Editor’s Note: Today’s piece is adapted from an editorial that originally ran July 14, 2020. Dates have been changed to reflect current deadlines.
And just like that, it’s tax season again. Already the commercials are airing for various tax services — talking about write-offs and deductions and credits and other gibberish — and the sign-spinners dressed like the Statue of Liberty are wiggling for warmth on the sidewalk outside Suburban Plaza.
According to the IRS, tax season opens on Feb. 12 and ends April 15. Many people can start filing now, but the IRS won’t receive the information until the official start date. The IRS has also laid out some important steps and dates as we tackle pandemic tax season take-two, which we recommend you read (https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/2021-tax-filing-season-begins-feb-12-irs-outlines-steps-to-speed-refunds-during-pandemic).
If you scoffed that there is no such thing as “free” tax filing, you are partially correct. There are actual, real free tax filing sites. But these sites are powered by the same tax-filing companies that make money off “helping” you with your taxes. Which means these companies go out of their way to hide the actual free sites.
If you Google “free tax filing online,” one result on the first three pages will take you to an actual free filing site. OLT Free File is a real free filing site (page 2 of the search). The only other link that will eventually lead you to free filing options is the IRS website, where you answer a few questions to determine if you qualify for free filing. That website can be found here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/.
All the other results lead you to websites that claim to be free, but as soon as you start putting in your information, you’re likely to find you don’t qualify for their version of “free.” On TurboTax, for example, you can start your filing for free and it takes you to a list of categories. If you check any categories beyond “I paid rent,” “I have a job (received W-2)” or “I have children or dependents,” you will be redirected to their deluxe service for $60.
Thanks to the work of the Netflix show “Patriot Act” (and verified with our own research on the IRS website), we have a list of websites where you can actually file for free (with the IRS’s approval). (Fun fact: This editorial has more “free”s than a TurboTax commercial.)
The IRS website referenced earlier and each of the sites we’re about to list will display the criteria you must meet to file for free on that website, such as if you have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $69,000 or less; if you or a spouse are active duty military with an AGI of $69,000 or less; and/or if you are eligible for Earned Income Tax Credit.
In addition, some of these sites have an age limit, while others do not. Because of limited space, we can’t list each site’s criteria, but we will share the links to each site.
FileYourTaxes.com (https://www.fileyourtaxes.com/irs-free-file); Free 1040 Tax Return (https://freetaxes.free1040taxreturn.com/); 1040NOW (https://www.1040now.net/freefile.htm); TurboTax (https://freefile.intuit.com/); Online Taxes at OLT.com (https://www.olt.com/main/oltfree/default.asp); and FreeTaxUSA (https://www.freetaxusa.com/freefile/). The following links have been shortened to be easier to type into a browser: TaxSlayer (http://ow.ly/fKyM50AviGK); TaxAct (http://ow.ly/WoqH50AviGH); and H&R Block (http://ow.ly/4Uoq50AviGI).
