Here’s who qualifies for the 2025 filing season

For the 2025 season, you can use IRS Free File if your adjusted gross income, or AGI, was $84,000 or less in 2024.

You calculate AGI by subtracting certain tax breaks from your total, or gross income. The figure will be line 11 on the front page of your 2024 tax return.  

While there are guided Free File options for anyone who made $84,000 or less for 2024, each partner has different eligibility, depending on your age, income, state residency and military status.

Some partners also offer free state tax returns, Hugo said. You can browse all eight partners here.   

The program also offers Free Fillable Forms, which is the electronic version of a paper-filed return, for taxpayers at all income levels.  

There are eight software partners for 2024 filings and each must accept the most commonly used tax forms and schedules, Hugo explained.

Some of these include Schedule A for itemized deductions, Schedules B and D for investment earnings and Schedule C for self-employed filers, among others.  

The program opened on Jan. 10 and taxpayers can e-file returns prepared through Free File partners starting on Jan. 27, according to the IRS.  

During the 2024 season, Free File processed 2.9 million returns through May 11, a 7.3% jump compared to the same period in 2023, according to the IRS.

“This program continues to be a valuable resource for eligible individuals looking to file their taxes for free through this unique program,” Werfel said. 

Although the agency launched Direct File, its own free tax filing service, the IRS in May announced an extension of the Free File program through 2029.

“It’s kind of like a hidden gem in the forest,” said Hugo. “We just need more people to know about it.”