The IRS's own Direct File did not run in 2026
Free should mean free. Find yours in five taps.
Every season, people start a "free" return and hit a paywall halfway through. There are real free ways to file, run by the IRS and by trained volunteers. VALID points you to the ones that fit you, and tells you when a licensed pro is worth it.
Your taps stay in your browser. VALID never sends them anywhere. VALID does not sell filing and takes nothing from any route below.
Five questions
Free · one field
Get the new free-filing lines the day the IRS posts them
The IRS sets each season's Free File income line and opening date in January. One email when they post, with your free routes rechecked. Then about once a month, when new checked rules open.
The free test: five questions to ask before you type one number
- Is the state return free too? Some offers are free for the federal return only.
- Is it still free with a 1099, a side gig, a home, stock sales, an HSA or student loan interest? Many free versions cover simple returns only and ask for an upgrade once one of these shows up.
- Is there a fee to pay the prep cost out of your refund? That option usually carries its own charge.
- Will it push add-ons on the way? Audit protection, live help and "deluxe" tiers are add-ons, not filing.
- Did you start from IRS.gov? The IRS Free File offers are reached through the IRS Free File page. A company's own "free" version, reached any other way, can follow different rules.
If the answer to any of these is no, or not clear, it is not free for you. Pick another route.
Where these routes come from
- IRS Free File is a partnership between the IRS and private tax software companies. Last season the guided software line was an adjusted gross income of 89,000 or less; each partner can set its own age and state rules. Free File Fillable Forms has no income line but gives no guidance. IRS.gov: Free File
- VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) sites are IRS-trained volunteers. The IRS sets no program-wide income line; many sites serve people who generally make about 70,244 or less, and each site sets its own. TCE (Tax Counseling for the Elderly) focuses on people 60 and older. IRS.gov: free tax help
- MilTax is free tax software and help from the Department of Defense for service members and their families. Check who qualifies at Military OneSource.
- Lines change every season. The IRS posts the new ones in January, and VALID rechecks this page against IRS.gov when it does. Nothing here is a conclusion about your return.