TaxSlayer has multiple types of guidance that can be helpful when you hit complicated tax topics. Like any other online tax prep service, the site has a searchable help database that shows you links to related forms and FAQs when you enter a word or phrase. The actual explanations appear in the left vertical pane, temporarily replacing the navigation toolbar. Speaking of, the navigation toolbar is fairly sparse and doesn’t break down into numerous subtopics like the one in FreeTaxUSA.
Searching for a term works…sometimes. TaxSlayer displays multiple hits for keywords or phrases, some of which are context-sensitive. But like other applications, help database hits sometimes veer off quickly to cover state-specific tax laws.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)
If the site didn’t return a relevant result when I entered a search phrase during testing, I clicked the “I still can’t find what I’m looking for” link, which opened a window with additional help options. Aside from the email, live chat, and phone options, you can access TaxSlayer’s excellent Ask a Tax Pro feature, which gets you one-on-one help from a tax professional (included free with Premium and Self-Employed).
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TaxSlayer’s help articles accurately lay out the facts, but they use a lot of formal language. TurboTax does a much better job of rewriting IRS instructions so you can understand them. TaxSlayer also sometimes sends you to IRS pages directly from the site, as does TaxAct. This isn’t ideal, since avoiding those very pages is one of the most compelling reasons to use tax software (though in rare cases it might still be necessary).
Furthermore, TaxSlayer doesn’t hyperlink many terms in the Q&A or provide explanatory text as often as competitors when introducing new topics or asking questions that might require further explanation. For example, I really expected to see some context-sensitive help on the Capital Gains Transaction page, but there was just one link to help (a definition of a short sale). More help would also have been useful on the Business Use of Home page, the Residential Clean Energy Credit page, and the depreciation Q&A, for example.
(Credit: TaxSlayer/PCMag)
If you have a technical question about entering your tax data, you can get support via chat, email, or phone.
