Filing routes ยท Filing season 2027
IRS Free File: The Route That Costs Nothing, Named First
IRS Free File is the filing route the IRS itself runs with a group of tax software companies: guided preparation software that prepares and electronically files a federal return at no cost for taxpayers under an income limit set for the season, and a set of electronic forms that anyone at any income can fill in and file at no cost. PlainStub names this route first, before any commercial product, because for a taxpayer who meets its terms it is genuinely free, and no page on this site will steer such a reader toward a paid product without naming it. For tax year 2026 returns, filed in 2027, the IRS has not yet published the season's income limit or partner list. They are expected in January 2027, and this page will be updated when they are.
Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.
Start at IRS.gov/freefile, and only there. The IRS states that you will not get IRS Free File if you go directly to a partner's commercial website. The link out from the IRS site is what makes the product in front of you the Free File version rather than the company's commercial version.
The two routes
| Guided tax software | Software from IRS partner companies that asks questions and prepares the return from the answers. It carries an adjusted gross income limit set for each season; each partner also sets its own added criteria, such as age, state of residence, or the forms it supports. Some partners prepare a state return at no cost as well, and a Spanish language product is offered. Active duty military taxpayers receive a federal return at no cost from any guided provider when their income is within the programme threshold. |
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| Free File Fillable Forms | The IRS forms themselves in electronic form, open at any income level. You choose the forms, enter your information, and file from the application. The forms perform limited calculations and carry no state filing. The IRS states they cannot be used to prepare an amended return. |
the season terms are not out yet
What is not yet published for tax year 2026
Free File runs season by season. Each January the IRS announces the filing season in a news release that states that season's income limit and names that season's partner companies. The most recent release of that kind, IR-2026-05 of January 9, 2026, covered filing season 2026, which was for tax year 2025 returns. It says nothing about tax year 2026, and neither its limit nor its partner list is carried onto this page, because neither carries over.
As of the date at the foot of this page, the position is this:
- The IRS Free File page states that IRS Free File has closed and to check back in January 2027.
- No income limit for tax year 2026 returns has been published. Any figure shown anywhere for an earlier season is that season's figure.
- No partner list for tax year 2026 returns has been published. A company that took part last season may or may not take part in this one.
- When the January 2027 announcement is published, this page will be updated the same day with the limit and the partner list, taken from the IRS release itself.
The protections the IRS publishes
The programme is a public private partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, the coalition of software companies that supply the products, and the IRS publishes the terms its partners work under. The ones that matter to a reader choosing a route:
- No upselling inside the programme. The IRS states that selling bank products, such as a refund anticipation loan, audit protection, or other services, is not permitted to Free File users, and that deceptive online practices, such as designs used to trick or manipulate users, are not permitted either.
- The calculation undertaking. The IRS states that member companies will pay any IRS penalties and interest resulting from an error in their software's calculations.
- No IRS endorsement of any one partner. The IRS states that it does not endorse any individual Free File partner. The partners differ in their added criteria and in whether a state return is included, which is why the IRS provides a tool to find a partner matched to a filer's situation once the season opens.
- Where charges can still appear. The IRS states that a guided provider may charge a fee for state tax return preparation and filing, where the filer does not meet the provider's criteria for a return at no cost, or where the filer's income is over the programme threshold. Those are the provider's own terms, and they are stated by the provider; the federal return itself, for a filer who meets the criteria, is the part that costs nothing.
How the guided route is used, when the season opens
- Start at IRS.gov/freefile. The IRS is explicit that the route in is its own site, not a search result and not a company's homepage.
- Choose guided software or Fillable Forms. Guided software has the season's income limit; Fillable Forms do not.
- For guided software, use the IRS partner tool or the browse all page to find a partner whose criteria fit, including whether a state return is included. The IRS sends you from its site to the partner's Free File product.
- Prepare and file the return, and keep the confirmation the IRS sends when the return is accepted. A rejected return can usually be corrected and resubmitted electronically before the deadline.
Two neighbours of this page are worth knowing about before the season opens. A filer who needs more time to file can request it on Form 4868, and the IRS states that Free File can be used to make that request with no income limit applying to extension requests; the tax extension page explains what an extension does and does not do. And a filer amending a return the guided software prepared can amend through that same software, as the amended return page sets out.
Questions and answers
When will the partner list and income limit for tax year 2026 returns be published?
The IRS announces each season's partner list and income limit in January, at the start of the filing season, in a news release of its own. As of this page's review date, the IRS Free File page states that Free File has closed and to check back in January 2027. When the announcement for tax year 2026 returns is published, this page will be updated with the limit and the partner list from the IRS release itself, and not from coverage of it.
Does going to a partner company's own website give me IRS Free File?
No. The IRS states that you will not get IRS Free File if you go directly to a partner's commercial website, and that the route in is always IRS.gov/freefile. A company's own site carries its commercial offers, which are different offers on different terms, whatever the company's name suggests. Starting at irs.gov is the whole mechanism: the link from the IRS site is what identifies the Free File version of the product.
What does the free route cover, and what can still cost money?
For a taxpayer who meets a partner's criteria for the season, preparing and electronically filing the federal return costs nothing under the programme. The IRS states that a partner may charge a fee for preparing and filing a state return, and that charges apply where the filer does not meet that partner's own criteria or is over the season's income limit. Inside Free File, partners are not permitted to sell bank products such as refund anticipation loans, audit protection, or other services.
My income is over the guided software limit. Is there still a no-cost route?
Yes. Free File Fillable Forms carry no income limit at all. They are the IRS forms presented electronically: you enter your own information, the forms do limited calculations, and there is no state filing through them. The IRS states that Fillable Forms cannot be used to prepare an amended return, and that Free File as a whole is for the current year's return only, not for prior year returns.
Sources
- IRS, E-file: Do Your Taxes for Free (the IRS Free File page), irs.gov. States that IRS Free File has closed and to check back in January 2027; the two options, guided tax software and Free File Fillable Forms; that guided software carries an adjusted gross income threshold and each partner sets its own eligibility criteria; that a filer will not get IRS Free File by going directly to a partner's commercial website; that some partners provide a state return at no cost; that a provider may charge for state return preparation and filing, where the filer does not meet its criteria, or where income exceeds the programme threshold; that the sale of bank products and deceptive online practices are not permitted; that member companies pay IRS penalties and interest resulting from errors in their software calculations; that the IRS does not endorse any individual partner; that active duty military receive a federal return at no cost within the programme threshold; that Free File covers the current year return only; and that Fillable Forms cannot prepare an amended return. Retrieved November 4, 2026.
- IRS, news release IR-2026-05, January 9, 2026. The filing season 2026 announcement, covering tax year 2025 returns. Cited here only to establish that each season is announced separately, by its own release, in January; no limit or partner name from that release is used on this page for tax year 2026.
Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.