About the Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards
The Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards aim to recognize and celebrate the best products and services in the personal finance arena. We asked you, our Kiplinger community, to help us name the products and services you think have delivered excellent value in the past year.
The survey results, which we’re sharing here in our second annual Readers’ Choice Awards, offer valuable insight into which providers shine when it comes to your everyday interactions and experiences with them. Our Awards recognize excellence in everything from credit cards, banks and brokers to insurers, tax software and financial apps. For each category, we’ve listed an overall winner that earned the highest score. We’ve also highlighted other products and services that earned above-average scores for various criteria we asked readers to assess.
By voting, our community has helped us form our guide to the very best financial products. These are the products and companies that you think stand out from the crowd.
Kiplinger Readers’ Choice Awards: Tax Software
These programs guide taxpayers through the ins and outs of preparing and filing an income tax return. We asked readers to rate their preferred tax-filing software based on ease of use, how likely they would be to recommend the service to others and overall satisfaction with the software.
OVERALL WINNER: FreeTaxUSA
Outstanding for:
- Ease of use
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
For the second year in a row, FreeTaxUSA is the top choice among tax software programs. “It is very user-friendly and free for federal returns. What’s not to like?” says one reader. Some also spoke highly of the program’s ease of use — even for complicated returns — coupled with unmatched value. “It is just as good as TurboTax at a fraction of the cost,” says one reader.
FreeTaxUSA charges no fee for federal tax returns and $14.99 for state returns. If you sign up for the Deluxe Edition ($7.99), you get assistance from a tax specialist, priority support if you have questions and unlimited amended returns.
H&R Block
Outstanding for:
- Ease of use
- Most recommended
- Overall satisfaction
Along with in-person assistance from tax professionals at thousands of branch locations, H&R Block offers online tax programs for do-it-yourselfers, too. Survey respondents remarked on its effectiveness and reasonable pricing.
H&R Block provides free federal and state online programs for those with simple returns; it also offers various paid versions, depending on the taxpayer’s situation. The Deluxe version ($35 for a federal return), for example, assists with child and dependent care expenses and itemizing deductions; Premium ($65) adds on rental income, investments and cryptocurrency trading. The paid versions charge $37 per state return.
Online Taxes
Outstanding for:
OnLine Taxes offers free federal and state tax returns for anyone with an adjusted gross income of $45,000 or less; active-duty military members with an AGI of $79,000 or less also qualify. If you don’t meet the income requirement, your federal return is still free, but you’ll pay $12.95 to prepare a state return.
