Free Irs Tax Filing

Filing your federal income tax returns online saves the Internal Revenue System time, money and effort. And, guess what.

Wait.

Before I tell you what, you better sit down. I wouldn't want you to fall down, hurt yourself and have to take a big medical deduction next year.

Or hit your head and get one of them there concussions that million-dollar NFL quarterbacks seem to develop whenever they feel like taking a Sunday off and getting blitzed on light beer instead 390-pound linebackers.

OK, ready? Here's the shocker. Filing your federal income tax returns online saves the Internal Revenue System time, money and effort AND they're -- are you ready for this -- going to reward you for it by letting you do it free. At least for the moment, by next year they may have gotten around to demanding you send them a "donation" via PayPal, but for right now you can fiddle your returns online absolutely free without even as much as a shipping and handling fee.

Not only that, but if you accept the option to have your tax refund direct deposited to your bank after you do your online filing, Uncle Sam may dig into those big baggy pockets he has in all those recruiting posters and send your money in as little as one week. Now that's service you don't usually expect from the Post Office let only the Internal Revenue Service.

In addition to being your gateway to the wonderful world of online filing, the Internal Revenue Service website at irs.gov is also the place where you can find out if you qualify for such programs as the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which offers free assistance to many taxpayers who get queasy about preparing their own tax returns, the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program), or any one of several programs designed to offer add and comfort to military personnel and dependants wrestling with the tax monster.

Seriously, filing your tax returns online is a very good idea. For one thing, filing online eliminates the annual 11:59 p.m. gas guzzling race to the local Post Office every April 14. And you don't have to wait in line to buy stamps at WalMart or the supermarket and, best of all, you can do the whole thing starkers, naked as the day you were born.