In this video, Loma, a business and money‑management educator, recounts her decade‑plus experience with online tax software. She explains why she abandoned TurboTax after 15 years, citing steep price hikes, aggressive upsell ads, and poor data accessibility that even left a client unaware of an unfiled return. After researching alternatives, she settled on Express1040.com, a free‑to‑use platform that charges only a modest $15 fee for state filings when needed. Loma walks through Express1040’s key benefits: free federal e‑filing, easy state filing, one‑time account setup, the ability to import prior year PDFs for pre‑filled data, save‑and‑resume functionality, real‑time display of refund or balance, and secure storage of all past returns. She also highlights the responsive, message‑based customer support and the convenience of downloading past returns for loans or other applications. Throughout, she emphasizes the software’s simplicity, reliability, and her personal confidence built from using it for over ten years, positioning Express1040 as a trustworthy, cost‑effective alternative to traditional tax software.
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Well, the online tax software that I use is— Hi, my name is Loma. I teach entrepreneurs business and money management skills. So I used to be a big TurboTax fan. I was with them for, I would say, at least 15 years, and I was buying their software because at the time, you know, there wasn't internet. So I've been filing taxes for a long time, but I was buying their software. I had every single year's tax filing software, and I was filing taxes just And, um, there was a year I came to that they started charging so much more than I thought that they should be compared to the previous years of what they used to charge for the software. It just seemed out of place and greedy, honestly speaking. So I stopped using TurboTax software and I got on the hunt to find an online software solution. I don't have any hands-on experience using the H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt or any of these other online tax software companies' service, but what I do fear is that they'll do what TurboTax did. We're not just talking about the cost at this point. TurboTax was also becoming a real ad-heavy, hurry up and buy, you're going to need to pay for solution. And instead of being a free solution, they were more of a trying to find different ways to get you to pay for services that they were providing. Ordinarily, this would have been fine if that's the way business was running at that time. But at the time when I did my research, there were still so many softwares that were out there that were providing free online tax software that it didn't make sense to continue to pay TurboTax, or I'm assuming what H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt do. There's kind of some nuances here where they hold your information almost captive, or they, uh, it's difficult for you to get access to your information. I've just had different clients, they've tried the, the softwares, and then when it's time for me to help them, it's difficult for them to access their information. It's very unclear sometimes. The most recent case, I had a client, they had thought they filed their taxes, but TurboTax TurboTax didn't remind them and send them the information to let them know, hey, you haven't actually filed yet. So here they are a year later and they hadn't filed their tax return. In fact, the information was in there, it was so confusing that they didn't have the correct information in there either. I just don't file taxes on their website. I don't use their tax software at all anymore. The online tax software that I use is Express1040.com. They are a free service. Their software is free. They don't charge for e-filing. Now, some of you might live in a state where you have to file state income tax along with your federal income tax, and you can still file it using the Express 1040 website. As you enter your information, it's also simultaneously input that information for your federal income taxes. They're entering what's applicable to your state income tax. At the same time. So once you get to the end of preparing your federal tax return, they're going to ask you if you need to file a state income tax return. And if you do, there is a small fee. Usually it's about $15 is what I've experienced that they charge for that. I think that's super cheap, and I really appreciate that because when it's time to file a state income tax return, they're already drawing all the information from the federal return. So there are only a few more questions left that apply to filing a state tax return. There's different states that require you to file a state income tax return. So in those cases, anybody that has that situation, you'll be able to file your state income tax return with Express 1040 with no problem. And it's going to be super easy. And again, like I said, that would be the only thing that you'd have to pay for and it would be about $15. We're going to go over a few of the benefits of using Express1040.com. I've been using Express1040.com for over 10 years. Express 1040 is a very reliable software. The software is super simple to use. The questions that the software asks you throughout the process is pretty simple to understand. They even have little information buttons that you can click on where it'll explain a little bit more in detail about the information that they're looking for whenever they ask you different questions. And you only have to set up your account one time. Once you've done that, you're ready to rock and roll. All you do is year after year, you just log in and start preparing your own tax returns unless anything changes. Express 1040 gives you the option to import your last tax return. That way it can kind of pre-fill the information based on what it reads on the last tax return, and it can read a PDF. So as long as you've downloaded a PDF or your last tax preparer provided you a copy of your tax return in a PDF file format, you can upload that to Express 1040 during the process. While you're filing your tax return, you have the option to save your tax return in the middle of while you're working on it. So if you're missing any pieces or if it reminded you of anything that you realized that you didn't have ready to go or that you needed to go and look up, you're able to save your tax return and not lose your place. And then you can pick up right where you left off. Not only is Express 1040 a good place to prepare your tax return, but it's a great place to store your tax returns. You'll have access to every year that you've ever filed with Express 1040. All you have to do is log in using the same user ID and password, and every year's tax return, you'll find it in your account information. That way if you ever need to download it or if you need it for an application that you're doing, say for a mortgage or a car or anything like that, you'll be able to download your tax return and then provide that to the person that needs it. I do always recommend that you download your tax return after filing each year, but as a safeguard, Express 1040 does keep a copy of it on file for you. One of the biggest benefits to using Express 1040 is that it remembers the information that you put in the last year's tax return, and it's going to pre-fill that information into your current year's tax return That way, if you have the same job, all you have to do is add in the new numbers, but you don't have to fill in the name, the address, the other basic information that stays the same. Now, you'll always want to check your current W-2 to make sure that it matches what was already in the system from the previous year that was pre-filled. And because it pre-fills all this information, it makes filing your tax return that much easier and faster. As you're filing your tax return, Express 1040 has a section on the top right-hand side that allows you to see what your current refund or tax balance is. That way you understand as you're entering information in what is affecting your tax return, your tax balance, or your tax refund, all in real time. Express 1040's customer service is excellent. They don't have phone support, but they do allow you to send a message to them and they respond quickly, usually within the same day. And in my experience, customer support has always been super friendly and they're always happy to answer any questions that I have. So know that you're not alone when it comes to using the software. They will help you if you have any questions about how to use it. So these are the overall benefits to using Express 1040. Click the link to get a free tax lesson.
