Why is fileyourtaxes.com (a free online tax filing service) charging me $25.75 for a construction fee?
This site was recommended to me by the irs site as a free place becasue I’m low income… so why is it trying to charge me?
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August 2nd, 2010 at 9:48 am
dunno construction
but for your state return????
they’re allowed to charge for that
but you can avoid it by printing out federal return you efile, going to your state’s website and efiling there
August 2nd, 2010 at 10:35 am
Well, they have to make money just to stay in business. Check with the IRS to see if that is permissible.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:11 am
(What is a “construction fee”? Never heard of that before.)
Do you meet all the qualifications:
Free Federal online tax preparation and e-File if you are:
1. age 25 and under with an AGI between $10K — $50K, or
2. your AGI is $50K or less, and
3. you live in the following states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DC, DE, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, UT, VA, or WI.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:46 am
First off you need to read all of the fine print. Some people qualify for free federal tax filing; however, you will be charged if you want the service to also do your state taxes. Below is a copy from the home page of fileyourtaxes.com: By their own words it should be only $22.50 unless you requested extra services which were not included in the free offer.
If you qualify, only the Federal Return will be constructed and filed for free. The state return can be constructed for an additional fee of $22.50. For Free File Returns, Personalized Customer Service, if needed is not included in Free File. OnLine Printing of a filed return by you downloading a .pdf file is free. The system capabilities and limitations, including Forms Supported should be viewed to determine if the capabilities and forms available are applicable and sufficient for you. Tax returns and extensions to file, when available, are two separate filings. If the return is tagged as a free return, it will not tag the extension filing as a free process, and the other way around. Each a have to tagged independently to qualify for the respective free offer. Tax return data sent between you and us is transmitted securely via HTTPS and in the event that you leave the client computer terminal, for your security, your session will time out after a period of time. Direct Debit, Automatic Withdrawal of Funds and Self Selected PIN features are available.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:49 am
None of the “free filing” services are doing it out of the goodness of their heart because they want to help out the IRS. They are providing the “free” services hoping that you opt to buy one of the add on services.
For some that is e-filing the state return – there are also upgrades in what version of the software you use – my understanding is that they provide the basic forms for free, but if you had a question and needed more than the basic software, they may have charged you for that…