Which business bank accounts do the tax work for freelancers

Which business account does the most tax work?

Found does the most on its free plan; Lili earns the most on the money while it waits; Novo and Relay automate the set-aside without a fee. None of the six prepares your income tax return for you, though Lili Smart and Premium include tax preparation software. This page covers tax tools only; fees, ATM access and integrations are in our free business bank accounts guide.

• Found

  $0 / $35 / $80 a month

  Every Found plan lists "Automatically save for taxes in Taxes Pocket," real-time tax estimates, "Generate Schedule C and 1120/1120-S forms" and "Generate and e-file 1099 NECs." Plus and Pro add in-app quarterly federal tax payments for Schedule C filers and earn 1.50% APY up to $20,000 (Plus) or 2.50% on all balances (Pro). Yearly billing is $315 or $720.

  Best fora sole proprietor who wants the account to do the tax admin. Found pricing

• Lili

  $0 / $15 / $35 / $55 a month

  Lili's savings account pays 2.25% APY on balances up to $500,000 and 4.00% from $500,000 to $1,000,000, "Available to all Lili plans," effective January 13, 2026. Lili Pro adds "Tax savings: Automatically allocate funds towards the tax payments" and quarterly and annual expense reports; Smart and Premium add accounting and tax preparation software.

  Best forholding a large tax reserve at the best published yield with no fee. Lili plans

• Mercury

  $0 / $29.90 / $299 a month

  Mercury's base plan files federal and state 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC forms at $5 a filing, auto-scans W-9s to pre-fill them and sends recipient copies; Plus and Pro include "Unlimited 1099 tax filings." Its Treasury yield, up to 4.05%, needs a $250K Mercury balance.

  Best fora freelancer who pays contractors and needs clean 1099 season. Mercury pricing

• Relay

  $0 / $30 / $90 a month

  Relay offers up to 20 checking accounts on Starter and says its Profit First setup splits every deposit into accounts such as Taxes "by percentage, dollar amount, or the built-in Profit First preset." Savings APY is 1.19% on Starter, 1.87% on Grow and 3.21% on Scale (shown at $90, struck from $120, as a limited-time discount).

  Best fora Profit First user who wants a named Taxes account per rule. Relay pricing

• Novo

  $0

  Novo has one free plan. Novo Reserves let you "set aside a portion of incoming funds" for expenses including taxes, and "allocate future income by percentage." Novo's pages state no APY.

  Best forthe simplest free set-aside with nothing to upgrade. Novo

• Bluevine

  $0 / $30 / $95 a month

  Bluevine's checking page names no tax-specific tool, but it pays interest on checking: 1.3% APY on Standard in a month you spend $500 on its debit card or receive $2,500 in customer payments, 1.75% on Plus and 3.0% on Premier, with fees Bluevine says can be waived.

  Best foran active account that earns on the tax money without a separate bucket. Bluevine checking

What does the tax money earn while it waits?

A tax reserve sits for up to four months between quarterly payments, so its yield is real money. On $20,000 for a year, the published APYs earn from nothing to $642, but the plan fee decides what you keep.

The pattern holds at this balance because the paid tiers are priced for businesses that use their other features, not for the interest. At a much larger reserve the arithmetic changes, and the same chart rebuilt with your balance will show where.

These are fintechs, not banks: who holds the money?

Each provider names its partner bank, and that bank holds the FDIC membership. Found: "Banking services are provided by Lead Bank, Member FDIC." Lili: "Sunrise Banks, N.A., Member FDIC." Mercury: "Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC." Relay: "Thread Bank, Member FDIC." Novo: "Middlesex Federal Savings, F.A. Member FDIC." Bluevine: "Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC and our program banks."

You can look up any of those banks in the FDIC BankFind Suite. Lili, Relay and Bluevine advertise deposit coverage up to $3 million through sweep networks; read each provider's terms for how that coverage applies to your deposits.

When is a plain free account plus IRS tools enough?

For many freelancers, always. The IRS side of every step is free: IRS Direct Pay sends estimated payments from any checking account, and the IRIS Taxpayer Portal e-files up to 100 information returns at a time at no cost. A second free account named Taxes and a percentage you move by hand does what the automation does.

The IRS estimated tax rules are the same whatever you bank with: if you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you pay four times a year. Size the percentage with CeoCult's tax set-aside calculator and the set-aside guide; the next payment is covered in our January 15, 2027 guide, and the full system in how to pay quarterly taxes. If a platform sends you a 1099-K, our 1099-K explainer covers what to do with it, and the Schedule C page explains the form Found generates.

Whichever account you choose, the setup is the same five steps. Copy them.

1. Open a separate account or pocket named "Taxes"
2. Set the split: your percentage from the set-aside calculator
3. Turn on the automatic rule (or move it every time you are paid)
4. Diary the IRS dates: Jan 15, 2027, then Apr 15, Jun 15, Sep 15, 2027
5. Pay from the bucket via IRS Direct Pay; save each confirmation number

Pick the account for the tax job you actually have: 1099s, the payment itself, or the yield. Do not pay a monthly fee for interest you can earn for free.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Frequently asked questions

How we built this page

How we built this page: we read each provider's published pricing and plan pages on 19 October 2026 and the IRS pages linked above, and drew demand from the questions AI assistants cite CeoCult for. We did not open accounts with these providers for this comparison. APYs are variable and as published on the date shown; partner-bank lines are quoted from each provider's own disclosure.

This is general information, not tax advice for your situation. None of the providers on this page pays CeoCult; every vendor link is a plain editorial link.