TaxAct is the one company in this comparison that still sells a tier called Self-Employed. Intuit retired that name and folded the job into Premium, so a freelancer pricing the two today is comparing a product built and labelled for them against a general tier that happens to support their forms.
That difference shows up in the prices, and in the fact that TaxAct prints all of them. What follows was read from TaxAct's four product pages on September 27, 2026, and the sources are listed at the end.
The Four Tiers, Priced
| Tier | Federal | Who it is labelled for | Schedule C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0.00 | Simple returns: W-2 income, unemployment, students, the child tax credit | No |
| Deluxe | $59.99 | Homeowners, child and dependent care, health savings accounts | No |
| Premier | $99.99 | Stock and crypto sales, selling a home, rental income, foreign bank account reporting | No |
| Self-Employed | $109.99 | Contractors, freelancers, rideshare drivers, sole proprietors | Yes, income and expenses |
Two numbers attach to those prices. State filing is $64.99 per state filed, so a one-state freelancer pays $174.98 in total. Xpert Assist, which opens up their tax experts for unlimited sessions, is $45.
The tiers are also labelled honestly about who they are for, which is not a small thing. Nobody buys Deluxe expecting business expenses, because Deluxe's page says homeowners and HSAs. That is the opposite of the pattern where a filer starts entering a Schedule C in a cheaper tier and meets a wall halfway through the return.
What Self-Employed Covers
From TaxAct's own Self-Employed page: full support for income and expenses through Schedule C, a walkthrough of the eligible expense categories rather than a blank form, and audit alerts that review the return for common risk indicators. The tier inherits everything below it, so Premier's investment and rental coverage comes along, which matters to a freelancer who also holds stocks or a rental.
There is also a published accuracy guarantee: $100,000 for individual, self-prepared 1040 returns, covering penalties, interest and documented costs when an error is theirs, subject to their terms. It is not audit representation, which is a different service sold by different companies.
Against TurboTax, Line by Line
The honest comparison is not a single number, because the two products print different amounts of it. Both sets of figures below were checked on this site on September 27, 2026.
| Line | TaxAct Self-Employed | TurboTax |
|---|---|---|
| Federal return | $109.99 | $139 for Premium, the tier that replaced Self-Employed |
| State return | $64.99 per state filed | "State additional" on every product page, with no number printed |
| Expert help | $45 for Xpert Assist | Expert Assist Basic is $59; Premium with an expert review is $209 |
| Books to tax handoff | None. TaxAct is not attached to a bookkeeping product | Built in: QuickBooks Solopreneur carries "Expert Assisted Tax powered by TurboTax, pay only when you file" |
Two things fall out of that. The first is that TaxAct is cheaper on the return itself and clearer about the state fee, which is a real advantage for anyone filing in one state with a straightforward Schedule C. The second is that Intuit is selling something TaxAct does not have: the books to tax pipeline, where the year's categorized expenses arrive in the return without being typed in again.
That pipeline is worth a price only if you use QuickBooks or Solopreneur for the bookkeeping. If you do your books elsewhere, or in a spreadsheet, the argument for paying the Intuit premium is much thinner, and TaxAct's lower federal price and printed state fee become the whole comparison.
Who Should Skip It
Skip it if you want a person on your return. Xpert Assist sells access to their experts for questions, which is not the same as a professional preparing, reviewing and signing the return. That is TaxAct Xpert Assist's limit, and it is why the price is $45 rather than $209.
Skip it if you already run QuickBooks. The import from Intuit's own bookkeeping into Intuit's own return is the one thing TurboTax has that this product does not, and retyping a year of categorized expenses is the cost of switching.
Skip it if you are not sure which tier you need. Schedule C lives only on Self-Employed. Buying Deluxe because it is $50 cheaper ends in an upgrade, and the honest path is to read the tier names first: homeowners, investors, then self-employed.
Skip it if you want month-to-month flexibility. There is none. Tax software is bought for a season, and every company on this list charges you again next year.
Who It Fits
A returning Schedule C filer. Someone who has filed a business return before, knows which expenses they are claiming, and wants the forms handled without paying for guidance they will not read. That filer pays $174.98 for a one-state return and gets the same completed forms.
A freelancer whose books live outside Intuit. If the bookkeeping happens in a spreadsheet, in Wave, or in Keeper, the Intuit pipeline is irrelevant, and the cheaper federal return with a printed state fee is the better price for the same two forms.
A filer who wants the numbers in writing. Four tier prices, the state fee, and the expert price are all printed on the product pages, which is the thing this site's scorecard is built to reward.
