The Internal Revenue Service is offering a "Free File" program to electronically prepare and file your income tax return if you make less than $62,000 a year. I haven't tried it out, but it seems like a good option if want to do your own taxes and you're trying to save money and time rather than doing your taxes by hand or by buying software. Here's the description of the program from the
IRS website:
All Tax Forms Free with Free File
Feb. 12, 2016
WASHINGTON — Whether you draw a paycheck, are self-employed or own a small business, you can use all available tax forms you need for free with IRS Free File.
If you make $62,000 or less, you qualify for free brand-name software offered through a partnership between the IRS and 13 leading tax software providers. Some of these providers offer free federal and free state return preparation and electronic filing. If you made more than $62,000, you can use Free File Fillable Forms, electronic versions of IRS paper forms best for someone experienced in return preparation.
Free File offers all federal tax forms for free. That goes for the Form 1040, Form 1040EZ and Form 1040A. For example, all forms are free if you have mortgage interest deductions, children in college or made money in the stock market, among other things.
Also for example, all forms are free if you have a Form W-2, or a Form 1099 or an EIN for your own business.
#February marks a high-point in the tax filing season when the IRS experiences many calls to its customer service line from taxpayers with questions. Free File software products can help answer many of your questions by walking you through a step-by-step process to complete your tax return.
And if you can’t find answers from your tax software product, there are many other online tools at IRS.gov that can help you find the answers you need when you need them.
To start your Free File tax return, you first need all your documents including your income statements such as Form W-2...
It's actually great that the IRS is offering such program because tax return preparation in itself is already a strenuous process and adds up to your tax bill. It's good that the agency is taking into consideration taxpayers who are earning significantly low to save them the trouble of preparing their taxes, and of course, save them a ton of money from filing returns manually or buying a software to do the job for them. Thanks for the heads up!
ReplyDelete