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Free e-filing for 2001 Taxes?

Posted by Cliff on from the it's-getting-to-be-that-time-of-year-again dept.

chipperdog asks: "I know this gets asked every year about this time, but are there any free alternatives for e-filing tax returns? In previous years, HD Vest offered free filing, but has discontinued it this year. I can't justify spending more than $10 for filing a return that I can send through the post office and IRS data entry people for approx $0.50-0.75. It would be nice if the IRS would just publish a standard submission format, so open source developers can work with it.."

6 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Specs & Info by FredtheDead · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here is the IRS's "IRS e-file For Tax Professionals, Software Developers and Transmitters" page.
    and here is the "IRS e-file Technical Publications" page which has the e-file file layout spec.

    1. Re:Specs & Info by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 3, Informative

      You should know that you have to be approved, submit your fingerprints, and pass an FBI criminal background check in order to connect to the IRS computers. I applied in mid-December and still haven't been approved. Even if I am approved the software will not likely be finished enough to pass the test until next year.

  2. Quicken has free filling... by biohazard99 · · Score: 4, Informative

    For people whose AGI was under 25000 here. I used it last year and it was great, but it is a large web app so doing it over a 56k could mean a long night downloading instead of looking at tax tables and reciepts.

    --
    Read my plan to save the Bengals
  3. Move to Canada. by checkyoulater · · Score: 2, Informative

    Last year, CCRA (Canada Customs and Revenue Agency) allowed all Canadians to file online, or even over the telephone. There was only 1 catch, and that was you needed to use software approved by CCRA.

    If I recall, there were a few online offerings that were free for personal use.

    Of course, this doesn't really answer your question though. Perhaps I am just bragging? It is actually a pleasant surprise to see our government do something right!

    --
    Is that a real poncho? I mean, is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
  4. www.taxactonline.com by haystd · · Score: 4, Informative

    E-File is $7.95, paper return is free. Used them this year and they worked ok. Not quite as much hand-holding as you'd get with Tax Act or Turbo Tax, but fine for most tax returns if you're used to filing your own taxes.

  5. HRblock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I used www.hrblock.com last year. No software, it's all done online (a little sludgy in some spots if using dial-up), and the total fee for e-filing 1 federal and 1 state (regardless of # of employers) was $14.95. I found it to be beyond easy and extremely helpful. They'll hold your hand all you want, just click on the icons for explanations of the data they're asking for. They even give you hints on when to and not to enter certain info, depending on your situation, to help you gain the largest return. Also, you can prepare as many returns as you want (say, married filing jointly and married filing separately to see which gets the biggest return) and there's no fee, and after you've finished them all, you can select which one to actually file. If you get interrupted, you can save where you are and come back to finish it later. Finally, they save the filed return for you online for you to access for years to come. I haven't checked them out yet this year, but if nothing's changed I definitely plan to use them again. Good luck.