IRS Free File Now Available for Nonfilers Who Must File a Return to Receive Economic Stimulus Payment

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that individuals who normally do not file a tax return but must do so this year in order to receive their 2008 economic stimulus payment can now use the IRS Free File program to help them file returns for 2007.

IRS and several of its partners in the Free File Alliance can now accept returns submitted by people who have no legal requirement to file other than to receive their payments. People in this category should take care to use only those companies listed on the Free File - Economic Stimulus Payment.

“If you are only filing a return to receive your economic stimulus payment, Free File is a great option for you. All you need to do is follow the simple instructions provided by the software. It’s easy, and it’s free,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Linda E. Stiff.

Individuals and families must have at least $3,000 of income from any combination of earned income, Social Security retirement or disability benefits, certain Railroad retirement benefits, or disability compensation, disability pension, or survivor benefits paid by the Veterans Affairs. The minimum economic stimulus payment is $300 for individuals and $600 for married couples.

To obtain a payment, all people who are eligible for payments of up to $600 for individuals ($1,200 for married couples) must file a tax return in order for the IRS to know their name, address and eligibility. Parents also may qualify for a $300 payment for each eligible child younger than 17. Valid Social Security numbers are required.

Taxpayers who normally file a tax return and want to use Free File, should simply go to the main Free File page and click ‘Start Now’ to see a list of the 19 companies offering free preparation and electronic filing to the IRS. Free File is available to 97 million taxpayers who earn $54,000 or less.

There is no charge for using IRS Free File. With just a few answers, people can complete a simple form and use IRS e-file. The IRS also urges all filers to use direct deposit, if they have a checking or savings account, because it is the fastest way to receive an economic stimulus payment.

Once people file a tax return, they don’t need to do anything more. The IRS will do the rest. The IRS will begin issuing payments starting in May.

Related Items:

Free File - Economic Stimulus Payment (Free tax preparation and electronic filing for people who have no tax filing requirement but who must file a tax form to receive the 2008 economic stimulus payment.)

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Electronic Filing Off To Strong Start

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced that e-file is off to a fast start in 2008 with more than 38 million tax returns filed electronically so far.

The 2008 e-file level is up 5 percent from the 36 million returns filed for the same period last year, with double digit growth coming from taxpayers filing from their home computers.

“E-filing continues to be the preferred way to file your tax return. It is the fast, easy, safe and more accurate way to file your tax return,” said IRS Acting Commissioner Linda E. Stiff.

According to the new filing season statistics for the week ending Feb. 22, 2008, one of the biggest areas of growth is returns electronically filed from home computers. More than 12.3 million returns were filed from home, an increase of almost 14 percent from the same time last year.

Overall, 46.9 million tax returns have been filed so far in 2008, a 1.5 percent increase from the 46.2 million returns that had been filed at the same point in 2007.

As for the total amount of all refunds, $106.7 billion has been issued so far in 2008 with the average refund amount of $2,708, up two percent from the same time last year. So far this year, the IRS has directly deposited 33 million refunds out of the total of 39 million refunds. The direct deposit refunds were valued at just over $96 billion with the average amount of a direct deposit refund of $2,900.

The IRS reminds taxpayers who have not filed their 2007 returns yet that direct deposit is the fastest way to get both regular refunds and economic stimulus payments. These stimulus payments will be direct deposited for those eligible filers who select that option when filing their 2007 tax returns. For more information on the economic stimulus payment go to IRS.gov.

People are visiting the IRS Web site at IRS.gov in record numbers. The IRS has recorded more than 72 million unique visits to IRS.gov this year, up from about 67 million for the same period last year, an increase of 8 percent.

2008 FILING SEASON STATISTICS
Cumulative through the weeks ending 2/23/07 and 2/22/08
Individual Income Tax Returns	2007		2008		% Change
Total Receipts	46,244,000		46,918,000		1.5%
Total Processed	41,905,000		42,866,000		2.3%
E-filing Receipts:
TOTAL	36,233,000		38,059,000		5.0%
Tax Professionals	25,363,000		25,699,000		1.3%
Self-prepared	10,870,000		12,360,000		13.7%
Web Usage:
Visits to IRS.gov	67,104,000		72,596,000		8.2%
Total Refunds:
Number	38,622,000		39,387,000		2.0%
Amount	$102.552	Billion	$106.651	Billion	4.0%
Average refund	$2,655		$2,708		2.0%
Direct Deposit Refunds:
Number	31,586,000		33,131,000		4.9%
Amount	$91.262	Billion	$96.071	Billion	5.3%
Average refund	$2,889		$2,900		0.4%

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Free Tax Filing Services

The preparation of tax documents and filing of tax returns is a complicated process and requires professional handling. Professional help is generally expensive and can burn the pockets of taxpayers if availed of. Taxpayers can also prepare tax files on their own but there are risks of committing errors when a large number of deductions and exemptions are taken into consideration. As a result, taxpayers seek professional help even though it is expensive. In recent times however, some tax experts and tax companies have started offering free tax filing services.

The principal means of filing taxes for free is through online websites of tax companies and use of software provided by them. These companies offer online tax preparation help and electronic filing through a partnership agreement with the IRS. Almost all the free tax filing companies offer services based on different sets of criteria to qualify taxpayers for the service. Companies offer free filing service for taxpayers whose gross annual income is below or equal to $50,000. There are also many age and area restrictions for free tax filing service. Some tax filing companies prepare and file taxes for people of only certain area codes and states.

Primarily, Form 1040EZ is used to file tax returns of these types of customers. The companies fill out the forms and prepare tax liabilities and file papers with IRS, abiding by certain rules and regulations as specified by the IRS. The IRS advises people to go through the IRS website and approach only listed companies for free tax filing. A majority of free tax filing companies provides quality feedback about the status of the filed papers. Nevertheless, there are some companies who may only offer sub standard services and may make the entire tax filing process slow and sluggish.

Free tax filing also existed over phone lines. However, they have now ceased to exist. Free tax filing is one of the best ways for people to seek professional help with tax payments at zero costs.

Tax Filing provides detailed information on Tax Filing, Online Tax Filing, Free Tax Filing, Filing Payroll Taxes and more. Tax Filing is affiliated with Tax Return Filing Preparations.

By: tax guy

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