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A screenshot of the IRS's free, online Direct File service, which has expanded and is available to half the country.
Internal Revenue Service

The IRS is making its free tax filing tool available to all

May 30, 2024
Taxpayers told Marketplace they were satisfied with the service, and were able to save money this year.
The new IRS free federal filing service was only available to select people this year, but the people who did use it praise its simplicity.
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The IRS pilots its free tax-filing program

The new program, called Direct File, has been rolled out in a dozen states. But how does it stack up to private tax-filing software?
“I give it a solid B,” says Dylan Matthews of Vox about the IRS' free filing software.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The IRS is trying a free online tax-filing system that cuts out vendors

Jan 2, 2024
The Treasury Department found that that third-party vendors were directing users to paid products.
Advocates protest tax preparation companies that direct users to paid products instead of free tax-filing services. Now, 12 states will test the IRS' own free filing service.
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Could return-free tax filing actually be on the horizon?

The idea has been thrown around for a while now, but new IRS funding may help it become a reality.
Return-free filing has been adopted in many other countries, and there's growing pressure in the U.S. to adopt a similar system.
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IRS will delay tax filing due date until May 17

Mar 17, 2021
The delay provides more time for both taxpayers and the IRS, given the pressure of the pandemic.
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This year's tax season is likely to be more stressful than usual

Feb 12, 2021
For a lot of people, the last year has been weird, from a tax standpoint.
Though the start of tax season was delayed, the traditional filing deadline is back.
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Some things we know about filing 2020 taxes

Jan 18, 2021
Because so many people worked from home this year, some taxpayers may have to do more research and paperwork.
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IRS changes could make free online tax filing easier

Jan 2, 2020
The tax prep industry, including companies like TurboTax, was essentially hiding free filing software, Justin Elliott of ProPublica says.
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Ohio experiments with bitcoin tax payments

Apr 8, 2019
The state treasurer's office is trying something new.
A window display at the Blockland Solutions Conference in Cleveland this past December.
Adrian Ma/ideastream