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The Almighty Buck Government United States

IRS Extends Free File Tax Program Through 2029 (cnbc.com) 21

The IRS has extended the Free File program through 2029, "continuing its partnership with a coalition of private tax software companies that allow most Americans to file federal taxes for free," reports CNBC. From the report: This season, Free File processed 2.9 million returns through May 11, a 7.3% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the IRS. "Free File has been an important partner with the IRS for more than two decades and helped tens of millions of taxpayers," Ken Corbin, chief of IRS taxpayer services, said in a statement Wednesday. "This extension will continue that relationship into the future."

"This multi-year agreement will also provide certainty for private-sector partners to help with their future Free File planning," Corbin added. IRS Free File remains open through the Oct. 15 federal tax extension deadline. You can use Free File for 2023 returns with an adjusted gross income of $79,000 or less, which is up from $73,000 in 2022. Fillable Forms are also still available for all income levels.

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IRS Extends Free File Tax Program Through 2029

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  • by slack_justyb ( 862874 ) on Thursday May 23, 2024 @10:26PM (#64494973)

    Free file is where some of your tax dollars go to create the bridges between 3rd parties and the IRS filing system. Direct file is the taxpayer to IRS direct system that we got a taste of this year. We want to keep on the direct file path, but the free file path helps breakup the larger entities out there that lobby hard to keep the return-free system from ever getting started.

    Remember. The goal is to eventually implement the 1985 program that was pitched by Reagan. You get a card in the mailbox, you check the box if the numbers on it look good, you're done with taxes for the year. We have been fighting lobbyist for almost forty years who have continually opposed the IRS working directly with the public. The direct file system is the first time ever, the IRS has been allowed to directly process taxpayer's returns electronically. The iron fist is losing it's grip. Free file helps loosen the grip and direct file helps point us in the right direction.

    • It's actually common practice in many countries where the tax form is automatically filled out for you and you just peruse it for any potential inaccuracies before it is filed. I know Japan does this for most personal income tax filing, and other countries have gone this route also.

    • by Renaissance Slacker ( 1767954 ) on Friday May 24, 2024 @06:33AM (#64495543)
      Yup, half of Intuitâ(TM)s $1.5 billion in revenue is from taxpayers who qualified for free filing but Intuit tricked or persuaded to pay for Intuitâ(TM)s paid filing. Including veterans. Intuit needs to be kicked to the curb, theyâ(TM)ve been lying and stealing from taxpayers for way too long.
    • Your informative comment has been very helpful to me. Thank you. This link in particular:

      https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeF... [irs.gov]

      • ...and I'd be remiss when/if I forgot to cite this informative link, especially to non-Americans who aren't required to function with our unique level of self-inflicted bullshit:

        https://www.nytimes.com/video/... [nytimes.com]

        Again, awesome grandparent posted information linked-to above! Bravo! Impressed me and is very useful.

    • I'll stick with pen and paper. Old school cool.
  • by thesjaakspoiler ( 4782965 ) on Friday May 24, 2024 @12:09AM (#64495093)

    There must be a law somewhere that makes that illegal.

    • by bjwest ( 14070 )

      No one is forced to pay more than the cost of postage to file their taxes, the forms may not be available at the Post Office any longer, but they are available for download directly from the IRS website, along with the booklets with instructions on how to fill them out. The majority of the tax paying population can get by with the 1040 or 1040EZ, the latter of which is pretty much a fill in the amount you made, the amount you paid and check that against a chart of how much you owe, the difference between w

    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      There must be a law somewhere that makes that illegal.

      Erm... that's called taxation, you got representation for it.

      But I agree, surely it would be a wise and efficient use of taxpayer dollars to create a system to allow people to easily file their tax returns online that is free at the point of use? Why is the US pretty much the only developed nation that does not do this?

  • Free file (Score:2, Funny)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 )

    I'm glad my mugger was willing to waive his gunpoint fee, especially since he took my wallet.

  • Australia and UK have on-line systems which will bring in income records from the tax office and allow you to enter everything and submit online without paying a shekel.

    Why not in the US ?

    • by bjwest ( 14070 )

      Australia and UK have on-line systems which will bring in income records from the tax office and allow you to enter everything and submit online without paying a shekel.

      Why not in the US ?

      Because we allow corporations and the wealthy to bribe our lawmakers, we just call it lobbying. If, as a lowly poor/middle class citizen, we were to go into our state or local government building and try to pay one of our representatives to write and pass a law that benefits us or our interests, and we'd wind up in jail.

  • Not available in my state and like other free tax services, also won't do the extra tax forms I need done !
  • The Danish system has serve me very well for all my adult life. Most years it has be a few minutes review and a digital sign-off. Some years I adjust the prepaid part due to changes in real estate, expected interest rates and the occasional split-up. Now it is time to work on the backend that is up for modernisation after almost have a century continuous operation.
  • My experience with the IRS and the Treasury Dept. on the simple task of changing what bank my tax payments get drawn from was such a gargantuan pain in the ass, that there is no way I am going to be doing my taxes over the internet with the IRS.

    Their system simply did not work, their csr's are morons, they required a 2-week wait for a secret code to be delivered by USPS, then that didn't work either. In the end I had to have 2 different logins, where each login uses a different bank. It took like a month

  • "Coalition" Government project management of a coalition of partners on an undertaking this large does not inspire confidence.
    Companies like TaxAct are halfway there ... why not utilize them bo build out a more robust system with gov't support?

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