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Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

irs.gov

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Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I gave FTuasa a go after seeing it mentioned here a lot. Unfortunately it seems the investment part is very manual compared to TurboTax. I have a couple of robotrader , brokerage accounts etc. on TurboTax it’s a few clicks and that’s imported, FTusa is tediously transcribing numbers off dozens of forms that I have no idea if I’m doing it right. I reluctantly gave money to TT again.

Relative a of FreeTaxUSA employee here. I'll let her know. She cares about UX.

Are there any details about their tech stack you can share? I know they're using Java (there were pages ending in .jsp when I filed my taxes through them) but that's about it.

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#202
post #109
post #50

This is great news; no matter how restricted it may be initially, I think having a "guaranteed-free" tax filing system will be great for most people, especially lower-income people. The private companies have demonstrated pretty clearly that they will do everything they can to avoid people actually having free tax filing, and while ~$50-100 might not seem like a ton of money, keep in mind that at the current United S…

FWIW, FreeTaxUSA[0] is much cheaper than Intuit and has worked great for me the past few years. I find it slightly easier than TurboTax, in fact. [0] https://www.freetaxusa.com/

Just used FreeTaxUSA this week for the first time. Crazy good UI. Highly recommended.

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#204
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can fill out the forms manually for free? It just sucks.

I can also walk down to the nearby river to launder my clothes and carry back water to prepare food for my family. Instead we use technology to save time and improve our lives. That we continue to allow corrupt businesses to hold us back so a few people can extort/profit is a testament to our failed state.

At least you live in an awesome neighborhood

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I gave FTuasa a go after seeing it mentioned here a lot. Unfortunately it seems the investment part is very manual compared to TurboTax. I have a couple of robotrader , brokerage accounts etc. on TurboTax it’s a few clicks and that’s imported, FTusa is tediously transcribing numbers off dozens of forms that I have no idea if I’m doing it right. I reluctantly gave money to TT again.

This is not tax advice: If your brokerage reports all of your trades to the IRS, which they likely are, then you can just enter a summary. You don't need to grant access to your outside accounts and import anything.

Entering summaries for a bunch of accounts is tedious too. I’m happy to upload pdf statements too, they could scrape those.

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#206
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can fill out the forms manually for free? It just sucks.

I quit doing paper forms ~10 years ago when I missed coping line 12c from form 5678-e to line 34-f of form 9876-k. The hassle of correcting that was enough to make me quit doing taxes by hand. It takes longer to do my taxes via the web forms than it did by hand (which says just how bad the UI of tax prep is!), but it saves me from human mistakes. Note that the ISR already has all the information they need to do my ta…

> it saves me from human mistakes

Not me! FreeFillableForms is apparently the last piece of software in the western world that doesn’t save your progress as you go. I found that out the hard way about three days ago and immediately switched to freetaxusa.

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#207
post #78

To clarify: This is not a full launch, it's just a "limited pilot" that will only be available in 13 states in 2024. Arizona California Florida Massachussetts Nevada New Hampshire New York South Dakota Tennessee Texas Washington Wyoming Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Missed Alaska, the other no income tax state.

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#208
post #42

Does that mean I can FOIA for the source code? I ask in all seriousness: I believe some things are withheld/redacted due to "national security" but if they hard-coded mainframe credentials in their source code that's not my fault

FOIAs can be incredibly easy; you should give it a try and post about it!

Re: Free IRS-run tax filing pilot to be available in 13 states

#210
post #50

This is great news; no matter how restricted it may be initially, I think having a "guaranteed-free" tax filing system will be great for most people, especially lower-income people. The private companies have demonstrated pretty clearly that they will do everything they can to avoid people actually having free tax filing, and while ~$50-100 might not seem like a ton of money, keep in mind that at the current United S…

No one earning $7.25 is going to pay anything to file their taxes, unless they got duped(which is totally possible).
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