IRS Free File: Do Your Taxes for Free

Post by thebradbain » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 2:20 AM UTC

geoelectric wrote: post #25

coderintherye wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to claim they are easy, but they are accurate (they have a Do The Math calculation button). Even if you mess up, the IRS will typically send you a response noting where their calculations diverged from yours and offer to automatically adjust. (Which denotes the absurdity of this exercise for most taxpayers because the IRS already has all the information it needs to complete your taxes).

Wonder what the minimum information you could put in, and how accurate it'd have to be, to get that response. It'd be cool if you could lifehack your way into getting the IRS to do your taxes just by sending something obviously wrong that they'd autocorrect into the final product! Then we'd be roughly on parity with more sane countries that just send you a tax bill.

Post by tennisflyi » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 2:21 AM UTC

gavinhoward wrote: post #42

wespad wrote: post #19

https://www.freetaxusa.com/ and their parent company https://www.taxhawk.com/ They charge $14.99 for the state filing. Usually a coupon code available. Or go to the state's website (CA at least), and file that for free, too. But for the convenience of not having to input my info again, I'll pay their fee.

Relative of a TaxHawk employee here. I'd be happy to pass along any bugs or issues since they probably don't have any employees on HN. Also, supporting TaxHawk means supporting a company that cares about their employees. They have done so many things for my relative that it makes me jealous. They have also kept raising wages ahead of inflation . Anyway, TaxHawk is a great company to support!

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 2:25 AM UTC

notyourwork wrote: post #76

pclmulqdq wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It turns out that paying an accountant is a good defense against audits if your tax situation has any complexity at all

Sorry I assumed my question implied that was what was being asked. What is the complexity because I’ve done my own taxes for two decades, every year things are nuanced and slightly different. Never have I used an accountant.

Post by UncleOxidant » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 2:38 AM UTC

itslennysfault wrote: post #47

I've been using https://TaxFreeUSA.com for the past 5 years, and it's great. Just as intuitive as TurboTax, but totally free for federal (you pay for state, but I lived in WA until this year so it was totally free). Also, I sleep better at night knowing I'm not giving money to Intuit who is the largest lobbyist that keeps tax codes complex.

Post by xeromal » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 2:40 AM UTC

jt2190 wrote: post #73

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Intuit does not "keep tax codes complex" -- your legislators do that all on their own. Lobbying, my friend. Intuit spends money to actively lobby to keep the tax code complex. Don't trust my word? Google it, or start with this [0]. [0]: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/taxes/turbotax-h-r-block-sp...

What did your Senator say when you wrote them a letter to complain?