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Home > Tax Calculators & Tips > All Tax Guides > General Tax Tips > TurboTax Free Edition Offers Free Tax Preparation

TurboTax Free Edition Offers Free Tax Preparation

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Whether you are preparing your own simple tax return, or helping a family member prepare his or her income taxes, free tax preparation may be the best way to go. TurboTax Free Edition offers a totally-free federal tax return to people who have simple tax returns, and are comfortable completing them without much help.
Why Choose Free Tax Preparation?

If you rent your home, don't have investments and are not itemizing your deductions, TurboTax Free Edition offers a quick, free tax preparation method that will easily handle your simple tax return (1040 EZ, 1040A, etc.). Your federal tax return and e-file will be completely free.

To save time, you can also transfer your information to TurboTax State and file your state taxes for a small additional fee.

What Can't TurboTax Free Edition Do?

TurboTax Free Edition does not support schedules C, D, E and F (required for people who own a business or have sold investments), but simple tax returns usually don't require these forms.

Also, if you had recent changes in your life that add complexity to your taxes (getting married, buying a house, having children, inheritances, investments, etc.), you may want extra guidance while completing your tax return. If you've made a lot of charitable donations and want to make sure you get full value for them, you'll benefit from using ItsDeductible—built-in to TurboTax Deluxe, Premier and Home & Business. Or perhaps you'd just feel more comfortable with additional assistance, and tools such as TurboTax Live Community, where you can get live answers to your questions from tax experts and the TurboTax community. In these cases, free tax preparation is probably not your best choice.

TurboTax offers a variety of products that provide extra help with things like charitable donations, mortgage interest, child care, medical expenses, investments or self-employment income. You can even use TurboTax to have a tax professional complete and file your return for you.

Need help deciding? Answer a few simple questions and we'll suggest the best product for you.

Additional Tax Preparation Resources
  • More about Free Efile
  • Learn More about TurboTax Free Edition
  • TurboTax Personal Tax Software Chooser Tool
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The above article is intended to provide generalized financial information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not give personalized tax, investment, legal or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always seek the assistance of a professional who knows your particular situation for advice on your taxes, your investments, the law or any other business and professional matters that affect you and/or your business.

 
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