Update Nov. 3, 2014 — Please note that 1040 Central has been replaced by the Filing page.
IR-2008-6, Jan. 10, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and its private-sector partners today announced the Jan. 11 opening of this year's Free ob体育 program. The free tax preparation and electronic filing initiative begins its sixth year with high customer satisfaction ratings.
Most Taxpayers Eligible
Seven out of 10 taxpayers — 97 million filers — qualify for Free ob体育. Taxpayers must have an adjusted gross income of $54,000 or less to be eligible.
This year taxpayers can choose from 19 tax preparation software companies. The program is operated by the IRS and the Free ob体育 Alliance. The Alliance is a consortium of tax preparation software companies. Each company sets its own criteria for who can use the service.
"Free ob体育 gives taxpayers an opportunity to use private-sector tax preparation programs for free," said Acting Commissioner Linda E. Stiff. "The IRS encourages taxpayers to take advantage of this valuable program from the IRS and the Free ob体育 Alliance."
High Customer Satisfaction
Taxpayers consistently give high marks to Free ob体育 in satisfaction surveys. According to Russell Research, 98 percent said they would recommend Free ob体育 to a friend or family member. The results also found that 95 percent intend to use Free ob体育 again this year.
“罢丑别 is an innovative one-of-a-kind partnership with the IRS that offers free federal tax services to millions of low and moderate income Americans," said Free ob体育 Alliance Executive Director Tim Hugo. "We have worked hard to strengthen Free ob体育 every year and incorporate user-friendly consumer protections, including critical privacy protections, into the program. We are proud that the Free ob体育 initiative has a tremendous track record of success, with steady growth in use and taxpayer surveys that indicate a nearly 100 percent satisfaction rate."
Accessing the Real Free ob体育 Program
The only way taxpayers can access the authentic IRS Free ob体育 program is through the IRS Web site. That includes both new and repeat users. Otherwise, the e-file provider might charge them a fee. Also, having taxpayers type www.irs.gov in their browser is the only way to ensure they are accessing the legitimate IRS Free ob体育 program.
This Year's Features
Here are the highlights of this year's program:
- Two companies offer Free ob体育 in Spanish.
- Some Alliance members are offering online tax preparation and filing of state returns for free. All Alliance members’ Web sites display whether this service is available and the associated fees, if any.
- Taxpayers can use Free ob体育 to prepare the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Schedule for free.
- Taxpayers can use Free ob体育 to file a Form 4868 PDF, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to ob体育.
Taxpayers Affected by Recent AMT Legislation
Most taxpayers will be able to use the Free ob体育 program immediately. However, because of recent Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) legislation, as many as 13.5 million taxpayers will need to wait until Feb. 11 before they file their return. The affected taxpayers are people who use one of five forms.
Returns that include the following forms should not be filed until Feb. 11, 2008:
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Form 8863 PDF, Education Credits.
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Form 5695 PDF, Residential Energy Credits.
- Form 8396 PDF, Mortgage Interest Credit.
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Form 8859 PDF, District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit.
If returns with these forms are e-filed before Feb. 11, they will not be accepted.
The February date allows the IRS enough time to update and test its systems to accommodate the changes without major disruptions to other operations related to the tax season. See IRS News Release 2007-209 and these questions and answers for more information.
Free ob体育 Alliance
The Free ob体育 Alliance selects its own membership, and all members must meet the IRS’ high standards for security and privacy. The IRS does not endorse any individual Free ob体育 Alliance company. While the IRS manages the content of the Free ob体育 pages accessible on IRS.gov, it does not retain any taxpayer information entered on the Free ob体育 site.
Nearly 3.9 million taxpayers used Free ob体育 last year. Free ob体育 debuted in 2003 with nearly 2.8 million users.
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