Simply Junior

If you’re thinking about online tax preparation this year, you’ve found the right place to start. There are many places online that offer free use of their online tax preparation software. Online tax programs and software have been specifically designed for ease of use, accuracy and maximum tax savings.

When you prepare your taxes online there are usually three main areas the tax program will need to gather information about.

The first area is your personal information such as, address, social security number, date of birth, marital status and dependents.

The second area of the tax preparation program will be about your income such as, salary, wages, tips, interest, investments and any other sources of income you had.

The third area of the tax preparation program will be about tax deductions and tax credits such as your home, you and your family, cars, education, charitable donations, medical expenses, taxes paid, retirement, investments and employment expenses.

Once you’ve completed the three main areas of information it will be time for the tax program to make it’s calculations. After the calculations have been made you will have a chance to review and edit any areas you choose. This can be very beneficial in some cases as you may decide to itemize versus taking the standard deduction.

Well, so far everything has been free for your online tax preparation, and you might even qualify for free tax filing, but even if you don’t, the fee for filing online is usually quite small.

So, you’ve heard about (free tax filing) and you might have even heard it’s available at Turbo Tax. Well, you’re right, there is a program available at Turbo Tax which is called the Tax Freedom Edition free tax filing program. Because of an agreement with the (IRS), this free tax filing program is available to those taxpayers who have an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $28.000 or less.

Why is the Government and Turbo Tax doing this? Because, it helps them, and it helps you!

Since initially debuting in 2003, the IRS has received more than 15 million tax returns through the Free File program, representing a cost-savings to the government of more than $32 million in processing costs of an electronic return compared to that of paper. You the taxpayer, get to file your taxes in a more efficient and timely manner than ever before. By using online tax software for your tax filing you get a number of benefits not previously available. Mainly… Free Tax Filing!
The Freedom Edition Tax Software Program, through the Free Tax File Alliance, provides free tax preparation services to millions of Americans with low-to-medium incomes. A partnership between the Government and 19 private tax software companies has been reached which allows you to prepare and file your Federal income tax return for free. There are also 21 States which have a similar program.

If you think you might qualify for (free tax filing) then do yourself a favor and check it out and see. You might get to save yourself a buck in the process and also learn an easier way of doing taxes. One thing is for sure… Online tax filing is here to stay. This is your chance to get started for free.

File Taxes Online for Free

IRS free file is an electronic tax filing program for eligible taxpayers. If you are eligible you may file your federal taxes online for free. Since 2003 there has been more than 15 million tax returns filed using the program.

To be eligible for the free file program you must have an adjusted gross income of $52.000 or less. If your income exceeds this amount, then you may be charged a fee depending on which company you file your taxes with. There are quite a few companies on the internet that offer free tax filing.

Once you have located a company that has free tax filing you can to begin to prepare your taxes online. You will find that preparing and filing your taxes online is a huge time and moneysaver. After you’ve done your taxes online I doubt you’ll ever want to go back to the paper method again.

With most online tax programs you’ll be asked questions about you, your dependents, your income and your deductions. All you have to do is follow along and enter your answers into the fields provided. When you have finished answering the questions, the tax program will make all the calculations and fill in the correct tax forms for you.

After everything has been double checked by the tax program and you’re happy with the results, it’s time to file your taxes online. The tax program will guide you through the filing process automatically.

You’ll be able to have your refund direct deposited or a check mailed. If you owe, you can have the amount debited from your bank account on the last day of tax season. And that’s it, your taxes are done!

Doing taxes is probably the single most dreaded thing that comes every year for many Americans. Many people choose not to deal with it themselves and they pay others to do their taxes by using expensive either computer software that you have to buy every year, or they simply hand their papers off to the local H&R Block professional. But what people don’t know is that there are many free online tax filing tools that are easily accessible and easy to use. These tools are found online and will change the way you do taxes forever. But, at the same time, many free tax filing tools online are not really free, and it’s difficult to determine which ones are legitimate.

For starters, there is a new free version of the well known tax preparation software, Turbo Tax that will almost do your taxes for you if you can plug in the numbers. If you are fairly young and don’t have any children or complicated tax related issues, this free tax preparation software is the perfect thing for you. Turbo Tax Free Edition will help you fill out simple tax forms like the 1040EZ and other simple returns. It might be useful to note that only filing federal taxes are free while you have to pay for filing state taxes.

A lot of websites try to lure you in by advertising free tax filing in order to try and get you to buy other products like mutual funds, individual retirement accounts, or a refund anticipation loan. Now IRAs and mutual funds may be the right thing for you but a RAL is the real scam. These companies will tell you that you will get your tax refund within 24-48 hours with their website, but they are really offering loans. These loans can be risky and even if you don’t get your anticipated refund, you will have to pay off the amount of the loan. If you choose direct deposit for your refund, you should get your refund in 7-10 days so an RAL is unnecessary.

It might also be useful to mention that anyone with a valid military license is entitled to free tax filing and tax assistance, including free electronic tax filing from VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

Free taxes may be a tempting deal that you might want to rush into, but you have to be wary of scams that might land you in debt.

If you need to file your taxes and you are looking into free tax filing services you should be sure that there are some hidden costs involved most of the time. While many services boast a lack of hidden costs, it is almost inevitable that you will pay something, though the service claimed to be free. The fact of the matter is that many services claim to be free, but then you will pay to file the returns electronically; therefore the services are not free at all!

The way that online free online tax filing services get away with calling their services free is that they say that the service is free; you simply have to pay a convenience fee as well as the price of filing electronically. What this means is that you can end up walking away from your free tax preparation with a bill for $50 or more. This really isn’t a bad deal, but when you think that you are getting something for free it can be quite a shock to receive a bill for this dollar amount.

There are cheaper tax service options out there, but generally if you want to have your taxes done right you will need to pay a bit. Other than the actual hidden costs of convenience and electronic filing, you should be aware that many tax service options that say that they are free don’t charge you, but you lose money because the system is not able to pick up all of the deductions that you may be able to take. This takes money out of your pocket. Many people end up owing money to the IRS when they use these services when they could have had a refund if they had used a different service or done their taxes on their own.

The hidden costs of free online tax preparation services can cost tax payers quite a bit of money. This is why you should be assure free tax providers really know what are they doing and will go to bat for you looking for deductions that will save you money, and perhaps get a great refund for you. Ask about the systems that they use and also ask for credentials before you accept the supposedly free help from someone. The saying that says “you get what you pay for” applies to free tax filing services as well as other things.