File your taxes for FREE

If you made up to $58,000 last year, chances are you can file your taxes for free.  If you go to the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov/) you can click on the “Free File” section to the right hand side of the site. You  will be shown a list of verified companies where you can easily e-file your state and federal forms.  Make sure to check which company files both, to save you a headache. 

I personally recommend ICANFREEFILE (www.icanfreefile.org) which I used to file my taxes.  You create a free account and then you basically answer a series of questions, based on your income and the information on your W-2 and the answers are complied to file your return.  At the top of the site you get to see how much funds you will get back, based on your answers.  Everything is done on the website, there’s no software to download.  At the end you get your forms as PDF files, to save to your computer.

If you feel more comfortable having someone else file your taxes for you, look at your city/state’s website for information on local agencies which will file your taxes for free.  Make sure to check if you are eligible first.  In New York City for example you can find a center which will file for free by visiting this page on their site: http://nyc.gov/html/ofe/html/poverty/taxprep.shtml

Do your research on what FREE or LOW COST option will work best for you.  DO NOT get ripped off by paying someone $40+ to file for you when you can get it done for FREE!