Both offer free tax filing — but they're very different products. Compare Taxation.ai and Cash App Taxes on features, limitations, and who each is best for.
| Feature | Taxation.ai | Cash App Taxes |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Powered Filing | ||
| Price | Free tier + paid tiers | 100% free |
| International Support | 5 countries | US only |
| All Tax Situations | Most (some exclusions) | |
| Document OCR | AI-powered | W-2 photo only |
| Client Portal | ||
| State Filing | Free | Free |
| Audit Defense | AI-powered | Basic guarantee |
| Cash App Integration | Direct deposit to Cash App | |
| Multi-State | Limited |
Cash App Taxes wins on one dimension: it's completely free with no catches. If you have a supported tax situation and want to pay absolutely nothing, it's a viable option. However, Taxation.ai's free tier offers more AI-powered capabilities, supports more tax situations, and provides international filing. Cash App Taxes feels like a loss leader to get you into the Cash App ecosystem; Taxation.ai is built as a tax-first platform.
Cash App Taxes (formerly Credit Karma Tax) is the most aggressively priced tax software on the market: everything is free. Federal filing, state filing, all supported forms—$0. No premium tier, no upsells, no catches (well, almost). It's owned by Block, Inc. (formerly Square), which also owns Cash App.
Taxation.ai also offers free filing, but with a different model: a generous free tier backed by paid options for power users and professionals. Let's see how these approaches compare.
Cash App Taxes doesn't charge because its goal isn't to make money directly from tax preparation. It's designed to drive users into the Cash App ecosystem—getting your refund deposited into Cash App, where you'll use it for payments, investing, and Bitcoin. The tax product is a customer acquisition tool.
This isn't necessarily bad—you genuinely get free filing. But it's worth understanding the business model.
Despite being free, Cash App Taxes has notable limitations:
If your tax situation falls outside their supported scenarios, you'll discover this after potentially entering significant information.
Cash App Taxes provides a clean, simple filing experience. You enter your information, answer questions, and file. It's efficient for simple returns but entirely manual.
Taxation.ai uses AI to transform the process:
For a W-2-only return, the manual approach is fine. For anything more complex, AI automation saves significant time and potentially finds more deductions.
Cash App Taxes benefits from Cash App integration—you can get your refund deposited directly. If you're already a Cash App user, this is convenient.
Taxation.ai focuses purely on tax preparation and optimization. There's no attempt to pull you into an unrelated financial product ecosystem. This focus means every feature is built for tax purposes.
Cash App Taxes has a history of technical issues during peak filing season. Support is limited—understandable for a free product, but frustrating when you're dealing with a tax deadline.
Taxation.ai provides AI-powered instant support plus human email support. Pro and Firm subscribers get priority support.
Cash App Taxes accomplishes something admirable: making tax filing truly free for millions of Americans. If your return is straightforward and supported, it's a perfectly valid choice. We respect the no-nonsense, no-upsell approach.
However, "free" doesn't mean "best." Taxation.ai's free tier offers AI capabilities that Cash App Taxes doesn't have at any price—because they don't have a price. Our AI document processing, deduction finding, and international support provide tangible value beyond what a basic free filing tool offers.
For simple returns, either works. For anything more complex, Taxation.ai's AI-powered approach delivers better results. And for international or professional needs, Cash App Taxes simply isn't an option.
See the difference AI-powered tax filing makes.
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