How to file your taxes for free

Every year, Americans spend more than $ 11 billion on tax preparation services. For most taxpayers, this is it money for the drain. It is even approaching this year April 18 submission deadlineThere are many options for completing your taxes for free, either on your own or with the help of an expert.

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Free IRS file

If you earn less than $ 73,000 a year, you can use what is known as “Free File” software, a service that business tax preparers make available in collaboration with the IRS. This year, there are eight tax-free products to choose from. This is a smaller selection than in previous years, after two of the most popular software vendors, TurboTax and H&R Block, cut ties with the free file program.

However, anyone earning less than $ 73,000 in a year (about 70% of taxpayers) will be able to find at least one free software option. Some of these also offer free state tax returns.

To get started, access Free File through the IRS website, which has the most up-to-date information on available products and rating guidelines. Trying to get there by other means, including online search for free tax filing, can turn you into a paid product.

The IRS also offers a search tool, which asks you about your income, age and residence in order to tell you what free software you are entitled to.

Qualifications for each specific software may vary from year to year. For example, FreeTaxUSA offers free submission for anyone earning less than $ 41,000, while FileYourTaxes.com requires users to earn between $ 9,500 and $ 73,000 and be under the age of 65. designed so that no single tax software could have a monopoly on free tax preparation, but it had the effect of making free filing complicated and more confusing for taxpayers.)

Cash application taxes

If you do more than the free file restrictions allow and want to use tax software, another option is Cash App Taxes, formerly known as Credit Karma Tax.

The software offers a completely free tax filing with no income restrictions, although it will not handle some complicated tax situations, such as when taxpayers file multiple state tax returns. But taxpayers should keep in mind that the company collects the data you enter to market your financial products.

Users must have the Cash mobile app to download the tax software, but not to file their return.

4F: “Free File Forms”

Another free option available to everyone is Free File Forms. This tool is the electronic equivalent of filling out a paper tax return, providing the most common tax forms in PDF format that you can submit electronically.

Unlike tax software, which guides the user through a series of questions and then uses the answers to fill out a return, Fillable Forms will assume that you know which of the different documents and forms you need and that you can do the math yourself. .

“This is an option for people with tax knowledge or very easy returns, and they can literally only connect numbers,” Olson told CBS MoneyWatch.

If you use completed forms, you will need to create a new account each year because, for security reasons, the IRS deletes the information entered into the system at the end of each tax season.

Face-to-face: Voluntary personal income tax aid (VITA)

While the IRS encourages electronic filing of taxes, many taxpayers still prefer the personal touch. The government is running two volunteer programs to make this possible.

Taxpayers with an annual income of less than $ 58,000 can get help in person at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site. These neighborhood sites, which are often developed in collaboration with nonprofits or community groups, offer IRS-trained volunteers to help with tax returns for most of the tax season.

“It’s a good place to start if a person is a little overwhelmed, wants to hand it over to someone, and let them do it,” said Phyllis Cavallone-Jurek, executive director of Ladder Up, a nonprofit financial consulting organization that helps low-income people. people.

The IRS provides a search tool to find places in your area. Each site runs locally, so please read the details of the chosen site carefully. Make a note of:

• Dates when the site is open – some close after the last week of the tax season, while others are open during the summer

• The hours and days of the working week

• If an appointment is required

• If you can file taxes for several years

Whichever option you choose, keep in mind that VITA sites are not for people with complex tax situations. For example, most concert workers, such as Uber drivers, can use the VITA program, but someone with rental property income can’t, according to Cavallone-Jurek.

The IRS provides guidelines on what types of tax assistance volunteers can offer, as well as what documents to bring. Taxpayers who go in person should bring all their income documents and try to come earlier, Cavallone-Jurek said.

“If you find a place, if it’s open from 10 to 4, go early; don’t come in at 3,” he said. “There are a lot of people and it’s recommended to go earlier.”

Face-to-face: Free tax help for the elderly

People over the age of 60 can visit a site for tax advice for the elderly (TCE). The program has no income limits and its volunteers are trained to focus on tax issues that affect the elderly, such as questions about retirement account withdrawals.

Most TCE sites run through the AARP Tax Aide program and can be found on their website. Taxpayers can browse programs by type, including face-to-face, low-contact, or fully virtual options. There is also an option for taxpayers to file their own returns using an on-site computer.

While both TCE and VITA are volunteer-run programs, volunteers go through rigorous tax law training to make sure they can handle a number of tax situations and maintain taxpayer privacy, the IRS notes.

Many of the volunteers are students or retirees in accounting or tax law, Cavallone-Jurek said. And the IRS’s ethical guidelines mean that volunteers can’t accept advice or offer other services, making these sites really free for taxpayers.

“We really can’t accept a lollipop or a dollar,” he said.

In:
• internal revenue service
• tax returns
• Taxes