A Quick Tip About Those Who Still Need to File Their Taxes: Free Software

Disclaimer: I'm not an accountant nor do I know anything about what I speak of (this also applies to most topics generally) so proceed at your own risk.

If you file your taxes electronically (TurboTax, H&R, Credit Karma, etc.) check out the IRS.gov website as they have a list of providers (to include some I just mentioned) that offer products for you to safely and securely prepare and file your taxes.

Many have specific income requirements (example: $35k individual or $70k joint income) or other qualifiers but they're free and .gov qualified unlike some you see online. Many of those will often times use your information to profit from 3rd parties who would be interested in such empirical info. The ones listed on the IRS.gov website have been vetted already and get some kick back from the government for providing them.

Often times they'll try to sell you to eFile your state taxes but since we live in Colorado (most reading this) Colorado offers free eFiling online. It's a bit of a PITA but you can populate the State of Colorado fields with the figures that [insert option you choose] spits out in the end. Saves you from paying $12, $20, $30 or whatever upcharge the software wants to charge you to eFile your state return.

I'm not tax expert and I'm in no way affiliated with the .gov or any of the software entities associated with this link. Just offering it as a potential option for those interested in saving a few bucks in an otherwise confusing segment.

Also, the deadline to file has officially been extended from 4/15 to 7/15 due to this COVID19 situation. So if you owe money you won't need to file or make payment(s) until that date.

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Originally Posted by Jer

Disclaimer: I'm not an accountant nor do I know anything about I speak of (this also applies to most topics) so proceed at your own risk.

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Careful, that could turn into somebody's signature line. [Coffee]

Just kidding with you, I realize you're trying to be informative.

There's talk of retirees needing to file some sort of short form for the virus stimulus checks, so I wouldn't be surprised if these free providers are involved in those filings.

ETA: Just caught up with the thread that stated that there was a change in plans so that this retiree filing won't be necessary.

I?m excited to hold onto some of the governments money for a couple of more months. I may not wait until July though. Somehow every one of my vehicle registrations comes due then so that makes for a tighter month financially. Maybe I?ll file and pay in June instead.

I procrastinated long enough and got back what little money the Gubment owes me. Thought I would get it before they started giving it away as this stimulus bonus. Bet we have to pay taxes on it next tax season. It is income after all.

Watch out for some of these free e-file or extension file sites.

I was having trouble (rejections) filing an extension for 2018 taxes with Intuit so I tried another site linked from IRS.GOV.

Took them DAYS to return a REJECTED status, not hours, DAYS.

Avoid at all costs: freetaxes.free1040taxreturn.com/ I don't even know how I got there in the first place, doing shit tired I suppose.

Stick to the recognized names.

IRS is so effed up. They reject all my e-sign for reasons I don't yet understand (correct AGI's, etc.) and now they're sending letters to my spouse with my SSN (we do file jointly) but they never mail anything addresses to me. The infuriating part is they're levy notices and we've never ever seen the "1st" or "2nd" attempts they claim. Yes, they're legit, I check them against EFTPS. Then you can never get through to anyone to fix it. They didn't have any trouble accepting (though at least they didn't pay out) a fraudulent return filed by some thief in 2017. Even after I did the fraud paperwork as requested, they never sent me my "permanent PIN." Fawkers.