Best Smartphone Tax Apps

Do your taxes fast, on your phone

If you have really simple taxes, you can file them in just 10 minutes on your smartphone. With TurboTax SnapTax (*Est. $25 to file; free download) , you just snap a photo of your W-2, answer a few simple questions, then tap the "file" button. That's it.

"Simple app, simple navigation," says Kathy Yakal at PCMag.com, who finds that SnapTax works smoothly. In other tests at Macworld and the Los Angeles Times and for many users, however, the W-2 photo snap gets the numbers wrong. It's not a deal-breaker, but they all caution users to double-check. You can fix mistakes by hand, but beware "fat-fingered iOS typing," says Macworld's Jeffrey Battersby.

SnapTax works on iPhone, iPod touch and Android smartphones. You also can use it on your iPad or Android tablet, but the W-2 photo-snap feature won't work.

On the downside, SnapTax covers only simple tax topics. You must file either a short-form 1040EZ or 1040A and can take deductions for kids, child care, tuition and fees, and student loans, but not items like mortgage interest and medical bills. You'll need to file a full 1040 for that. If your data's too complicated, SnapTax will kick you over to the TurboTax website to finish on your computer or tablet. SnapTax charges $25 to file both federal and state returns.

"This is where I found the SnapTax to get a little sticky," says Jeffrey Battersby, who uses it to file his daughter's taxes. Like many 1040EZ filers, she scraped together a refund of only $50 and SnapTax's fee took a big bite of that. In contrast, TurboTax's website lets you e-file simple returns from your computer or tablet for free. So do other major brands, including the top-rated TaxACT Free Edition 2012; see our section on Free Tax Filing.

SnapTax's price "seems excessive," Kathy Yakal says. "Still, if you want the 'cool' factor and the convenience and speed of filing a 1040EZ [or 1040A] on your smartphone, it's clearly the one to buy for the 2012 tax year."

H&R Block 1040EZ for Smartphone (free download and e-file) trails far behind in reviews. Unlike SnapTax, it's strictly for 1040EZ filers. If you have a child or a student loan, you can't use it if you want to deduct them.

The Los Angeles Times' Salvador Rodriguez tests both the SnapTax and Block apps, finding only SnapTax helpful. His taxes prove too complicated for both apps, but SnapTax at least lets him snap a photo of his W-2 and transfer it to an online return. The Block app doesn't even let him get started; it asks questions at the beginning and he doesn't qualify.

Battersby manages to use the Block app successfully, but it erases his data whenever he switches out of the app for a few minutes. Worse, lots of users say the Block app simply crashes.