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Good grief, it’s tax time again! Attorney E. Nego Pile, an estate planning lawyer with considerable experience in tax matters, offers this advice to the elderly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey:
Seniors and retirees should know that they may qualify for free tax preparation help. Specifically, they may be able to use online tax preparation software free of charge. Besides that, seniors are eligible for free counseling assistance from the IRS. In fact, most low- and middle-income Americans qualify for free tax help but don’t take advantage of it.
The Tax Preparation Industry and the IRS
The tax preparation software industry has had a decades-long deal with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to make free versions of its software available to low- and middle-income individuals. However, a report by ProPublica in April 2019 revealed that the software companies were making it difficult for customers to find the free tax filing software, even going so far as to hide it from a Google search. According to the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service, around 70 percent of taxpayers qualified for free filing, but only 1.6 percent used the free software in 2018. The IRS has now amended its agreement with the software industry to bar the companies from hiding free products.
Links to Free Tax Preparation Help
The IRS Free File website links to the available free products. Each company sets its own eligibility standards based on income, age, and state residency. As long as your adjusted gross income was $69,000 or less, you will find at least one free product to use. There are also two products available in Spanish.
If you’re a senior who would rather not prepare your own tax return, you can use the IRS’s Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) program. It’s available to taxpayers who are 60 years old or older and specializes in answering questions about pensions and retirement plans.
Tax Preparation Help Is Close at Hand
Contact Pile Law Firm, your Pennsylvania and New Jersey estate planning resource, to learn more about these free tax preparation services.
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