Keeper Tax Review [2024]: Is It the Right Option for Freelancers?

What is Keeper?

Keeper is a financial platform that uses AI to uncover tax deductions and file your taxes. Simply upload your tax forms and let Keeper do the rest. As an independent contractor, it can be tricky to determine whether expenses fall under write-off categories, so I know Keeper’s AI tools could be really helpful.

Besides helping you track work-related expenses throughout the year, Keeper can handle your tax filing. Knowing that my tax return will be analyzed by a human tax professional after the AI work is done adds a lot of reassurance. (Plus, the tax filing example online includes references from The Office with a Dunder Mifflin W-2, which I find fun.)

The Keeper app is available for iOS and Android. At the time of writing, it has an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars from customers in the App Store and a 4.-star rating in Google Play.

One thing to note is that although Keeper technically offers a free 7-day trial, the free trial period doesn’t include the actual filing of your taxes. You can access expense categorization and tax preparation tools, but to file your taxes you’ll need to pay for a subscription.

How does Keeper work?

Freelancers, gig workers, self-employed professionals, and small business owners must set aside money to pay state and federal taxes, as we don’t have an employer setting aside taxes for us. On top of income tax, self-employed workers usually have to pay self-employment tax, which can take a sizable bite out of their earnings.

Tracking your work-related expenses and claiming them as deductions can help you keep more money in your pocket. Keeper aims to take the hassle out of storing receipts and tracking and monitoring transactions. Here’s a breakdown of its features:

• Expense scans: After you link your credit card or bank account to the app (Keeper can connect with over 20,000 banks and credit cards), it automatically monitors your bank statements to find tax-deductible expenses.
• Bookkeeping by text: A Keeper bookkeeper will send you text messages up to once a day to ask if purchases are work-related. You text back yes or no to have your purchases categorized as an expense to write off.
• Tax filing: State and federal tax filing are included with your paid annual Keeper subscription for $192, but not with the $20 per month plan.
• Export your data: Instead of filing your taxes with Keeper, you can choose to export your data into a spreadsheet if you have an active subscription.

Besides the actual bookkeeping and tax services, Keeper offers some free tax tools. There’s a tax calculator you can use to estimate your quarterly tax payments and a tax bill calculator that can estimate how much you’ll owe for the entire year. These calculators can help you figure out how to manage your money each month so you don’t get surprised by an unforeseen tax bill.

The website also has guides that discuss self-employed tax tips, such as how to qualify for home office and car-related deductions.

Keeper: products and pricing

Here’s a rundown of the Keeper product offerings and how much they cost:

Who can use Keeper?

Keeper is a solid option for you if you’re a small-business owner or freelancer who has a fair amount of expenses throughout the year. I don’t personally have much in terms of business expenses or deductions, so Keeper wouldn’t be of use to me, but someone with more operational expenses could benefit from its tracking and automatic categorization.

If you want the convenience of AI tracking and reviewing your expenses for you, plus tax filing, you could choose one of Keeper’s annual plans for the best value. Stick to the basic annual plan if your business spending and taxes are fairly simple, and you can upgrade to the premium annual plan if you have more complicated financial situations and want more protection in case of an IRS audit.

Best alternatives to Keeper for freelance taxes

If you find Keeper appealing for your tax-preparation or expense-tracking needs, be sure to check whether any of the top alternatives would better serve you.

TaxAct Self-Employed

If you only need simplified tax preparation for your self-employment income, you can consider TaxAct Self-Employed, which guides you through your federal tax return. You’re guaranteed 100% accuracy. This service costs $99.99 (and an extra $59.99 to handle state taxes).

TaxAct Self-Employed may be the right choice if you don’t have a lot of ongoing expenses as a freelancer (for example, I’m writing from home and have next to zero business expenses to worry about). But if you’re dealing with year-round expense tracking, Keeper could fit the bill.

TaxSlayer Self-Employed

TaxSlayer is another popular e-filing platform and it has several tiers, including the Self-Employed for $67.95 (plus $44.95 if you want state tax filing). This version gets you basic tax filing services plus extra support for forms 1099 and Schedule C to help you file both personal and business income.

You can check our TaxSlayer review for more details on all of the levels of tax assistance they offer.

QuickBooks

For those of us who need bookkeeping assistance, QuickBooks is a trusted name in the business. If business expense tracking is what appeals to you about Keeper, you might consider QuickBooks instead. The program tracks your business expenses to find deductions, as Keeper does, plus QuickBooks offers live expert tax help.

The lowest-tier Simple Start plan normally runs $30 per month. Other tiers are available with more features for a higher subscription fee.

FAQs about Keeper

Bottom line

Keeper is a service that can take the stress out of tax filing for freelancers and gig workers. Instead of scrambling to find all of your receipts at the end of the year, you can use the Keeper app to monitor your work-related purchases all year round.

It’s worth noting, however, that there are alternatives like QuickBooks for bookkeeping and tax assistance, and free tax-filing resources for some individuals. Plus, Keeper comes with a monthly or annual subscription fee. Before signing up for Keeper, consider the price tag and compare it to other expense-tracking and tax-filing services to find the best option for you.