Taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $54,000 or less - about 97 million Americans - are qualified to use the agency's electronic filing initiative for free. The agency expects 95 percent of last year's nearly 3.9 million taxpayers who filed electronically to do so again.
"Free File gives taxpayers an opportunity to use private-sector tax preparation programs for free," said Acting Commissioner Linda E. Stiff. "The IRS encourages taxpayers to take advantage of this valuable program from the IRS and the Free File Alliance."
The Free File program began in 2003 with about 2.8 million users. It is run together with 19 private software companies called the Free File Alliance.
The IRS said that taxpayers who use forms on Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Mortgage Interest Credit, Residential Energy Credits, Education Credits and District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit will have to wait until February 11 to file their returns. The agency said it needs time to make changes to its systems according to the requirements of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) legislation approved by Congress in December.
