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Liberty Tax Service

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4.0

Overall Score

Author: Jenna Vasquez

LAST UPDATED: April 13th, 2022

With Liberty Tax Service, you can file your taxes online, visit a location to get tax advice, have one of their experts file your taxes, download important documents (such as W2 forms), and more. Liberty Tax has won several awards including Accounting Today's top tax firm in 2010 and 2011, and has been a top franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for four consecutive years.

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Highlight: Liberty Tax Service offers tax relief services.

Recently, Liberty Tax Service started offering tax relief services in addition to tax preparation services. Liberty Tax Service offers these services through Community Tax, an industry leader in the tax relief space. If you are in need of tax relief services, check out Community Tax's profile for more information.

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The Good

  • Product Features
  • Accuracy Guarantee
  • Audit Assistance
  • Customer Support
  • Supported Forms

Liberty Tax Services has a lot of good things going for them. Their website is secured with TRUSTe and GoDaddy. They also follow tax prep industry standards and use encryptions and Secure Socket Layer Technology. Not only do they thrive when it comes to their consumer's security, but they make it convenient for customers by giving them the option to file taxes online or in person.

Product Features

All of these options come with free chat, Affordable Care Act forms, Audit Assistance, and more. Liberty Tax makes a lot of promises to customers who use their software:

  • The Largest Refunds. If you file your taxes with Liberty Tax and anyone else, you'll see that Liberty Tax gives you the biggest refund. If this is not the case, they promise to refund the tax prep fees.
  • Price Guarantee. When you purchase Liberty Tax online preparation, you can use it at any time for the original price you paid. (Often, the price of tax preparation software increases during tax season).
  • Accuracy Guarantee. They guarantee that your tax returns will be accurate, or they will deal with penalties from the IRS.
  • Satisfaction Guarantee. Liberty Tax promises that the experts on their live chat will help you with all the questions you may have.

Accuracy Guarantee

The Liberty Tax Service has a thorough guarantee that financially protects customers. The company boasts giving consumers large refunds in comparison to other companies. If one does find a company who gives a higher refund, Liberty Tax Service will "eat the tax preparation fees." Not only that, but the company promises great services, satisfaction, and accuracy. If the company should make a mistake on the math with the IRS, Liberty Tax Service will reimburse members for penalties and interest.

Audit Assistance

Liberty Tax Service has an audit assistance feature that we definitely want to highlight. For each of their online customers, Liberty Tax Service offers professional audit assistance. Once you file your return with Liberty Tax, you are automatically backed by their tax experts. If you get audited, Liberty Tax promises to step in and help you throughout the process. You can also sign up for Enhanced Audit Assistance (at cost) for additional help.

Customer Support

Another thing we like about Liberty Tax Service is how easy they are to get ahold of. They have a contact page full of specific phone numbers and email addresses for customers and potential customers to use. They also have an active Twitter account if people want to tweet their tax questions at them. See our 'Criteria Explained' tab for Liberty Tax Service's contact information. You can reach out to Liberty Tax Services the following ways:

  • Twitter: @libertytax
  • Live Chat: Free live chat when you sign up for their services
  • Phone: 757-493-8855
  • Email: Office@libtax.com (You can also email through their site)

Supported Forms

Even though Liberty Tax does not offer all forms, they still offer more than most tax preparation companies. Their list is included below:

  • EZ
    • 1040EZ
    • ACA Forms
    • W-2
    • Earned Income Credit
  • Basic
    • EZ Forms
    • Form 1040
    • HSA Forms
    • MSA Deductions (Form 8853)
    • Self-Employment Income & Business Expense Forms
  • Deluxe
    • Basic Forms
    • Sole Proprietor Income / Schedule C
    • Depreciation of Assisets (From 4562)
    • Home Office (Form 8829)
  • Premium
    • Deluxe Forms
    • Schedule B
    • Schedule D
    • Income from Real Estate / Rental
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The Bad

  • Number of Products
  • No Mobile Filing Option
  • Subsidiary

Number of Products

With Liberty Tax Service's online filing options, there really is something for everyone. Here are the online services they offer:

  • $14.95 for "EZ" filing which is best for simple filing
  • $19.95 for basic tax preparation. These are for simple tax situations, but can also be used for self-employment income.
  • $39.95 for deluxe tax preparation. This is for homeowners and investors.
  • $69.95 for premium tax preparation. This software is for small business owners.

However, Liberty Tax Service has below average pricing on their federal and state tax services. When you file federal taxes with them, you'll pay $26.95 for state filing.

No Mobile Filing Option

You can only file your taxes online with Liberty Tax Service. Unlike many of their top competitors, Liberty Tax Service does not offer an app or software to download.

Subsidiary

Something important to note is that Liberty Tax is a subsidiary of JTH Tax, Inc. They are affiliated with multiple tax preparation companies that we have reviewed, including eSmart Tax, www.freetax.com, and Taxbrain. We're not exactly sure why one large group would have so many companies that do the exact same thing at different prices, but we wanted to make the consumer aware that those are part of JTH Tax, Inc.

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The Bottom Line

Liberty Tax Services has a lot of great features that any tax filer would be happy to take advantage of. They have a free filing option. Their contact information is very detailed, and their audit assistance seems to be one of the better ones in the industry. At the same time, we can't help but be concerned about working with Liberty Tax Service. The first reason being that they don't offer free filings, which is common amongst other competitors. Also, their prices are all below average. Not only that, but Liberty Tax Service may not be a great company to work with based on the lawsuits that were filed against them. We encourage consumers who want to work with Liberty Tax Services to chat with the company's employees to make sure company procedures have changed since 2007.

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Star Rating

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3.4

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24 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

25%

4 grade

25%

3 grade

25%

2 grade

8%

1 grade

17%

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CherylReeder Henderson, NV

I used Liberty tax service for the last four years. They were reasonable priced for doing a simple tax return. BUT… This last year I made a appointment and set down to do my taxes! When I asked how much they were charging this year, she told me I would have to wait until the end. She stated prices went up and everyone’s prices varied! When the end of my tax session ended, she quoted me $280.00!! My taxes were very simple and it shocked me because normally it was $129.00. I will NEVER use this tax service AGAIN!! They are not reputable and are out to get what they can out of you! Be very cautious people…..

4 years ago

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s williams Tulsa, OK

I went there for the first time on 4/12/22 to file my taxes...I was getting about $750.... they were charging me $350 to file...I was shocked and told them I've never ever payed more than $80 for retired senior citizen... went down the street got my taxes done for $95 and showed them the receipt...I will never go there again and will tell my friends to avoid every single location of liberty tax service...

4 years ago

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rhonda austin Greensboro, NC

I decided to try liberty tax only because I really needed the $500 advance loan. Had I known they were going to charge me $543 dollars to do my federal and state, I never would have gone to them. That was a large amount of money for a simple tax return. I have told all of my family and friends not to have them to prepare their taxes to use Turbo Tax like I will be doing from now on!!!

4 years ago

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Vicki Clearwater, FL

Terrible company. The tax preparer does not know what they are doing, they only get a crash course and are not tax specialists or even accountants! They rely on the computer software system to prompt the entries. You can do it yourself on several on line tax sites. And they are pressured by the managers to charge the max amount for even the simplest return. Very expensive, not always accurate, I have friends who worked there for two years and they said they could not look at people with a one w-2, simple return, and tell them it was $300. And pressure them into paying with their tax refund! Not sure if I count as a paying customer because I walked out when I saw how the preparer didn’t know a thing.

6 years ago