Taxact.com offers a "free" option, a deluxe package for $16.99 online including state, and a deluxe download package for $19.99 including state. The differences between the free and the deluxe are minimized on the web page, apparently to suck you in to upgrading after you have already invested your time in starting with their software.
After starting my return on-line, I realized that it was very slow and I would be better off doing the return via download, but there was no way to transfer between. I finished my return on-line.
I also had to do my parent's return, so I started it using download, and purchased the state separately, using the basic. However, as I progressed through the return, it kept telling me all the things that I needed to do using the deluxe version, such as checking whether to file separately.
Also, it turned out that multiple returns are only allowed with deluxe; that includes saving a copy of the return before and after amending it. When I upgraded to deluxe, I had paid about $24 for the 19.99 package. No refund of the difference is allowed if you realize you need to upgrade to deluxe after buying the state - I asked.
When I e-filed my parents return, they only included e-file for the Fed, not the State, $7.99. At that time it notified me that additional charges for e-file of another return would be 7.99 for each, but when I did e-file my return, it charged me 9.99 for the Fed and 7.99 for the next State. Again, refund refused.
Then, when my Federal return was rejected, taxact.com wants me to pay another $12.99 for access to my return to the next 3 years before it will let me resubmit, despite saying I can resubmit for free if e-file fails. No disclosure of needing to pay a fee to access after filing is made until you try to access your form after completing it - in general, it is a requirement for tax preparers to keep forms on file for 3 years, and that is an obligation of the preparer, and should be part of the cost up front. Tax Cut did not charge me a similar fee last year (or this year when I went back to my return).
Their "Satisfaction Guarantee" has so many holes in it, that it is worthless unless you give up and filed with someone else before finishing:
"Satisfaction Guarantee
"For TaxACT Online (Over the Web) Users
"If a registered user is not 100% satisfied with the TaxACT Online and Participating Third Party Services, a registered user's exclusive remedy shall be to immediately discontinue using the Services prior to completing the billing steps within the program. If the billing steps were completed when e-filing the return online or calling in to our support center and the return was rejected by the IRS and cannot be re-filed, it is the user's responsibility to contact 2nd Story's Customer Service Department within 30 days of the original billing date to request a full refund of the fees paid. If a return was printed, there would be no refund issued. The user must reference the SSN (Social Security Number) associated with the billing transaction when requesting a refund of services to insure proper identification."
So if you print your return to see if it is working or to try to salvage it and enter it elsewhere, you are out of luck.
The "Money-Back Guarantee" for the download version is similarly worthless if you manage to get a return accepted by the state but not the feds.
This ended up costing far more than is indicated on the primary web page. They claim you can really file for free, but in fact even the deluxe package does not include what a reasonable person would expect in a tax software package.
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