Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Prepare and File Your Taxes for FREE!

If you earned $54,000 a year or less last year, you're about to save time and money! That's because Free File lets you electronically prepare and file your federal income tax return for free.

Free File is offered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in partnership with the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of leading private-sector tax preparation companies. The program launched five years ago and 19 million Americans have used it to date. A recent survey showed that 96 percent of those who used Free File found it "easy to use" and 98 percent said they would recommend it to others.

Free File is as easy and safe to use as 1, 2, 3:


1. Go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov and click on
"Free File" and press the "Start Now" button.

2. Then, choose a tax preparation company from the list. (You must select a company from the list rather than going directly to a company's website. Otherwise, you may be charged a fee). Some of the companies offer the software in Spanish.

3. If you want help choosing a company, use the interactive tool to help narrow your search. If you have questions, use the "Wizard" feature to guide you through the tax preparation process. It also checks your math and informs you of the newest tax deductions.

So skip those long paper forms and use Free File to prepare and file federal taxes. There's less chance for making errors and you'll get your refund in half the time. For example, when you use Free File and choose to receive your refund with Direct Deposit, you will receive your refund in as little as 10 days. After you send your return, you will receive a quick email acknowledgment within 48 hours from the tax preparation company to let you know that the IRS received your return. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, beginning mid-January 2008.

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