With the delayed tax filing deadline coming at us fast—it’s July 15, don’t forget!—we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that TurboTax, the digital tax prep software that pitches itself as a free-and-easy way to do your taxes, is in fact not so free or easy. Actually, it sucks—enough that it inspired comedian and Patriot Act creator Hasan Minhaj to create TurboTaxSucksAss.com, a new site that delivers all of your truly free filing options in one place.
When it comes time to file, don’t trust the branding: TurboTax advertises a free filing option labeled “Intuit TurboTax Free Edition,” but selecting it will take you down a long and winding path of forms and then hit you with a steep filing fee right at the very end. This in itself is deceptive, but even more so because TurboTax purposely makes its truly free version—IRS Free File Program delivered by TurboTax—difficult to find.
You can find the actually free version right here, or peruse the options on Minhaj’s site. The IRS Free File program works with 10 different tax platforms to help you file your federal return (and possibly even your state return) at no cost, provided you make under $69,000:
That said, each free-file option has its own specific income caps, residency requirements and other qualifications, so you may not be able to pick just any company on the list. The IRS outlines all of the eligibility requirements on its Free File page. To use TurboTax’s free file option, for example, your adjusted gross income must be under $36,000 ($69,000 if you’re active-duty military) or you must be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, while some of the others have higher income caps and may fit your circumstances better. Because paying for tax prep when you don’t have to? Definitely sucks.
