File your taxes in Gusto with Automated Tax Filing

Once W-2s are released in late January, eligible employees can easily file their federal and state taxes without ever leaving Gusto through Automated Tax Filing (ATF). Gusto has partnered with april to offer this feature exclusively in the Gusto mobile app.

Benefits of using Automated Tax Filing:

Cost-effective: Free¹ if you deposit your refund into a free Gusto Cash Account², or pay a flat fee of $20 plus sales tax.
Maximized refunds: Guaranteed to get you the maximum refund available.³
Convenience: File directly within the Gusto app through our integration with april.
Non-binding: You can use another filing product and switch tax filing platforms at any point up until taxes are due.
Real-time updates: Monitor your filing status, reflected within the app.
Support: Unlimited access to live chat support from april.

Access and eligibility

Automated Tax Filing (ATF) is exclusively available to active W-2 employees through the Gusto mobile app. It becomes available from late January until the end of tax filing season on April 15th.

ATF is available to employees on Gusto on the mobile app who meet any single aspect of the following criteria:

Have previously engaged with the other products in april—the Refund Estimator or Paycheck Optimizer.
Have a Gusto Cash Account.
W-4 form in Gusto is listed as filing as single, has a single job, and no dependents.

Employees are not eligible for ATF if they:

Have moved home states within the calendar year.
Have a work address that’s in a different state than their home address.
Are employed by a company associated with an accountant firm.

Once eligible by meeting any one of the criteria above, employees must have never been disqualified from april’s tax filing tool.

Use Automated Tax Filing

Begin filing

Eligible employees can follow these steps to use april’s Automated Tax Filing.

Your progress is saved as you go—if you exit partway through filing, your work is saved and you can pick it up again later.

Sign in to your Gusto mobile app.
- At this time, Paycheck Optimization is only available in the Gusto mobile app and not the website.
Go to the Pay tab.
Select Get Started.
When asked “How would you like to file taxes this year?” select the prompt to use april’s Automated Tax Filing.
- If you have a Gusto Cash Account, april will launch automatically and you will not be prompted for payment.
Select your form of payment. There are two options:
- File for free by depositing a refund into a Gusto Spending Account or savings goal. If you have trouble opening an account, reach out to [email protected].
- Or, pay a $20 flat filing fee plus sales tax.
Once selected, our integration with april will appear.
Follow the prompts provided, answering the state and federal filing questions and prompts for payment.

Once submitted, the Pay tab of your Gusto mobile app will show the real-time status of your filing.

Check on the status of your filing

Once you submit your filing with the steps above, you can check the status anytime:

Sign in to your Gusto mobile app.
- At this time, Paycheck Optimization is only available in the Gusto mobile app and not the website.
Go to the Pay tab.
From there, you’ll see the status of your filing in Gusto Wallet as started, submitted, accepted, or rejected.
- If your state or federal filing through april gets rejected, april will notify you via email.

Refund method and timing

Method: Refunds will arrive in the method you chose during the april filing flow.

Timing: Refunds take time to be processed by agencies. Once you complete your tax filing through Gusto with april, the timings of your refunds will vary. In general, you can expect them to take a few weeks, but delays can occur. Read more on refund timing from our partner april.

Your Federal (IRS) tax return:
- The IRS typically takes 21 days to process a return.
- You can check your federal refund status on the IRS website.
Your state's tax return: If you're receiving a refund from your state, you can track your refund on their website.

Alternatives to Automated Tax Filing

Aside from Automated Tax Filing, there are still other helpful options to complete your yearly taxes:

Turbotax: You can access Turbotax in Gusto by following prompts on both Gusto.com and the mobile app.
Outside of Gusto: If you’d like to do your taxes completely outside of Gusto, you can download your W-2 to use with another tax service.

Outside of yearly tax filing, Gusto offers other helpful tax-related tools. If you’d like help in forecasting your taxes for next year, consider using one of the features offered year-round in the Gusto mobile app, the Refund Estimator or Paycheck Optimizer.

Need more help?

Here's where to reach out based on your question:

Questions about april’s Automated Tax Filing flow or filing process: [email protected]
Questions about your Gusto W2’s or your eligibility for Automated Tax Filing: Contact us through the Help section of your account
Questions about Cash Accounts: [email protected]

^{1 File your taxes for free when you deposit your refund into the Gusto Spending account or Savings goal. You must be eligible and enrolled in the Gusto Spending account.}

^{2 The Gusto Savings goals and Gusto Spending account are issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Gusto is a payroll services company, not a bank. Banking services provided by nbkc bank, Member FDIC.}

^{3 If you find an error in the tax preparation that entitles you to a larger refund (or smaller liability), April will refund any fees you paid them to use April’s service to prepare that return and you may use April’s service to amend your return at no additional charge. To qualify, the larger refund or smaller tax liability must not be due to differences or inaccuracies in data supplied by you, your choice not to claim a deduction or credit, positions taken on your return that are contrary to law, or changes in federal or state tax laws. Learn more about your tax coverage and other important info.}