Accounting · head to head
Circula vs TaxAct
Circula
Accounting
Expense, travel and employee benefit management for German speaking finance teams
- From
- €15/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only TaxAct has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Circula the module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.; TaxAct free edition available only to approximately 40% of filers
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Circula and TaxAct actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Circula
- German per diem engine
- Receipt capture and OCR
- Corporate credit cards
- Employee benefits
- Accounts payable
- Mileage and travel
- DATEV and ERP export
- Approval workflows
Only in TaxAct
Nothing recorded that Circula does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Circula
- A German company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposurenot TaxAct
- A finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one DATEV exportnot TaxAct
- An employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of itnot TaxAct
- A mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculationsnot TaxAct
TaxAct
- Individual tax filingnot Circula
- Self-employed tax preparationnot Circula
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Circula
- The module pricing stacks: expenses at fifteen euro per licence plus ninety nine euro for cards plus a hundred and forty nine euro for accounts payable means a fifty person company pays well over a thousand euro a month before add ons.
- A minimum of ten licences excludes small teams, and the flexible licensing model for occasional claimants makes monthly cost harder to forecast than a flat per seat price.
- Strength is in German tax rules, so companies with significant operations outside the DACH region gain little from the feature that justifies the price.
- The accounts payable module includes only a hundred invoices per month, so invoice heavy businesses face metered overage on top of the platform fee.
- Card issuing carries a per card transaction ceiling and depends on partner issuing, so high value procurement spend can hit limits that a bank issued corporate card would not.
TaxAct
- Free edition available only to approximately 40% of filers
- Pricing excludes separate state filing fees
- Xpert Full Service pricing available on request only
Pricing, plan by plan
Circula
€15/month- Employee and Travel Expenses$15/month
- Per licence, billed annually
- Minimum 10 licences
- OCR receipt capture
- Credit Cards$99/month
- Platform fee, unlimited cards
- Per card spend limits
- Transaction limit of EUR 750,000 per card
- Accounts Payable$149/month
- Platform fee
- Includes 100 invoices per month
- Supplier invoice capture and approval
- Benefits$1/month
- Per licence
- Tax free benefit allowances
- Mobility and meal benefits
TaxAct
Free- Free EditionFree
- W-2 income
- Unemployment
- Basic credits and deductions
- Deluxe$59.99/tax-year
- All Free Edition features
- Home ownership deductions
- Childcare and dependent care
- Premier$99.99/tax-year
- All Deluxe features
- Investment income and capital gains
- Cryptocurrency reporting
- Self-Employed$109.99/tax-year
- Complete business support
- For contractors, freelancers, and sole proprietors
Which should you pick?
Choose Circula if
- You need german per diem engine.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want receipt capture and ocr.
Questions people ask
- Is Circula or TaxAct better?
- Neither clearly leads. Circula starts at €15/month and TaxAct at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Circula or TaxAct?
- TaxAct has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €15/month for Circula and Free for TaxAct.
- Does Circula or TaxAct run on more platforms?
- Circula runs on Web, iOS, Android. TaxAct runs on Web.
- Can I use TaxAct for free?
- Yes. TaxAct has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Circula starts at €15/month.
- What is Circula best used for?
- Circula is most often used for a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure, a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export, an employer offering the tax free monthly benefit allowance and needing auditable records of it, a mid sized business replacing spreadsheet mileage claims with rule enforced distance calculations. Of those, a german company that must apply statutory per diem rates and meal deductions correctly to avoid payroll tax exposure and a finance team wanting card spend, expense claims and benefits in one datev export are not what TaxAct is typically brought in for.
- What can Circula do that TaxAct cannot?
- Circula covers German per diem engine, Receipt capture and OCR, Corporate credit cards, Employee benefits.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Circula: Does Circula calculate German per diems automatically?
Yes, by destination country and trip duration, including meal and accommodation deductions, which is the main reason DACH finance teams buy it.
TaxAct: How much does TaxAct cost?
TaxAct offers a free edition for approximately 40% of filers, Deluxe at $59.99, Premier at $99.99, and Self-Employed at $109.99 per tax year.
SourceCircula: What does it actually cost for fifty employees?
Roughly seven hundred and fifty euro a month for expense licences alone at the fifteen euro rate, before the ninety nine euro card platform fee and any accounts payable module.
TaxAct: Is TaxAct truly free for eligible filers?
Yes, TaxAct's Free Edition is available at no cost for W-2 employees, students, and filers meeting basic income and deduction requirements.
SourceCircula: Is there a minimum commitment?
Yes. A minimum of ten licences and annual billing on the published rates.
TaxAct: What is the difference between Premier and Deluxe plans?
Premier adds support for investment income, capital gains, cryptocurrency, rental properties, and home sale reporting compared to Deluxe.
SourceRelated pages
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