How This Score Works
The criteria below were written before this product was scored, and they are the same five on every review here. Each one takes only inputs you can check yourself on a vendor page: what a plan includes, where it caps you, what processing costs, what is sold separately, and what is printed versus quoted. Nothing in the score depends on how the software feels to use, because that is not something this page can evidence.
| Criterion | 2 points | 1 point | 0 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the entry plan includes | The cheapest paid plan does the product’s core job without an upgrade, and nothing a solo user needs monthly sits a tier up | Core job works, but at least one routine monthly need is only on a higher tier | The cheapest paid plan cannot do the core job without an upgrade or a paid add-on |
| Where the caps bite | No hard cap a one-person business would hit in a year | A cap exists but sits above ordinary solo use | A cap sits inside ordinary solo use |
| Cost of getting paid | Processing rates published, and a bank transfer path under 1.5% or capped | Rates published, but card only or the bank path is 1.5% or higher | Rates not published anywhere public |
| Add-on load | Nothing routine is sold separately; add-ons are genuinely optional | One routine need is priced as an add-on | Two or more routine needs are add-ons, or a required add-on costs half the plan again |
| Price transparency | Every plan price and the renewal price is printed, and promotions state what they renew at | Plan prices printed, but a material cost needs a call, a login or a quote | The entry price only exists as a promotion, or key prices are not public |
8 points available across the 4 criteria that apply to this product, halved for a score out of five. The one left out is named in the table above with the reason. A high score means the pricing is honest and the plan you buy is the plan you keep. It does not mean the product is the best one for you.
The Score
| Criterion | Score | Why, from the printed facts |
|---|---|---|
| What the entry plan includes | 2 / 2 | The tier built for this job is Self-Employed at $109.99, and its own page says Schedule C support covers income and expenses, with the expense categories walked through and audit alerts included. The cheaper tiers are labelled for other filers rather than sold as a way in: Deluxe is for homeowners, childcare and HSAs, Premier adds investments and rentals. |
| Where the caps bite | 2 / 2 | No return, client or transaction cap is printed. The tiers differ by which forms they support, and the self-employed tier carries the forms a one-person business files. |
| Cost of getting paid | n/a | Does not apply: The product does not process payments for the customer, so there is no rate to publish |
| Add-on load | 1 / 2 | One routine need is priced separately: state filing, at $64.99 per state filed against a $109.99 federal plan. Xpert Assist at $45 is optional, and the audit alerts come with the paid tiers rather than as an extra. |
| Price transparency | 2 / 2 | All four tier prices are printed on every product page, with the state fee ($64.99 per state) and the Xpert Assist price ($45) printed beside them, and each tier page states which forms it does and does not support. |
| TaxAct Self-Employed | 7 / 8 | 4.4 out of 5 |
Seven out of eight, or 4.4 out of 5. TaxAct prints everything a filer needs to price the decision: four tier prices, the state fee per state, the expert price, and a page for each tier saying which forms it does and does not carry. Nobody is led into a tier that cannot finish their return.
The point it gives up is the state return. At $64.99 against a $109.99 federal plan, the state fee is more than half the price of the plan again for anyone who lives in a state with an income tax, and it is the one line that turns a $109.99 decision into $174.98.
What the score cannot capture is the experience of the interview itself, which is the difference most reviews argue about. That argument is best settled with the free tier and an hour, not with someone else's opinion of the screens.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does TaxAct Self-Employed cost in 2026?
TaxAct prints $109.99 for the federal return, plus $64.99 per state filed, and $45 for Xpert Assist if you want access to their tax experts. That puts a one-state Schedule C filer at $174.98 before any promotion.
Does TaxAct Self-Employed include Schedule C?
Yes, and it is the only tier that does. TaxAct’s own page says Self-Employed includes "full support for income and expenses via Schedule C" and walks through eligible expense categories. Deluxe and Premier, the tiers below it, are built for homeowners, childcare, investments and rentals.
What do the cheaper TaxAct tiers cover?
Free is $0 for simple returns such as W-2 income and the standard deduction. Deluxe is $59.99 and adds homeowner, childcare and HSA deductions. Premier is $99.99 and adds stock sales, crypto, selling a home, rental income and the foreign bank account report. None of the three carries Schedule C.
Is TaxAct cheaper than TurboTax for a self-employed filer?
On the federal return, yes: $109.99 against $139 for TurboTax Premium, which is the tier Intuit now sells to self-employed filers since the Self-Employed product was retired. On the total, the gap narrows in a way worth understanding: TaxAct prints its state price at $64.99, while TurboTax prints only "State additional" beside every plan.
Is there a guarantee if TaxAct prepares a return incorrectly?
TaxAct publishes a $100,000 accuracy guarantee for individual, self-prepared 1040 products, covering penalties, interest and documented costs if an error is theirs. It is subject to their terms and eligibility requirements, and it is not audit representation, which is a separate service.
Why does this page have no score for the payment criterion?
The scorecard asks what a product charges to get you paid. TaxAct prepares and files returns; it does not process customer payments, so there is no rate to publish. This site marks a criterion not applicable before scoring rather than inventing a number, so this review is scored out of the four criteria that apply.
Sources
Prices, plan contents and quoted wording were checked against these pages on September 27, 2026.
- TaxAct Self-Employed, for the $109.99 federal price, $64.99 per state filed, the Schedule C support description, audit alerts, and the $45 Xpert Assist price
- TaxAct Deluxe and TaxAct Premier, for the $59.99 and $99.99 prices and the forms each tier covers
- TaxAct Free Federal, for the $0 tier's eligibility limits and the $100,000 accuracy guarantee wording
- TurboTax Premium, for the $139 federal price and the self-employed tier it replaced, checked the same day
For the head to head against Intuit's product, see TurboTax vs TaxAct, and for the wider field the accounting software roundup.
