How to File Your Taxes for Free With TurboTax This Year
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Still haven't filed your 2024 taxes? You're behind schedule: For the roughly 20 million Americans who got an extension this spring, income tax returns were due Oct. 15. (Before that, the deadline was April 15.)
Millions of people file their taxes for free each year through TurboTax, which is owned by Intuit. But as of Friday, TurboTax Online has been taken down for the year as the company gears up for next tax season. This includes TurboTax Free Edition, which had offered a free filing option to customers with simple tax situations (meaning Form 1040 only, no schedules except for the earned income tax credit, child tax credit and student loan interest deduction).
The IRS itself has also closed free digital filing options for the year.
Check back in January for information on how to file your taxes for free in 2026.
Is TurboTax free?
When available, TurboTax can be free if you have a simple 1040 tax return with no special situations and do not opt for any add-ons. (See below for details.) Historically, though, there has been some controversy about whether TurboTax's "free" offerings were really free.
Intuit announced in 2021 that it was choosing not to renew its participation in IRS Free File, a public-private initiative that allows certain taxpayers to access free guided tax prep. Though TurboTax had been part of IRS Free File since its 2003 launch, the company pulled out, blaming "limitations within the program and conflicting demands from those outside the program."
It wasn't a smooth exit. The decision came a few years after ProPublica published a story alleging that TurboTax was using code to purposefully hide its IRS Free File product from Google and other search engines. (After the article went live, Intuit changed the code.)
In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission filed a legal complaint accusing Intuit of running deceptive ads that tricked folks into thinking doing their taxes through TurboTax was free, only to learn at the end of the process — "after they have invested time and effort gathering and inputting into TurboTax their sensitive personal and financial information" — that they'd have to upgrade to a paid service.
Then, in 2024, the FTC formally prohibited Intuit from advertising anything as free unless "unless it is free for all consumers or it discloses clearly and conspicuously and in close proximity to the 'free' claim the percentage of taxpayers or consumers that qualify." Intuit appealed, saying in a statement to Money that "over the last 11 years, we’ve helped more than 130 million Americans file their taxes free of charge — more than all other tax prep software companies combined." It added it "has always been clear, fair and transparent with its customers and is committed to free tax preparation."
Can I file my 2024 taxes for free through TurboTax?
Online TurboTax filing tools — including TurboTax Free Edition — are no longer available for folks to use to e-file their 2024 taxes. TurboTax tax expert Lisa Greene-Lewis says you can still print and mail your tax return (she suggests sending it via certified mail, which requires a signature upon receipt).
If you haven't started your 2024 taxes yet, you could purchase TurboTax Desktop, which is a downloadable software, then prepare your return there, print and mail it. TurboTax Desktop Deluxe starts at $80; this includes federal and state filing options.
Keep in mind that the IRS may charge you late filing fees.
Why is TurboTax not free?
Not all TurboTax products are free because it's a business.
TurboTax is owned by Intuit, which is a public company. In the 2025 fiscal year, which at Intuit ended July 31, Intuit says it brought in $18.8 billion in revenue.
On its website, TurboTax has a frequently asked questions section that tackles the issue of "how does TurboTax make money?" The answer: "We want our customers to love our products and services. Because we have customers who pay for our premium products and services, we can offer free tax filing to many customers."
Who gets TurboTax free?
Intuit says 37% of taxpayers qualify to use TurboTax's DIY Free Edition, which is meant for filing simple Form 1040 returns only. But, again, that product is not available at the moment.
Usually, online TurboTax products are also free if you're an active-duty or reserve member of the U.S. military. If you get a W-2 from the Defense Finance Accounting Service (DFAS), you generally qualify for free federal and state tax prep through TurboTax, no matter what level of service you choose.
Other ways to file your taxes for free in 2025
Taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of $84,000 or less were eligible for IRS Free File, which in 2025 unlocked free guided tax prep from one of eight name-brand companies. Above that income threshold, you could access Free File Fillable Forms, which is not guided and requires more tax knowledge. IRS Free File and Free File Fillable Forms both closed Oct. 15.
IRS Direct File, an initiative that enabled taxpayers who lived and worked in 25 states in 2024 to file federal taxes online directly with the IRS, has shut down, as well.
President Donald Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act directed the government to form a task force on whether to replace Direct File, including "the cost of enhancing and establishing public-private partnerships," "opinions and preferences regarding a taxpayer-funded, government-run service or a free service provided by the private sector" and the feasibility of this approach.
As a result, the IRS Direct File program — which had long faced opposition from Republican legislators — is now "gone," then-IRS Commissioner Bill Long reportedly said in July.
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