I’ve been a contented TurboTax user for years — one of those “if it ain’t broke” loyalists who never questioned the annual toll to Intuit. But this year, I asked my AI assistant about alternatives, and it pointed me to FreeTaxUSA.com. I’m glad I listened.

It’s genuinely free. Not “free until we hit you with the gotcha” free, but actually free — provided you politely wave off the upsells for tax prep assistance, audit defense and state returns.

The experience was every bit as quick and intuitive as TurboTax. It even offered to let me upload last year’s return, 1099s and my W-2, sparing me the chore of keying in data field by field. Points for that.

Because it was my first rodeo with a new platform, I took the time to check every calculation against my own numbers. All spot on. It handled my investments and foreign tax credits plus the e-filing with the IRS, all without a hitch.

Look, I’m not getting a commission here. I’m just a guy who discovered he’d been paying for something he could get for free — and getting comparable ease and quality to boot. If you’re preparing a federal return, give FreeTaxUSA a look. Your wallet will thank you, and your blood pressure won’t notice the switch.