How to files taxes for free this season 

in addition to all of these bills when it comes to filing your taxes most Americans are on the same page definitely not looking forward to filing my taxes this year yeah it's expensive well it's definitely more expensive but did you know you can file your taxes by the April 15th deadline for free but simply doing your taxes does not have to cost you have you ever filed your taxes for free no did you know you can do that no qu history lesson taxes weren't always so complicated or expensive in the

early 1900s the 16th amendment established a Federal income tax but at that time most people were exempt in fact less than 1% of the population paid income taxes that changed at the beginning of World War II when taxes became a way to help pay for the War I have called for personal sacrifice in 1939 only 5% of the population paid income tax growing to 60% by the war's end and with more people paying taxes came the creation of tax preparation company it's a business that would later become so pr

ofitable tax preparation companies would spend Millions lobbying against free filing Services the tax preparation industry both in person and online has spent a great deal of money to get members of Congress to see things their way the public goal should be to have a system that doesn't force you to spend a chunk of your pay to have someone fill out your tax return the issue has been brought up in multiple Congressional hearings tax prep companies have sabotaged the free file program companies t

hat have found themselves in the hot seat like into it the maker of Turbo Tax say in part as our business grows so does our engagement and education of policy makers on various issues from Ai and Innovation to Stronger consumer protections and tax simplification while H&R Block says in part the IRS should focus additional funding on improving existing Services H&R Blocks free filing option offers approximately 43 different forms so let's talk about the multiple ways you can file for free that is

if you have a simple return a lot of people don't realize that they don't have to pay a tax preparer I sat down with CNBC Sharon erson to discuss four main ways to file for free starting with direct file a brand new pilot program this year that's available in 12 States if you have W2 wages if you have unemployment compensation or if you have social security benefits that's something that you want to look at for direct file you could also do free file on the irs.gov website you have to have an i

ncome less than $79,000 to qualify free file allows you to get tax pre for free online through a tax partner with the IRS if you want another free option but you make over $79,000 a year you can check out IRS free file fillable forms you're not going to get any guidance or tax preparation advice but you will be able to file taxes for free there are also other organizations that offer free help there's a volunteer income tax assistance program ARP Foundation has a tax aid program for those 50 and

older who are low and moderate income and then if you're a veteran in the military there's mil tax according to the IRS on average individual taxpayers spend about $140 to get their taxes prepared with an 8% rise in tax preparation costs this year look at these different options that will allow you to do your taxes for free if you qualify use them instead of going to a tax preparer and that's free tax filing simply explained our thanks to Zin clay for that report and now we want to hear from yo

u what do you want simply explained let zenclay know by connecting with her on your favorite social media platforms at simply zenclay thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media