Yeah...my family just calls up my aunt. She's a tax preparer anyways, and she does all of our family's taxes for free anyways. We usually take her out for a nice dinner to repay her anyways.

@RandaPanda0283:

Anyways, not all of us have that option, anyways. Anyways, what are you going to do when your aunt, anyways, retires, anyways, or passes on, anyways?

I've always used taxactonline.com

There's no income requirements. The only catch is they're constantly trying to upsell to the paid version, but the free version does it all. I do the 1040 long from with itemized deductions and never had a problem.

It's free to file the federal and they charge something to file state. Ohio lets you do it online for free anyway, so problem solved.

@RandaPanda0283: Same here. Uncle does taxes for free in exchange for ball game tickets. :O) Easy as that.

@RandaPanda0283: Awesome! Can we get your aunt's number?

Cause this article is actually a cool thing.

@Cat_In_A_Hat: And what do you have to do to get the free ball game tickets?

@Alice Arrington Radley: I would say you're being a bit harsh had he not added the "s."

This is pretty cool. I like the no tax software option so you can just fill in the forms and submit. They also have Schedule C available through all the free options. It used to not be available in the free file options.

For years I've always used the "Tax Spreadsheet" at [home.mchsi.com] . I've always wondered when you could just transmit those spreadsheets or PDF files to the IRS directly. This is almost the same thing. Thanks!

By the way, taxes are not THAT difficult, although I can understand if you just want to hand your receipts and W-2s to H&R Block to do them. It helps that I don't itemize, but I've always found the IRS instructions and Publication 17 (and related publications) sufficient to explain things. And I am a medium income person who probably could use the Free File system. It's just that I hate those silly questions and just want to put pen to paper and fill out the forms myself.

@Cat_In_A_Hat: I hope your Uncle and Randa's aunt are both declaring that as income, and that you are are claiming the cost of his tickets (for Randa - the cost of her meal) as deductions.

Hey, I know what forms to use. I read the instructions.

@Alice Arrington Radley: I was hoping someone one rip on them for saying "anyways" twice so closely together, I am just sad that you beat me to it!

@Great Mutato: ditto. this will be my 4th year with taxact. when i bought my house, they conned me into the upsell b/c i couldn't figure out how to claim the mortgage interest deduction. turns out i was just being a moron.

now, to be honest, i pay the $10 to have it fill in all of last year's info just b/c i'm lazy. it's worth it. :)

CompleteTax does it for like $10... and the site works and I get through my taxes in about 20minutes, with the deposit in my account 10 days later (looking forward to you February 6th).

I find the $10 to be more than reasonable just to have a website that works.

If you're comfortable doing your own taxes, you can save a lot of money doing it this way. I usually start at the IRS web site, which directs me to one of the free file private filing companies. I do my federal return there, then switch over to the California Franchise Tax Bureau site and do my state taxes there for free also. I've been pleased with the results, and it can even handle Schedule D (capital gains). Very handy!

This was actually pretty cool! As long as you read all the lines on the form (and if it references any additional forms, you can add them and see if you need them) and read the instructions, its SUPER easy.

I used Turbo Tax to error check, and just didn't file with them so it was free!

I'd normally use Turbo Tax's free file, but this year since I had investment taxes, I would've had to pay $14.95. Hahaha, the IRS did me a favor, even though I still owe them money this year :(

@Michael Belisle: Yeah, the IRS site was great with the instructions - made it so much easier!

@Chris Yantis: And the fact that "anyways" is not proper English. It's "anyway".

@calwatch: I'm the same way. I strangely enjoy sitting down with the paper forms and doing my taxes each year. I'm so glad we finally can electronically submit those same forms for free now.

Does the tips email filter out gmail addresses or something? I submitted this 4 days ago, and got no response.

This year, I paid for Turbo Tax and got everything done. The software revealed deductions that I didn't know I could take. I have a big fat refund coming supposedly by the end of this week. Turbo Tax was well worth the money!

@Keen314:
I have submitted a lot of things to these people but, they don't seem to want to post my stuff.

I used TurboTax for years and overpaid every year. Now it's TaxAct for me.

Of course, I still wish we had a nice flat tax or FairTax ...

@Keen314: Do you people seriously think you're the only one who submits a particular tip? There are many other Consumerist readers who likely see and E-mail the same thing to them.

@mac-phisto:

I used H&R Block's online service. They pull the same shit with trying to upsell.

Finally! I cannot believe it took the IRS this long to implement a damn set of online forms.

Okay, scratch that; due to what I am sure was incessant whining by Tax software companies, I most certainly can believe it took that long.

Notice that the two major tax programs this year (TurboTax and TacCut) both offer "free" e-file this year because anybody with a clue would just print out the forms and fill in the IRS online forms instead if it had cost.

They are now back to their original forms; you are paying solely for the guidance and ease, and not getting ripped off with bogus e-file fees. (This probably explains the steep price increases this year with no additional features.) Of course, since most states don't offer free e-file, TaxCut bumped up their state e-file fee to make up for it. (Did Intuit do so also?)

Certainly sounds like a year to try TaxAct.

Haven't done my taxes yet. Is this like the Maryland forms that they have online where you just fill in the blanks that come off of your tax sheets and the form does all the math for you?

@kreatre2009: While I've been using TTax for >15 years, I'm getting a little miffed over how much they now charge for a 2nd state. They're making up for going "free" on the fed filing by sticking it to multi-state filers.

Be aware of this before you make a choice.

Well dammit - I filed my taxes on Friday and since my wife and I's income was about $58,000, I had to pay the $19.95 to e-file federal. At least I didn't have to pay for state filing since PA lets you do it for free! :)

Can I hire Tax Cat instead? Those glasses say "I <3 Accounting."

@KStrike155: Yeah, anyway, learn English. Anyways!

@Great Mutato: Same here. 4th year with TaxAct, free Federal e-File, no max income limit. Likewise, Illinois has had free e-File for the last several years now, so I've used that instead of paying them to file state.

@calwatch: "...taxes are not THAT difficult."

"It helps that I don't itemize..."

I see what you did there, you sneaky, sneaky devil!!

I couldn't understand for the longest time why it was that a number of states could take filing online well before the IRS could themselves. I'm glad to see they've remedied that. Sometimes you just don't *need* the fancy software.

@Chris Yantis:

Not twice, but thrice! I couldnt' help myself but to comment.

@sirwired: I have used Tax Act for several years now. It keeps getting better. And unlike the Big Two (TurboTax and Tax Cut), they don't monkey around with rebates. The free service will be enough for many users. For my purpose I buy the "Deloxe" software version which includes Federal and State software and free Federal e-File.

Is it bad that I am so cynical now that I think the only reason the IRS is implementing this is to find a faster way to audit people? Something about a computer quickly scanning hundreds of returns in the same amount of time as a single employee makes me nervous!

@theblackdog: Us people?!

I just filed for free using TaxACT's online interface. I itemize my deductions but otherwise have a fairly simple tax return. I have always used TurboTax in the past and I thought TaxACT's free online interface was just as good and $50 less. Would definitely recommend it, the only annoying part was having to wait for pages to load all the time instead of having the software on my computer.

@ceilingFANBOY: Don't live in Maryland, so I haven't seen your tax forms, but it's similar to what you describe. You input the relevant data, then hit a button that 'does the math'.