Cofiled guides

Plain-English tax help.

No jargon, no lecture. Plain-English help to actually get the documents, catch up on years you missed, and get it off your plate.

Rows of paper tax returns stacked on desks in a 1960 IRS office

Featured · Back taxes

Haven't filed taxes in a few years? What actually happens

The penalties are smaller than your fear, a refund year has no penalty at all, and there's a standard way back. Here's the actual order of operations.

7 min read · September 2026

Smiling New York taxi driver leaning out his cab window, 1942

Gig work

Do Uber and DoorDash drivers have to pay quarterly taxes?

Only if you'll owe more than $1,000 at tax time. Even then it's one number and four dates. Here's how to find your number in about ten minutes.

5 min read · September 2026

Clerk at a card-punch machine beside a box labeled Master Name Cards, Social Security Administration, 1937

Back taxes

How to get your old W-2s and 1099s, even from years ago

Behind on a few years? You don't need to track down every employer. The IRS keeps copies of almost everything filed under your name. Here's exactly how to get them.

6 min read · August 2026

Car trip meter showing 716.6 miles driven

Gig work

How to write off miles for DoorDash and Uber

Your miles are probably your biggest deduction, and you don't need a perfect log to claim them. Here's the rate, which miles count, and how to catch up.

6 min read · September 2026

Horse-drawn wagon and customers outside a crossroads general store, Oklahoma, 1939

Self-employed

I'm self-employed. How do I prove my income?

No pay stubs? Lenders verify self-employed income with your tax return, an IRS transcript, and bank statements. What counts, strongest first.

6 min read · October 2026

Self-employed

Self-employed and renting? How to prove your income to a landlord

No pay stubs for the application? Landlords accept last year's return and a few months of bank statements. What to send, and what to do if you're new.

5 min read · October 2026

Self-employed

Self-employed? How to prove your income for a car loan

Car lenders want to see what you kept, not what the app paid out. What to bring, and why your 1099-K can make you look richer than the lender will count.

5 min read · October 2026

Self-employed

Self-employed? How to prove your income for a mortgage

Mortgage lenders want two years of returns, and they check them with the IRS. What they count, why write-offs can shrink it, and what to do about it.

7 min read · October 2026

Row of rural mailboxes on wooden posts beside a snowy road, Maryland, 1940

Gig work

Never got your 1099? You can still file

A missing 1099 doesn't delay your taxes, and below the reporting lines one may never come. You file from your own numbers. Here's where they already are.

5 min read · September 2026

Crowd of filers at tables inside an Internal Revenue office, around 1920

Filing basics

Do you even need to file taxes this year?

There's a real income line below which filing is optional. But if anything was withheld from a paycheck, skipping means donating your refund. The 2025 numbers.

5 min read · September 2026

Rows of IRS employees checking stacks of income tax returns, Baltimore, 1960

Filing basics

Made a mistake on a filed tax return? How to amend it

A wrong return isn't a crisis and it isn't a phone call. It's one form, years of room to fix it, and often money back. Here's how amending actually works.

6 min read · September 2026

Vast Social Security Administration floor of clerks at card machines, Baltimore, 1960

Retirement

Is Social Security taxable? The real numbers

Usually some of it, never all of it. Two income lines decide how much counts, and a new 2025 deduction wipes out the bill for a lot of retirees. Plain math here.

6 min read · September 2026

A man across the desk from a claims interviewer at an unemployment office, San Francisco, 1938

Filing basics

Do you pay taxes on unemployment benefits?

Yes, the IRS taxes unemployment, and nothing was withheld unless you asked. Here's what the 1099-G means, and the 2020 rule that helps if you're filing back years.

5 min read · September 2026

A New Mexico couple at a roll-top desk working out their own income tax return in February 1943

Cofiled

What is Cofiled? How it works and who actually files

Cofiled turns whatever tax papers you have into a finished return a licensed CPA files. Here's how it works, what it costs, and what it can handle.

4 min read · September 2026

A Vermont general store owner penciling figures at his cash box in 1942

Cofiled

How much does Cofiled cost? The flat $99, explained

Free to start. $99 flat when you file, federal and state in one price. No hourly meter, no per-form surprises. Here's exactly what that covers and when you pay.

3 min read · September 2026

Compare

Cofiled vs TurboTax: which should you use?

TurboTax is software you drive yourself. Cofiled reads your papers and a licensed CPA files it. Here's the honest side by side, and when each one wins.

4 min read · September 2026

Compare

Cofiled vs H&R Block: which should you use?

H&R Block gives you software to drive or an office to visit. Cofiled reads your papers and files them with no appointment. Here's the side by side.

4 min read · September 2026

Compare

Cofiled vs hiring a CPA: which is right for you?

A local CPA is a real professional, and so is the one who signs your Cofiled return. The difference is the appointments, the bill, and the second job a CPA quote never mentions: the bookkeeping.

4 min read · September 2026