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Halloween is when I typically start thinking about which tax software I will use in the fast approaching end of the current tax year. Many of the Do It Yourself (DIY) tax software packages often begin releasing their preliminary packages around this season of the year and I expect that will be true for 2026 tax software.
While a good part of my career before retirement included preparing personal individual tax returns for others I have liked to keep my personal tax return and related tax software separate from the high powered commercial software that I used in firms I worked in.
The cost of the personal software that I used for prior years has been a consideration in my decision on how to prepare and file my personal return, but certainly only one of many.
One factor I consider key to my decision is that I will not file a return on paper if I can file it electronically. Almost all personal 1040’s and related forms can now be electronically filed and I see filing on paper is an invitation for a tax headache with federal or state taxing authorities. It is easy enough to make errors on my own return so I do not want to compound potential errors by letting the taxing authority system and/or people have the opportunity to make input errors on my behalf. Dropping a paper return with my SSN and other personal information in snail mail also creates what I consider unnecessary financial risks I prefer not to take. A cold review of your return before transmittal and a second pair of critical eyes reviewing can be worthwhile too.
PCMAG in a October 2026 article listed their top eight DIY personal tax software packages where they reviewed each 2025 software package and listed their purchase price. I read through the reviews for the ones I have previously used in prior years and felt the reviews were fairly consistent with my own experiences.
The IRS terminated it’s previous direct free file program in 2025. Some programs from private commercial software providers may still be available in 2026 to you that are free if you meet certain criteria such as a limitation on income or source of income. I tend to avoid such free software because even if I know I meet this year’s free use criteria as I would prefer to stick with the same software company in future years and I do not know if I will meet the criteria in future years.
The IRS will still have its free file fillable forms program which does allow electronic filing. There is no state return option with this program and in past years it had very limited math done by the program. I used that program prior to tax year 2025 for a couple of years but I no longer will. My best description of using that program is that I consider it “clunky”. It was not intuitive and did not suggest a change when you have done something stupid. That being said I consider it better than filing on paper.
I will likely choose the FreeTaxUSA for tax year 2026 as I did for 2025. I live in a state without a state income tax for individuals and I was very happy using the program last year and do not currently see a reason to change for 2026.
If you have a complex tax situation and are not fully comfortable preparing your own complete and accurate return then hiring an appropriate qualified individual and firm or seeking help from a volunteer tax preparation service may be a good decision for you. I welcome comments and suggestions from any of the volunteer preparers who frequently write and comment on Humble Dollar. I also think that preparing your own personal tax return has an added benefit that in doing so you will likely be encouraged to simplify your financial life both now and in the future.
I hope my thoughts help.
Best, Bill
Bill,
I’ve used TurboTax for years. TT is not expensive for our simple returns, and as bonus they have all my information saved and prefilled before I start. Only once have I used and accountant which was the year we gave our children a fair amount of money from or inheritance from my parents. I didn’t want to deal with the Form 709.
BTW I started filing electronically the first year it was offered, but don’t remember the date. It was too long ago.
My memory is that electronic filing started in the late 1980’s and later it became mandatory for the preparers to transmit the returns they prepared electronically based on if the number of returns they prepared exceeded some number where the threshold got smaller every year.
Keep that 709. The information on it would be needed if you ever need to file a future gift tax return or estate tax return 706 as the prior taxable gifts would feed into any future form 709 or 706.
Our personal financial situation is not complex, and we could probably save a few bucks by doing our own tax return. On the other hand, we get peace of mind by meeting with our CPA annually and letting him handle this for us.
Good article though.
I am glad you have a great relationship with your CPA.
I worked for and with a fellow CPA for a little over 28 years when he decided for some good personal reasons to close the firm. Having gone through that experience and subsequent experiences it seems that many small firm CPAs have a ongoing problem in that older CPAs are retiring at a rapid pace and the pipeline of those seeking appropriate accounting degrees and/or sitting for