Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your TA8 file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert TA8 to another file type
To convert TA8 tax returns to another format, you need TaxAct or other Data software.
Convert a file to TA8
To convert other file formats to the "Tax Return File" file type, you need software like TaxAct or a similar tool.
About TA8 files
The .TA8 file is a proprietary tax return data file created by TaxAct specifically for the 2018 tax year. It stores all the financial data, personal information, and IRS form structures required to file a 2018 tax return. Typically, users need to convert this file into a PDF to securely share their historical tax records with banks, mortgage lenders, or accountants. The primary disadvantage of the .TA8 format is its highly restrictive, closed nature. It is heavily encoded and often encrypted to protect Personally Identifiable Information. Furthermore, it is year-locked; a 2018 return generally requires the 2018 version of the TaxAct desktop software to open, edit, or calculate properly. The ideal target format for a .TA8 file is a PDF document, which preserves the exact visual layout of the official IRS forms without requiring specialized tax software. Because this is a closed, proprietary format, standard online converters fail to process it. The original software engine is required to map the raw data onto complex IRS forms. However, just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible on convert.guru. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your TA8 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert TA8 file to XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, ODS, CSV, TSV, TAB, DIF, SLK, WK1 or WK3, you can use TaxAct or similar software from the "Tax Return Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert WQ1, XLSM, NOTES, QPW, WK3, WB2, WKS, XLSB, 123, XLS, WB1 or XLSX files to TA8, try TaxAct or another comparable tool in the "Tax Return Data Storage" category.
The TA8 Converter Story
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our TA8 converter.