2017 Tax Filing Season ends April 18

 *  Free File Tops 50 Million Users

*  Saves Taxpayers $1.5 Billion since Inception  

Commissioner John Koskinen

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 is the filing deadline to submit 2016 tax returns. Rather than the traditional April 15 date, 2017, April 15 falls on a Saturday, and this would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday — April 17. 

However, Emancipation Day — a legal holiday in the District of Columbia — will be observed on that Monday, which pushes the nation’s filing deadline to Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Under the tax law, legal holidays in the District of Columbia affect the filing deadline across the nation.

Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service, IRS has announced that Free File – the pioneering public-private partnership that makes free tax software available to 70 percent of taxpayers – recently surpassed 50 million users since the program started.

Since 2003, the 50 million taxpayers who used this free tax service saved approximately $1.5 billion based on a conservative estimate of $30 per tax software product.

Taxpayers who earned $64,000 or less can choose from among a dozen, brand-name software products offered by leading private-sector companies for free. Taxpayers who made more than $64,000 may use Free File Fillable Forms, the electronic version of Internal Revenue Service paper forms.

Free File is available exclusively at www.irs.gov/freefile. Several products offer both free federal and free state return preparation. Each software provider sets its own eligibility standards but anyone who made $64,000 or less will find at least one product to use. 

“Reaching 50 million users and achieving $1.5 billion in taxpayer savings mark important milestones for the Free File initiative,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. “The Free File effort shows how the public and private sectors can work together to provide a critical service to the nation’s taxpayers. After 14 years, this innovative program continues to break new ground as it evolves to meet people’s needs.”