past-taxes.com

What It Is

Past Tax is an online prior-year tax return preparation service for U.S. taxpayers, focused on the problem of “multiple years of unfiled returns” or cases where standard tax software does not go back far enough. Its software supports preparation of individual federal and state tax returns from tax year 2000 to the present, and also offers business tax return services for LLCs, Partnerships, S-Corporations, C-Corporations, and more.

Core Features and Capabilities

The core product is an online, interview-style tax input workflow. After selecting a tax year, users enter their information, and the system generates federal or state tax forms while estimating the refund or tax due along the way. It supports federal, state, federal + state, and multi-state returns. For state taxes, it can handle full-year resident, part-year resident, and nonresident scenarios. It also offers paid add-ons such as amended returns, audit assistance, professional review, long-term storage, and bound paper copies. E-filing is only available for individual returns going back 3 years; older prior-year returns and business returns must be signed and mailed to the IRS or state tax authorities.

Pricing and Trial

The website can be tried for free, but users must pay to obtain the final copy of their tax return. Federal returns cost $39.99, state returns cost $35, and a federal + state package costs $49.99; when filing federal and state together, the federal return can be as low as $14.99. Tax years 2000–2020 incur an additional $19.99 processing fee. K-1s, amended filings, professional review, audit assistance, and other services are charged separately. Its terms clearly state that orders are non-refundable after submission, so users should confirm their information and service scope before placing an order.

Pros, Cons, and Best-Fit Users

Its strengths are broad year coverage, relatively transparent fee items, and support for common catch-up filing needs such as multi-state returns, amended returns, paper copies, and professional review. Support is available via email, chat, and status-page messaging. Limitations include no disclosed API, third-party integrations, team permission management, or security/compliance certifications, and the terms emphasize that users remain responsible for reviewing the accuracy of their tax returns. It is best suited to users who need to catch up on prior-year U.S. individual tax returns, handle multi-state tax situations, or prepare small-business returns, rather than teams looking for an enterprise-grade tax workflow platform.

China Access and Alternatives

The collected text does not provide information on access from mainland China, payment methods, or localization, so China access status is unknown. Chinese users with U.S. tax status or U.S.-source income may use this type of tool to prepare prior-year tax returns, but more complex cases should be discussed with a U.S. CPA/EA. Comparable options include TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxAct, FreeTaxUSA, Sprintax, or professional tax service providers.