The Health Care Law and Your Tax Return: Not Too Early to Consider E-file

It’s not too early to start thinking about how you will file your tax return in early 2016. Filing electronically is the easiest way to file a complete and accurate tax return as the software guides you through the filing process. IRS e-file can also help with the health care law tax provisions, by walking you through the lines on the tax forms that relate to the Affordable Care Act.

The bottom line is that e-file is much easier than doing your taxes by hand and mailing paper tax forms. Electronic filing options include: free Volunteer Assistance, IRS Free File, commercial software, and professional assistance.

You may qualify to have your taxes filed through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance or Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs. In general, VITA offers free tax preparation and e-file if you earned $53,000 or less. TCE offers help primarily to people who are age 60 or older. You can e-file through IRS Free File, the free tax preparation and e-file program available only on IRS.gov. You can also buy commercial tax software to e-file your return yourself, or ask your tax preparer to e-file your tax return on your behalf.

IRS e-file meets strict security guidelines. It uses secure encryption technology to protect your tax return. The IRS has safely and securely processed more than 1.3 billion e-filed tax returns from individuals since the program began.