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Comment by mportela | Hacker News Reader

Any recommendations on how to really file taxes for free (federal and state)?

FWIW, TurboTax has a C# method ("IsProductActivationRequired()" or something like that) you can overwrite to 'return false' with tools like dnSpy.

There's a desktop version? Does it offer the same as the site?

The desktop version is the OG, though now it's like 5% of TurboTax users.

> Does it offer the same as the site?

Typically more, in fact.

Still probably a rip-off compared to other places.

I've been using https://www.freetaxusa.com/ the last couple years and plan to continue this year. It is free for Federal (though I usually pay for an upgrade), and state is $15. The only option I know of for free state is to do the forms manually.

I second this suggestion. The free federal taxes and $15 state actually mean free federal and $15 for state! You can certainly add on the "pro service" or "audit protection" or whatever if you want, but it is simple to say NO to those and just do the forms. This year, I opted for the "audit protection" because of some new tax forms I had to fill out, but overall I only paid $45 with the sales tax.

I used to use Turbo Tax and paid about $100 per year on average, but it was simple to switch to using another provider, I just had to get the previous year's return out to fill some stuff that is filled automatically if you use the service each year.

Which reminds me... In previous years I had used TurboTax and paid for their "have a tax expert answer any questions you have" upgrade. I asked a question and all the dude they connected me with did was to read the the field from the form to me. "What does it mean?" "It says <reads the form field verbatim>." In retrospect, I should have contacted support and asked them to remove the upcharge.

I decided to use FreetaxUSA on the advice of another HN thread and I was very happy with the results. I had used TurboTax for the last 8 years and can say that FreetaxUSA was much easier to navigate. I was asked to upgrade to their top tier 2 times and it was very clear how to continue with the free federal option.

The most scam-sounding federal government website ever, Free File Fillable Forms https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/free-file-fillable-form...

Another program the IRS is rolling out is called "Direct File"[0]:

  In 2024, we're launching a new pilot tax filing service
  called Direct File. If you're eligible and choose to
  participate, file your 2023 federal tax return online,
  for free, directly with IRS.

It appears to be limited to a handful of states thus far.

0 - https://www.irs.gov/about-irs/strategic-plan/direct-file

At least it's under the irs.gov domain now. As recently as last year, I had to, or at least thought I had to, go to the even scammier-sounding https://www.freefilefillableforms.com.

If your income is below $79,000 a year, this is the correct link: https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/

It has been remarkably absent in this thread.

If your income is low enough, all of the main tools

If not, then federal free through FreeTaxUSA. Depending on your state, the state taxes manually via PDF + paper may be extremely quick - like five or so lines, and a single table lookup.

Semi-dumb follow-up question. If we don't use a website service, then other than using forms, is the only option to actually find the pdfs, print out the forms, fill them in with a pen, and stuff them in an envelope? Or are there easier ways?

I use a type-writer, but otherwise: yes. Does it get any easier?

Cash App Taxes. Free federal and state.

Hrm. How do they make money?

Transaction fees on their main app

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