Jackson Hewitt Review - My Experience Filing Online

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Here at Jake Shirley Coaching we talk about getting out of debt and about having a plan for your money. Perhaps most important, we talk about the mindset of money. Personal finance is more about mindset than about math.

Taxes - no one likes doing them, but they are still a part of life. And if you are self-employed as I am, you are responsible for paying your own taxes. Taxes are not automatically taken from your paycheck like they are with a W2 job.

2021 was my first full year being self-employed. I should have filed quarterly estimates, which I will do this year. As a self-employed person, a good, general rule is to set aside 25 percent of your income to cover taxes. You can have a separate checking or savings account just for this purpose.

Responsible and on-time tax filing is another part of managing our money well. We don't like it but it is something we do.

I decided to use Jackson Hewitt for the first time to file my 2021 tax return. This article is about my experience filing online.

I started by going to Jackson Hewitt's website and clicking File Online with a Tax Pro. I didn't want to do my taxes on my own, I wanted help.

I went through the familiar process of filing out my name, email address, phone number, and selecting a password. Before I could access my account, I received an email from Jackson Hewitt and had to click the link inside to verify my email address. This is where I ran into some trouble. I clicked the link in the email and went to this page.

I went back to the email, clicked the link again, and ended up at this page.

It was the code does not match or expired, even though I was just clicking the link in the email. The code was supposed to last for an hour so it should not have been expired. I had Jackson Hewitt send me a few more emails with the verification link only to get the same result each time.

I eventually got around this by logging directly into my JH account from their homepage.

When I tried it that way, they sent me a text to my phone with an access code instead of an email. I typed in the code on the website and then was able to access my account. After a bit of trouble at the very beginning, I was a bit skeptical of Jackson Hewitt but decided to press on anyway.

Once I got logged in, I was connected a Tax Pro almost immediately. The screen was divided into a chat window for communication and then a tab on the left for uploading documents and keeping track of tasks.

After a brief introduction with my Tax Pro I went through a series of questions. I know next to nothing about taxes, but these questions were pretty straightforward and easy to answer.

After those questions were done, I sent PDFs of my 1099s to my Tax Pro, plus scans of my driver's license and social security card. After the bit of trouble I had just setting up my account, this is another potential drawback to filing online: if you are not somewhat capable with computers, filing online might not be a good fit for you. At first the scans of my cards didn't go through. They were BMP files so I had to turn them to JPEGs instead and then they went through.

Then my Tax Pro started working on my return, asking a question now and then.

Then she was done and we had a brief audio call where she went over my return and helped clear up some confusion I had.

Then I electronically signed the paperwork after drawing my signature with my computer mouse.

Then it was all done and my tax return was filed. I had one question after that and got reconnected with my Tax Pro on the website and she replied within an hour, even though she was probably assisting other customers by then.

Overall, the experience was positive and I would recommend Jackson Hewitt. It's a good idea to know something about computers if you want to file online. Jackson Hewitt also has places where you can file in person. I see them at Wal-Mart locations around tax time.

(I am not affiliated with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service in any way. This was just me sharing my personal experience)

I hoped this article helped in your decision of choosing a tax service.

We don't like doing taxes, but it is a part of managing money well. At Jake Shirley Coaching, we talk about getting out of debt and about our money mindset.