Credit karma lets you file both federal and state for free . CreditKarma's filing service is pretty new, so there are lots of edge cases they don't handle well or at all (for example the UI to enter stock trades is awful). I put my numbers into TurboTax and CreditKarma to make sure they match for validation, then filed with CreditKarma.

You give them a lot of data about you that they then use to sell you insurance and loans and so on, but I actually find their services useful so I consider that a fair trade.

I used CK the past two years and started getting a ton of robocalls and credit card offers. Not to mention my college that never had my phone number previously started calling me on a weekly basis hounding me for donations.

Robocalls have been on the rise the past few years for everyone.

Freefile on irs.gov and the pdf of the 1040 instructions. Just because some software validates doesn't release you from the liability, so if you actually have a complicated situation, I'd find a qualified tax professional or read through the myriad IRS rules and regs.

Does this do validation?

I’m not sure what validation means, but it does auto calculate and tell you if things don’t add up.

I don't see how anyone can produce tax software, resolve bugs and issues, and keep it up to date with current tax code without charging money for it. It's too bad that paying taxes is this difficult.

That's why it's a good idea to pay the IRS with tax dollars to create their own free efile facility.

That's exactly the answer

I use these guys: https://www.freetax.com/#about

There storefronts always looked a bit skeevy to me, but they've never charged me a dime for this product and I've used it for 3 years.

I've had great experiences with FreeTaxUSA, though they still charge for state returns. I have wondered before now why a non-profit couldn't set up an entirely free site and ask for donations.

Not sure about other States but IL has a free State tax filing site - https://mytax.illinois.gov

As does California, although you can't use it if you have capital gains or a few other specific things to put on your return.

Credit Karma swooped into the game this year and offered free tax return filing.

The software worked well for me and my simple return, and expect it could work well for medium complexity problems as well.

I have no doubt that they will try to monitize in the future, but until they do, this seems like a good deal for consumers

It seems obvious that Credit Karma would try to monetize it by using your tax data to advertise credit cards and loans to you.

Just a little bit of surveillance capitalism to help you save money.

> indie developer could create, but maybe its too complicated and too risky?

The amount of liability you would take on is insane.

For the most part, I don't understand the difficulty. You can pick up a copy of the 1040 and the instructions from most public libraries. Then, you just follow the instructions. It's like reading a program. You literally just follow the instructions.

I haven't used this online spreadsheet, but saw it mentioned in a HN discussion earlier this year: https://sites.google.com/site/excel1040/

Credit karma doesn't even have a paid option