Tax estimation tools

🇺🇸 discusses several popular tax estimation tools, primarily for use during the current tax year, to help taxpayers choose the one(s) that will cover their situation best.

No attempt has been made to verify that all calculations in all tools are correct, although these are all popular enough that, at least for the ones with a convenient feedback path, any egregious errors are usually found and fixed quickly.

Commercial tax software
Tax software intended for sale to the consumer (not tax professionals; e.g., the ones reviewed at The Best Tax Software | PCMag) to produce an official tax return is usually not available until November or December of the current tax year (and even then only in partial form). These programs may, however, include a [https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3492987#p3492987 "What If...?" worksheet] (or similar name) available to estimate the succeeding tax year's situation. If such a program produced a correct tax return for the previous tax year, then the "what if...?" feature will likely produce a reasonable estimate for the current tax year, assuming no significant changes in the taxpayers' situations.

Free tax estimation software
Some popular free alternatives to the above programs are listed below in alphabetical order across the page. These programs don't claim to produce an official tax return, but can help with tax planning during the year if they cover a taxpayer's situation. No attempt has been made to rank them, because any overall rank is less important than how they fit an individual's situation.
 * blank = not supported by the tool
 * X = Separate income line item or calculation fully supported
 * 1 = Income lumpable with another entry or credit entry allowed but not calculated
 * 2 = Tool allows more detail (e.g., full Schedule C) than needed for most tax estimation calculations

Program links and support

 * CoTaxAide For corrections and suggestions, email [mailto:jeff@bogarthome.net jeff@bogarthome.net]
 * Excel1040 For corrections and suggestions, email [mailto:IncomeTaxSpreadsheet@gmail.com IncomeTaxSpreadsheet@gmail.com]
 * IRSCalc
 * Mortgagecalculator
 * TaxCaster (an Intuit TurboTax product)
 * Toolbox For corrections and suggestions, post in Case Study Spreadsheet updates

By deductions
Some programs provide only a place for the user to enter a line item value for a particular "additional tax" or "credit" that, in a real return, is a calculated value.

For those situations, that cell is left blank because the program isn't adding any value for the user.

Limitations
This section notes things beyond blank cells in the tables above.