Best Tax Software for Self-Employed Filers

TurboTax Premium is the product Intuit now points self-employed filers toward, after folding the old Self-Employed edition into Premium. One tier covers freelance income on Schedule C, investment sales, rental income, and K-1 income. The guided interview asks plain-language questions about income, expenses, home office use, and mileage.

• The trade-off is price.
• At $139 federal plus $64 per state, one state return totals $203 before any add-on, the highest total here.
• Expert Assist runs from $59 to $209, and Expert Full Service is listed from $129 for a W-2 and Form 1040 return only, with no published Schedule C pri

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H&R Block Self-Employed is the online tier for freelancers, contractors, and sole proprietors filing Schedule C with expenses. It covers business income and expenses, depreciation, home office deductions, and 1099 income from clients and payment apps. Live tax expert help is included, so you can ask a person a question during the return without buying a separate help package.

• The federal price is $130, plus $49 for each state return, so one state totals $179.
• Free Online is $0 for federal and state, but it covers simple returns only, and H&R Block says about 52 percent of filers qualify for it.
• Choose H&R Block if you want expert help built into the price and the option of walking into an office.

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Cash App Taxes is the only product on this list that charges $0 for both the federal return and the state return, with no income limit and no tier that hides Schedule C behind a higher price. It covers self-employment income on Schedule C, 1099 income, deductions, and credits, and it is an authorized IRS e-file provider. The limit is help.

• Cash App Taxes does not include live help from a tax expert, and there is no higher tier to buy your way into one, so you need to know your own deduct
• You also need to download Cash App and create an account before you can file.
• Choose Cash App Taxes if your return is a straightforward Schedule C and you want the lowest possible total.

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FreeTaxUSA takes a different approach from the tiered products: there is one federal product, and it costs $0 for every situation the software supports, including Schedule C self-employment income, rental income, investment sales, and K-1 income. There is no upgrade to buy because the return is complex. Each state return costs $15.99, so a filer with one state pays $15.99 in total.

• Deluxe Support costs $7.99 and adds live chat and unlimited current-year amended returns.
• The trade-off is guidance and polish.
• FreeTaxUSA does not walk you through the return with the same plain-language interview as TurboTax, so you should know which deductions apply to your
• There is no mobile app, and free users do not get phone support.

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TaxAct is the one company on this list that still sells a tier called Self-Employed: if you are a contractor, freelancer, or sole proprietor, this is the tier for you. The federal price is $109.99, and each state return adds $64.99, so one state totals $174.98. The tier includes help with freelance, business, and farm income, a walkthrough of eligible expense categories, and audit alerts.

• TaxAct also lets you begin for free and only pay when you file, so you can see the full return before committing to the price.
• The weak point is the state fee: at $64.99 per state, it is the highest here alongside TurboTax, and two states push the total to $239.97.
• Xpert Assist costs $45 and adds unlimited sessions with credentialed, United States based tax experts.

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TaxSlayer Self-Employed costs $74.99 for the federal return plus $47.99 per state, so one state totals $122.98. That is $52 less than TaxAct Self-Employed for the same one-state return, and $80 less than TurboTax Premium. The tier includes a tax professional with self-employment experience, help with deductions on business income and expenses, a self-employed tax guide, and reminders for quarterly estimated payments.

• The trade-off is the experience.
• Document import is less smooth than TurboTax, and the interface shows its age, so confident filers who know their numbers will get more from it than f
• Simply Free covers basic W-2 returns only and does not cover Schedule C.
• Active-duty military can file at any tier for free.

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Jackson Hewitt Online charges a flat $25 for federal and state filing, whatever the return contains and however many states it covers. The company advertises a maximum of $25 in tax preparation fees for a 2025 return, with $25 for federal preparation and $0 for state preparation, and the same $25 applies in one state or three. That makes it the best value here for a filer who earned income in more than one state.

• The limit is that there is no free tier at all, so a filer whose return would cost $0 at Cash App Taxes still pays $25 here.
• You also cannot import or upload a W-2 or 1099, so you enter income figures by hand.
• In-office preparation is a separate service with prices set by each office and not published online.

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1040.com charges one flat $34.99 for a federal and state return, no matter how complex the return is. Schedule C, stock and crypto sales, and rental property are all included at that one price, and multiple states are covered by the same flat rate. You can prepare and preview the return for free and only pay the $34.99 when you e-file.

• The trade-off is that there is no free filing tier, so a simple return that costs $0 at Cash App Taxes or FreeTaxUSA costs $34.99 here.
• Audit support is an extra $34.95 through a partner, and paying the fee from your refund adds $29.95.
• Guidance is thinner than TurboTax or H&R Block, so this suits a confident filer who values a single predictable price.

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