IRS Free File 2026: guided tax software at $0 for AGI up to $89,000

What IRS Free File is

Free File is a partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and a rotating group of private tax-software companies. The partners agree to provide a free version of their software to filers who meet the program's eligibility rules. In exchange, the IRS lists those partners on its public Free File page and channels eligible filers to them. The program has run continuously since 2003.

The contractual rules that govern Free File are stricter than what applies to a partner's own commercial product. Inside Free File, partners may not upsell to paid editions, may not surface paid add-ons as required, and may not redirect filers to non-Free File products without a clear opt-out. Those protections evaporate the moment you leave IRS.gov/freefile and enter the partner's own site.

Who qualifies

The headline number is $89,000 AGI for the 2026 filing season (tax year 2025 returns). For most filers, AGI is line 11 on Form 1040: gross income minus above-the-line adjustments such as student-loan interest, deductible IRA contributions, HSA contributions, the deductible portion of self-employment tax, and a small number of other items.

Above the umbrella ceiling, individual partners can set narrower eligibility. Common per-partner criteria include a maximum age (some partners cap at 40 or 50), state-residency requirements (a partner may offer Free File only for filers in certain states), filing-status requirements, military status, or EITC eligibility. The reason is commercial: each partner self-selects the slice of the free-eligible population it wants to acquire as future paying customers, and tunes its rules accordingly.

For a worked walkthrough of the AGI rule plus per-partner overlays, see the eligibility page.

How to start, in five steps

1. Go to IRS.gov/freefile, not a partner site. This is the most important step. Searching for "free tax filing" and clicking the first ad result usually lands you on a commercial free edition rather than the IRS Free File flow.
2. Use the Find a Trusted Partner tool. Enter AGI, state, age, and military status. The tool returns a list of partners for whom you qualify.
3. Compare partners on coverage and state-fee status. Two partners may both be available to you but with different state treatment, different form coverage, and different prior-year-import terms. Click each partner's "more info" link in the IRS browser.
4. Click through to the partner's Free File page. You will be redirected from IRS.gov to a special Free File-branded URL on the partner's site. This is the correct flow. Bookmark it; do not navigate to the partner's home page.
5. Complete the return; reject upgrade nudges. Inside Free File the partner cannot push you to a paid tier, but they can mention paid add-ons. Ignore those unless you actively need the service. When the return is e-filed, the IRS will email you a confirmation directly.

The 8 2026 partners

Eight partners participate in Free File for the 2026 filing season. The identity of those partners changes year to year, the rules each one sets change year to year, and rankings on third-party listicles are frequently out of date or affiliate-tilted. We do not reproduce the partner list here.

Our job is to tell you how to use the IRS browser well, and what the browser does not make obvious. Partners explained.

Free state returns via Free File

Free File treats federal and state filing as separate concerns. The federal return inside the Free File flow is always free for an eligible filer. The state return is sometimes free, sometimes not, and the difference matters for how much you actually pay.

Some partners include free state filing for some states. Some include free state filing for all states. Some charge a state fee in the range of $15 to $40 even when the federal portion is free. The IRS Find a Trusted Partner tool lets you filter by state to see which partners offer free state for yours.

If your state runs its own free e-file portal (California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and others), you can also file federal through Free File and state through your state portal: two separate free returns, no overlap. The state-filing page maps every state and DC to its strongest free path.

What Free File doesn't cover

The program ceiling, the partner overlays, and the format of the software combine to leave several groups outside Free File:

• Filers above $89,000 AGI are not eligible for guided Free File at all. The path is Free File Fillable Forms for federal, a state portal for state, or paid software chosen carefully.
• Returns with forms a specific partner does not support. Inside the Free File flow each partner publishes its supported-forms list. If your return needs a form the partner you picked does not support, you may have to pick a different partner or an outside path. The forms-coverage matrix covers this at the program level.
• Paper filing. Free File is e-file only. Paper filing is always free at the IRS but slower; see free paths above the threshold for paper-filing notes.

Common mistakes to avoid

Three errors account for most of the "why did my Free File cost money" complaints we see. None of them are the program's fault.

1. Starting on a partner's commercial site. Search ads for "free tax filing" usually point at the partner's own free edition, not at the IRS Free File entry. The free edition is a different product with different rules. To stay inside Free File, start at IRS.gov/freefile.
2. Missing a per-partner state rule. A partner may accept your AGI but only serve filers in specific states for free. Read the IRS browser's per-partner detail before clicking through.
3. Importing prior-year data from a commercial product. Some imports are free; many are not. If you are switching to Free File this year, plan to re-key the basics from last year's return rather than paying to import.

For the full taxonomy of what makes "free" turn into paid, and a checker tool, see When "free" isn't free.