Caren Weiner is the lead editor for consumer finance at Forbes Advisor. During her decades as a personal finance journalist, she has covered mutual funds, taxes, banking and health insurance ...

The Internal Revenue Service vastly overstated the projected costs of operating the free tax prep program before terminating ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. It's coming back this year to more than twice as many states — including Florida again — with a wider range of eligible tax ...

Free File is not Direct File, which the IRS has discontinued for the 2026 tax season. This tax season, according to the IRS, eight private-sector partners are offering guided tax software products ...

The IRS free tax filing program, known as Direct File, has faced heavy Republican scrutiny since its 2024 launch. Direct File expanded to more than 30 million taxpayers across 25 states for the 2025 ...

When tax filing season opens on January 29, some taxpayers will have the option of filing their 2023 federal tax returns with a brand new, government-run system. Known as Direct File, the free program ...

Even though the tax agency's free pilot program is no longer available, there are other free tax filing options this season. Robin Hartill Robin Hartill is a Florida-based Certified Financial Planner ...

The IRS shut down its direct filing program for 2026, but Free File, Fillable Forms, MilTax, and some private tools remain—if you know where to look. Here’s how to navigate the free options still ...