TaxHawk 2020 Review – Excellent Bargain Tax Software

TaxHawk - Is It Really Free?

TaxHawk offers free Federal Tax filing for all filers. That includes anyone from side hustlers, to people with student loan interest deductions, individuals with HSAs, and even self-employed people.

But TaxHawk isn’t 100% free. If you have to file a state return, you’ll pay $12.95 per state. It is worth noting that TaxHawk has a built-in calculator to help you appropriately pay taxes in multiple states (if that’s necessary), but you’ll have to pay extra for each additional state.

Is TaxHawk Secure?

TaxHawk gives users multi-factor authentication. You can decide between email and text as your second-factor of authentication. Generally, text messaging is a more secure second-factor of authentication.

We strongly recommend adding two-factor authentication as we previously discussed in ways to prevent identity theft.

TaxHawk Navigation

Aside from TaxHawk’s different pricing structure, the difference between it and FreeTaxUSA are negligible.

TaxHawk’s navigation is a hybrid between guided and self-guided navigation. Unlike some of the more robust services (for example TurboTax, H&R Block, or TaxSlayer), TaxHawk doesn’t ask detailed questions about your income.

But, once you “enter” an income section it will ask helpful questions to guide you to the appropriate part of the software. One thing that I appreciated about TaxHawk’s navigation was the “help bubbles” sprinkled throughout the software. The help bubbles helped to define tax jargon. The bubbles also gave details on “what’s allowed” compared to what isn’t allowed.

On top of the help bubbles, TaxHawk has a “Where do I enter” link on the right hand side of software. This robust list gives links and information about where to enter every form and topic I could think of.

TaxHawk’s best navigation feature is its “Summary”. The summary section gives details on the income and deductions that you claimed. The details make it easy for you to check your actual entries against your “gut” or what you think you earned this year. This should make it easy for you to see if you’ve accidentally missed any critical information or “fat-fingered” anything you’re entering.

TaxHawk Ease Of Use

Overall, TaxHawk is fairly easy to use. But it does have some downfalls, especially for filers who don’t have experience filing taxes.

TaxHawk doesn’t allow any imports, which means there is a high potential for errors. Additionally, the navigation isn’t as robust as some top of the line products. That means that users might get lost if they don’t understand how to file taxes.

TaxHawk Knowledge Articles

TaxHawk serves up relevant knowledge articles in a “Top Issues” and “Help with this Page” links on the right hand side of the screen. Users can also search TaxHawk’s knowledge base using a search bar. The articles themselves tended to be an appropriate length, and most included hyperlinks to relevant sections. Many of the articles give details on what constitutes a business or deductible expense compared to a personal expense.