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Correction: 100% of taxpayers are eligible for free filing, and 70% of them are eligible for free electronic filing. The options out there for free e-filing ar

Correction: 100% of taxpayers are eligible for free filing, and 70% of them are eligible for free electronic filing. The options out there for free e-filing are hardly any better than the paper option, though. They're typically just the paper forms translated very directly into an electronic fill-in form. You're still left to your own to make sense of all the byzantine rules and instructions, and to grind through it all yourself. I know because, for the entirety of the time that I was eligible for free e-filing, I didn't bother. Using the PDF fill-in forms and then just printing them out and mailing them gave me very nearly the same UX, with the added benefit of not having to read a giant pile of legalese in order to figure out exactly how some third party is planning to make money with all the financial information I'm sharing with them.

ummonk 8y ago
USPS is not free.
- frosted-flakes 8y ago
  It may as well be. It costs less than a dollar to send a letter through the post.
  - ummonk 8y ago
    I used to mail in my tax filings. It would cost me around $5 with the recommended level of tracking.
- anticensor 8y ago
  Go to your tax office if post is more expensive than physically going to a tax office.
- bunderbunder 8y ago
  Come to think of it, I had to pay for the paper and toner, too.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    And electricity your computer and printer used. And so would you if you'd fill electronically.
vonmoltke 8y ago
> Correction: 100% of taxpayers are eligible for free filing, and 70% of them are eligible for free electronic filing. Actually, 100% of taxpayers are eligible for free electronic filing. 70% are eligible for free filing software that calculates everything for you. The other 30% just get fillable forms. See https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...
- OkGoDoIt 8y ago
  It’s my understanding that you can’t personally electronically file taxes unless you go through one of the free file software providers. As someone who makes W-2, 1099, and stock market income, I have never found a way to file for free unless I fill out and print the forms manually and mail them in. I would love to be wrong though.

ummonk 8y ago

USPS is not free.

frosted-flakes 8y ago
It may as well be. It costs less than a dollar to send a letter through the post.
- ummonk 8y ago
  I used to mail in my tax filings. It would cost me around $5 with the recommended level of tracking.
anticensor 8y ago
Go to your tax office if post is more expensive than physically going to a tax office.
bunderbunder 8y ago
Come to think of it, I had to pay for the paper and toner, too.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  And electricity your computer and printer used. And so would you if you'd fill electronically.

vonmoltke 8y ago

> Correction: 100% of taxpayers are eligible for free filing, and 70% of them are eligible for free electronic filing. Actually, 100% of taxpayers are eligible for free electronic filing. 70% are eligible for free filing software that calculates everything for you. The other 30% just get fillable forms. See https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-f...

OkGoDoIt 8y ago
It’s my understanding that you can’t personally electronically file taxes unless you go through one of the free file software providers. As someone who makes W-2, 1099, and stock market income, I have never found a way to file for free unless I fill out and print the forms manually and mail them in. I would love to be wrong though.