File Federal but Not State Tax Forms Free Online
In terms of state tax forms these days, you don’t have to go to the local library or post office to get them ever again.
Just go online and get it directly from the government!
You don’t even have to spend money on postage mailing anything in, either; no printing, no wasting precious ink or toner – just file online.
It’s really wonderful what modern technology can do!
But one thing seems odd initially: while it is possible to get state tax forms from government websites, you won’t manage to file them there.
That’s right; you must go elsewhere to actually report your earnings!
Seems strange, right?
Particularly when you’ve just been informed in the last paragraph that it’s possible to file online.
It’s all quite logical enough, actually, strange as it may first appear – and, unsurprisingly, it requires money.
You heard right, money.
(Hey, this is an article on state tax forms, after all!)
The reason why you can find those forms through the government but not actually file them directly with the government – not online, that is (you can still print them out and mail them in if you wish) – is merely as a result of money.
The government was all set to supply free comprehensive services, both preparation and filing, but the makers of tax prep software lobbied against the idea as it would quickly put them out of business.
In fact, why should anyone pay money for tax preparation software – every single year, on account of possible changes to the tax laws – if you could simply log onto the government’s site and do the same for free?
And so the companies lobbied the government heavily.
And eventually a compromise was reached: industry heavyweights such as Intuit and the like would offer free tax preparation in addition to electronic filing online for those who make lower than twenty-five thousand dollars a year – for federal taxes only.
The government might drop its bid to make tax reporting free for anyone.
Score another one for the corporations.