Free File Alliance

The Free File Alliance is a group of tax preparation companies that have partnered with the Internal Revenue Service to provide free electronic tax filing services to U.S tax payers meeting certain guidelines.[1] The IRS stipulates filers must have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $62,000 or less for tax year 2015,[2][3] but participating companies have their own requirements and restrictions.[4]

Filers with state income tax returns may still pay additional fees of $10 to $30 to electronically file those returns.[5]

In 2007, Alliance members agreed to remove controversial ancillary offerings such as refund anticipation loans from the program.[1]

Limitations

The free services often limit their software's ability to handle complex tax situations. Some of the Free File Alliance tax sites and their limitations are:[2]

CompleteTax (interview style)
  • No RALs or other add-on products.
FreeTaxUSA (interview style)
  • No Form 8615 - Tax for children with more than $2,100 in investment income
  • No Form 8824
TurboTax Freedom Edition (interview style)
  • No 1099-B forms - sale of stock, mutual funds, etc.
Liberty Tax Service (line-by-line style)
  • No Form 8824 - Like kind exchanges and section 1043 conflict of interest sales.
  • No Form 2439 - Notice to shareholder of undistributed long-term capital gains.
HR Block
  • Free state return up to $55,000; not all states included.
TaxACT (interview style)
  • Adjusted Gross Income: $51,000 or less, and
  • Age: between 18 and 57, and
  • Live in any state or U.S. Citizens and resident aliens with foreign addresses
  • Free Extensions

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Free File Alliance Explained". freefile.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  2. 1 2 "Free File: Do Your Federal Taxes for Free". www.irs.gov. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  3. ↑ "About". freefilealliance.org. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  4. ↑ "File your taxes free, but read carefully", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 20, 2008
  5. ↑ Perez, William (August 5, 2016). "Reviews of Free Tax Preparation Programs". thebalance.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.

External links

freefilealliance.org

https://www.freefilefillableforms.com, operated by the Free File Alliance

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