extra guidance for the self-employed. It might be worth paying the higher price for the extra help, but I didn’t see anything in the actual interview process that would help self-employed individuals more than what’s available at the Classic level.
Finally, TaxSlayer Military offers free federal prep and filing to active-duty military members. State returns for all versions except Simply Free cost an extra $39.99. The prices for all these versions could go up later in the filing season, as they do with competitors.
Cash App Taxes handles all major IRS forms and schedules—and state returns—for free, though its help options aren't as comprehensive as TaxSlayer's. FreeTaxUSA also supports all major forms and schedules and provides helpful tools at a low cost (free for federal returns; $15.99 for state returns). FreeTaxUSA’s expanded online help costs $7.99, while pro support is $44.99. Other tax websites for self-employed workers, including TaxAct ($69.99) and TurboTax ($99), cost more than TaxSlayer Classic.
Interface and Ease of Use: Simple Operations
All tax preparation websites work similarly. The differences primarily lie in the amount and quality of help resources, as well as the user experience. TurboTax is superior to TaxSlayer in both areas, and its price tag reflects that.
Getting started is simple. You create a TaxSlayer account and either start entering personal information, such as your family’s Social Security numbers and birth dates, or import your previous return from TaxSlayer or a competitor.
The site interviews you like a live tax professional would, asking you questions about your tax-related income and expenses. It puts your answers (which you provide by choosing from lists, clicking buttons, entering data, or importing or uploading financial documents) on official IRS forms and schedules in the background. TaxSlayer allows you to select the tax situations (also called tax topics) that you want to visit. Alternatively, you can let the site guide you through all its topics if you want to ensure you don’t miss anything. I recommend this, especially for novice taxpayers and the self-employed.
Once you visit all the federal and state tax topics that pertain to you (income, deductions and credits, taxes, and miscellaneous issues), TaxSlayer looks for errors and omissions. Then, it helps you print or e-file your return.
Help and Support: Could Be Better
TaxSlayer has multiple types of guidance that can be helpful when you hit complicated tax topics. Like any other online tax prep service, the site has a searchable help database that shows you links to related forms and FAQs when you enter a word or phrase. The actual explanations appear in the left vertical pane, temporarily replacing the navigation toolbar. Speaking of, the navigation toolbar is fairly sparse and doesn't break down into numerous subtopics like the one in FreeTaxUSA.
Searching for a term works...sometimes. TaxSlayer displays multiple hits for keywords or phrases, some of which are context-sensitive. But like other applications, help database hits sometimes veer off quickly to cover state-specific tax laws.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)If the site didn’t return a relevant result when I entered a search phrase during testing, I clicked the “I still can’t find what I’m looking for” link, which opened a window with additional help options. Aside from the email, live chat, and phone options, you can access TaxSlayer's excellent Ask a Tax Pro feature, which gets you one-on-one help from a tax professional (included free with Premium and Self-Employed).
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TaxSlayer’s help articles accurately lay out the facts, but they use a lot of formal language. TurboTax does a much better job of rewriting IRS instructions so you can understand them. TaxSlayer also sometimes sends you to IRS pages directly from the site, as does TaxAct. This isn't ideal, since avoiding those very pages is one of the most compelling reasons to use tax software (though in rare cases it might still be necessary).
Furthermore, TaxSlayer doesn’t hyperlink many terms in the Q&A or provide explanatory text as often as competitors when introducing new topics or asking questions that might require further explanation. For example, I really expected to see some context-sensitive help on the Capital Gains Transaction page, but there was just one link to help (a definition of a short sale). More help would also have been useful on the Business Use of Home page, the Residential Clean Energy Credit page, and the depreciation Q&A, for example.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)If you have a technical question about entering your tax data, you can get support via chat, email, or phone.
Self-Employment Topics: Thorough, But Scattered
Even if you don't make much money from a side gig, you still need to complete Schedule C to enter your income from various sources and claim expenses that can offset your income and minimize your tax liability. TaxSlayer covers self-employment topics comprehensively, starting out by asking general questions about your business. It then breaks out related topics such as business use of your home, cost of goods sold, and vehicle expenses. The Schedule C Q&As provided here are thorough, and some online help is available; however, more would be greatly appreciated.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)Many self-employed individuals receive 1099-MISC (miscellaneous income) and 1099-NEC (nonemployee compensation) forms. TaxSlayer allows you to manually enter the information or import it from PDF files. You may also receive a 1099-K if you accept payments through a third-party processor, such as Stripe or Venmo. You can enter these totals on a separate page, but you still have to include them as part of the calculation for Gross Receipts or Sales, which TaxSlayer asks for during the Schedule C walk-through.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)I strongly recommend that you complete the walk-through for self-employment topics. There are a lot of moving parts here, and I tripped up a few times while working from the topic list for a married couple with two Schedule Cs. TaxSlayer could do a better job of consolidating all the pages that cover income topics.
Last Steps: Good Attention to Detail
A critical test of tax software is its ability to put you at ease when you’ve completed your return and are worried about whether you got everything right. TaxSlayer does a great job here. It checks for errors and omissions and navigates to the pages where they occur so you can correct them. In my case, it warned me that I owed more than $1,000 and might face penalties, and that I hadn’t reported estimated taxes. However, once I made the recommended changes, TaxSlayer didn’t return me to the warning page like TurboTax did.
As part of the wrap-up, TaxSlayer shows a comprehensive list of tax topics, along with your total for each. These line items are interactive, allowing you to click them to navigate directly to the related pages if you need to make changes or review details. This is a terrific summary that I haven’t seen elsewhere.
TaxSlayer also does a great job of continuously checking your return as you prepare your taxes and stopping you if you don't enter required data, which minimizes its work (and yours) at the end of the tax preparation journey.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)Security: Is TaxSlayer Safe to Use?
TaxSlayer's focus on security is evident from the moment you create an account and log in. The site has complex password requirements and sends a one-time verification code to your email address or phone number. You can check a box to remember the current device for seven days, but the browser-based version (though not the mobile app) requires you to retrieve a code each time you log in.
You can also use stronger multi-factor authentication methods, such as authenticator apps. TaxSlayer uses a wide range of security-related technologies, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, physical security, and SSL encryption, to protect its data center.
Mobile Access: An Excellent Experience
I had no problems using TaxSlayer’s mobile app (available on Android and iOS). I was able to do everything that I could with the browser-based version. All forms and schedules are available, so you can complete even a complex return (including those that involve self-employment topics).
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)The apps also look and work like the browser-based version, down to the help links and the searchable database. Not all competitors replicate the desktop experience so well, perhaps because TaxSlayer has such a simple user interface. Like every online tax service, TaxSlayer lets you move back and forth between the mobile and desktop versions as you work on your return.
Final Thoughts
(Credit: TaxSlayer)
TaxSlayer 2026 (Tax Year 2025)
TaxSlayer offers affordable, comprehensive coverage of tax topics, but it could benefit from more context-sensitive, easy-to-understand help content.