The Internal Revenue Service’s Free File Guided Tax Preparation service is live and ready for taxpayers to use. Free File went live Jan. 13, 2023, 10 days prior to the 2023 filing season start date. The IRS starts accepting individual tax returns on Jan. 23.
IRS Free File is offered via a public-private partnership between the IRS and the Free File Inc., formerly the Free File Alliance. Through this partnership, leading tax software providers make their online products available in both English and Spanish for free.
No computer? No problem. IRS Free File products support mobile phone access. Taxpayers can do their taxes on their smart phone or tablet.
Seven partners will provide IRS Free File online products this year to any taxpayer or family who earned $73,000 or less in 2022.
Because the filing season does not start until Jan. 23, IRS Free File providers will accept completed tax returns and hold them until they can be filed electronically on that date.
Those who make over $73,000 can use the IRS’s Free File Fillable Forms (FFFF), the electronic version of IRS paper forms beginning Jan. 23. This product is best for people comfortable preparing their own taxes.
To find the right IRS Free File product taxpayers can:
- Go to IRS.gov/FreeFile,
- Click on Free Guided Tax Preparation. Then select IRS Free File Online Lookup Tool for help in finding the right product, or
- Use the Browse All Offers tool to review each offer,
- Select the best product for them, and
- Follow the links to the provider’s website to begin their tax return.
IRS Free File participants
For 2023, the following providers are participating in IRS Free File:
- 1040Now
- ezTaxReturn.com provides an IRS Free File product in Spanish.
- FileYourTaxes.com
- On-Line Taxes
- TaxAct
- FreeTaxUSA
- TaxSlayer