How to Save Up to 31 Percent on Tax Preparation

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Attention, procrastinators: This could be your last chance to buy a 2016 income tax program at a discount.

Ebates.com is currently offering up to 31 percent cash back on certain brands of tax-filing products. As of Thursday morning, they included:

  • E-file.com: 31 percent cash back
  • eSmart Tax: 15 percent
  • FreeTaxUSA: 25 percent
  • H&R Block: 10 percent
  • TaxAct: 7.5 percent
  • TurboTax: Up to 7.5 percent

Ebates does not specify for how long these exact percentages will be available. So don’t wait too long to act if you still need a program for tax year 2016.

Not sure which program is right for you? Check out “Maximize Your Tax Refund by Choosing the Right Tax-Filing Tool.”

Cash-back portals

Ebates is a cash-back portal. So by doing your online shopping through its website or browser extension, you’ll earn cash back — during this promotion and in the future — on purchases from some 2,000 retailers that partner with Ebates. Just use the search bar at the top of Ebates’ site to look for a retailer or product brand — “TaxAct,” for example.

Cash-back portals receive a commission from retailers for referring online shoppers to those retailers’ websites. Then, the portals share that commission with shoppers.

Your cut of that commission is what is referred to as “cash back.” It’s the electronic equivalent of old-fashioned mail-in rebates.

Check out “4 Websites That Pay You to Go Shopping” to learn more about cash-back portals.

Picking a portal (or two)

It’s free to sign up for an Ebates account, and it’s free to use the portal — which is one of the oldest and best-known cash-back portals.

Other portals include Mr. Rebates, Swagbucks Shop and TopCashBack, all of which are also free.

Even if you already have an Ebates account, you might want to check out other cash-back portals because different portals often offer different cash-back percentages for a given retailer.

For example, as of Wednesday morning, TopCashBack was offering 15 percent cash back on TaxAct and TurboTax products and 20 percent on H&R Block products.

Do you use cash-back portals? Let us know which ones by commenting below or on our Facebook page.

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