Update: Tax Preparation Deception and Fine Print

Original article. Back when I was getting fan mail...

“I discovered last night that by visiting the official IRS web site www.irs.gov then clicking on the tax prep program link of your choice (TaxAct, TurboTax, TaxSlayer, etc..), the program and filing your taxes electronically are free! However, if you go directly to one of those sites without linking to it from the IRS site, you will be charged (around $15) for use of the program and charged again to file electronically! Isn't that amazing? Of course, none of the tax prep program web sites tell you this! Hope it helps someone else save $30! ”

Welcome to the world of reality—there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Not only that, but government agencies cannot secure their own websites enough for you to file something like a simple tax return online.

The sting: you can FILE with the IRS for free, but the document has to come from an approved tax form-completion source, such as the tax programs mentioned, or other commercial preparers (H&R Block, Jackson-Hewitt, etc.) for encryption reasons.

The IRS isn't in the business of online safety and security. They collect taxes--and badly at that (when Congress isn't tying their hands). You're paying the tax programs and preparers for secure transmittal as part of the fee structure. There never will be a free direct place for online tax submissions as long as the shaky, flaky internet system we have today is still in place (always vulnerable to hackers, spammers, and identity thieves), and individuals remain one step ahead of our own government in technology knowledge and how to exploit it.

UPDATE: Apparently now there IS a place where we can file electronically for free--I saw a commercial for it. The IRS also has their own version for federal taxes only.