Free ways to file, and how to choose a preparer who signs the return
The four free routes to filing a federal return this season, who qualifies for each, and the checks that separate a real preparer from a ghost.
Quick answers
- How do I file a federal return for free?
- There are four routes: IRS Free File guided software if your income is under the limit, Free File Fillable Forms at any income, a volunteer site if you qualify, and MilTax for the military community.
- What is a ghost preparer?
- Someone who is paid to prepare your return but will not sign it or put their preparer number on it. Anyone paid to prepare a federal return is required by law to do both.
- How can I check whether a preparer is qualified?
- The IRS publishes a directory of preparers who hold a recognized credential or an annual filing season record of completion. You can also check a state accountancy board or bar association.
There are four ways to file a federal return without paying for it, and each one has a different gate. If you do pay someone, the single most important check is whether they sign the return and put their preparer number on it.
What changed for 2026
The free options the IRS names for this season are Free File guided software, Free File Fillable Forms, MilTax for the military community, and the volunteer programs. The number of Free File partners is small, currently eight, and each partner sets its own extra rules on top of the income gate. Direct File is not among the free options the IRS lists for this season.
IRS Free File, guided software
Free File is commercial tax software offered at no cost to people under an income limit. That limit is an adjusted gross income of $89,000 or less, measured on the return you are filing.
Reach it through irs.gov rather than through a partner's own website. Going straight to the company means the free version is not applied, and the IRS is explicit that you do not get Free File if you start at a commercial site. Each partner also sets its own criteria on age, state residency and military service, so the partner that fits your neighbor may not accept you. Some partners include a free state return as well, and some do not.
Free File Fillable Forms
The second route is the electronic version of the paper form. There is no income limit, no guided interview, no help with what belongs on which line, and no state return. It suits someone who has filed before, knows the forms they need, and simply wants an electronic way to send them.
VITA, TCE and MilTax
The volunteer programs put a trained person in front of you. A Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site prepares returns free for people who generally make $69,000 or less, and the same sites serve people with disabilities and taxpayers with limited English. Tax Counseling for the Elderly runs alongside it, aimed particularly at people aged sixty and older, and it specializes in pensions and other retirement questions.
MilTax is separate again. It is a free service offered through the Department of Defense for eligible members of the military community, and it is not tied to the Free File income limit.
If you pay someone: what a signature means
Anyone paid to prepare a federal return must have a preparer tax identification number, and must sign the return as the preparer. That is a legal requirement, not a courtesy.
A preparer who does the work and then hands the return back for you to file as though you had done it yourself is what the IRS calls a ghost preparer. The signature is what ties the work to a person the IRS can find, so its absence is the whole point of the arrangement. If someone refuses to sign or refuses to give a preparer number, take your documents and go elsewhere.
The five checks before you hand over a W-2
- Credentials. The IRS publishes a directory of preparers who hold a credential it recognizes or an annual filing season record of completion. Enrolled agents, certified public accountants and attorneys have unlimited rights to represent you before the IRS.
- Year-round availability. A notice about this return may arrive in the fall, and a preparer who closes in May is not there to answer it.
- How the fee is set. A flat fee or an hourly rate can be compared. A fee set as a share of the refund cannot, and the IRS warns against it.
- What they ask you for. A preparer should want your records and your forms. Filing from a pay stub instead of a W-2 breaks the IRS e-file rules.
- Where the refund goes. It should be deposited to your own account, in your name, and you should be able to read the account number on the return before it goes. Where your refund comes from covers how that amount is worked out.
Red flags
A fee that is a percentage of the refund, or an offer to split the refund with you. A promise of a bigger refund than anyone else can get, made before your documents have been read. A demand for cash without a receipt. A refund routed to the preparer's own account. Pressure to add income you did not earn, or credits you do not qualify for, to make the number look better. And any request for the sign-in details to your IRS online account or your identity verification service, which are yours alone to use.
What to do if it went wrong
Read the return before you sign it, and ask about anything you do not recognize, because the signature at the bottom is yours. Keep a complete copy of what was filed, including the schedules. If a preparer has behaved improperly, the IRS takes complaints about preparers, and a state accountancy board or bar association may take one too. If a letter follows, You got a letter from the IRS covers what to do with it.