After weeks of testing, an electronic system for filing returns directly to the IRS is now available to taxpayers from 12 selected states.
The new system, called Direct File, is a free online tool. Taxpayers in the selected states who have very simple W-2s and claim a standard deduction may be eligible to use it this tax season to file their federal income taxes. The program will also offer a Spanish version, which will be available starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.
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Certain taxpayers in Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming, Arizona, Massachusetts, California and New York can participate. Direct File can only be used to file federal income taxes, taxpayers from states that require filing state taxes will need to do so separately.
[Note]
Additionally, for all taxpayers, if you make $79,000 or less, the IRS has a list of free tax software you can use. Full list here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/
This part of the article gave me a laugh.
Derrick Plummer, a spokesman for Intuit, said in an email that Direct File “is not free tax preparation but a thinly veiled scheme that will cost billions of taxpayer dollars to pay for something already completely free of charge today.”
“This scheme will cost billions of taxpayer dollars and will be unnecessarily used to pay for something already completely free of charge today,” Plummer said.
Dude… have you looked at your own product?
The only reason our tax return process isn’t fully automated is because of these lobbyists from scalpers like Intuit. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that private industry is always more efficient.
