Free Federal tax filing in the US
So Intuit Turbo Tax, from my understanding, have been lobbying forever for congress to eliminate the federal free federal tax filing system and so this White House removed Direct File. Direct File is currently "closed" for the 2025 tax year but says to check back for the 2026 tax season.
TaxAct (Free File) says it's coming back in 2026 with "updates" for eligible people. No idea what that means.
In addition, Turbo Tax is now using Chap GPT for its tax advice chat. So if you have questions, you will have to deal with a machine that lies to you. You're paying for that! And all your information in the chat will likely be fed into OpenAI. Fun!
Anyway, I know other tax prep services have probably also been lobbying, but Turbo Tax is the big one, so fuck them in particular.
There are some free tax filing platforms you can use if your income is less than a certain amount per year or if your filing is a simple one. (most people have simple ones). The income eligibility is often like, if you make less than 84k a year.
One of these free tax filing platforms is FreeTaxUSA which offers free federal filing and free filing for *some* states. (I always have to pay for my state tax prep but it's like $30). There are other such services, I just can't remember their names right now.
I am not affiliated with these services or anything. And I am not an accountant. (If you can afford an accountant though, use an accountant. It usually saves you money.) I am just a working class poor who hates Turbo Tax. You can look up some of the other platforms. The IRS website used to offer links to some alternative sites, but I couldn't find them in a quick search just now.
I hate these people. They took even that little bit of help away.
Anyway. You can also prepare your taxes yourself for free if you feel like doing all the paperback. The IRS does still have to provide you with the forms. But if you don't know what you're doing, that is a hassle and a half.
Another alternative: some towns or counties will have volunteer tax prep services. These are generally for lower income people and you do often need to make appointments. These preparers are not accountants. They are often volunteers using basic tax prep software just like the Turbo Tax and HR Block employees use.
Yet another alternative: if you use a credit union, see if they offer tax prep services. Usually, this is only for members and for lower income people/families.
Also, some banking apps offer free tax prep services for simple returns.
If you (or a loved one) are in AARP, or are in the US military or a veteran (or a family member, I think?) you can look up free tax prep services for the elderly or through the DoD.
Also some employers will offer tax services. (And estate planning services, just fyi.) Some colleges do this.
