Every year it’s the same situation: All of the major tax software companies promise that you will be able to file for FREE. Absolutely free! And every year… It doesn’t work out. You get half way into putting in all of your tax forms and suddenly you see a message like “Because you have an HSA, you need to use our deluxe software, which is $34.99 for Federal and $29.99 additional per state.”
But, there’s another way – several other ways. If you make less than $66,000 per year, you can use some of the same companies through the IRS and get your taxes filed for free (for actual free). Check out this list of companies participating in the program that allow you to file for free. I decided to use the Turbo Tax program listed because it is a company that I already trust. I filed both Federal and State and they were legitimately, 100% free.
Be aware that not all states are participating in the free State file program. However, even though my state isn’t “participating” I was still able to file my State taxes for free as well. So, choose wisely.
Here are the links:
https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/