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I did not have that experience. I went directly to the site and my federal was free. State was $15 or whatever it was. I did not use the IRS link.

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The state is free if you make under a certain amount which was the case for me. I ended up just paying the $15 rather than re-entering anything.

Federal return is always free

You say it's "always free", but a cousin comment in this thread a few levels up claims it as "$13.50".

There are 2 parts to tax returns in the US: the Federal File and the State File (though, not all states require you to file taxes). With FreeTaxUSA The Federal File is always free. The State File is $15 unless you make under a certain amount and use the IRS link to get to the website.

This IRS link issue is something I've noticed with TurboTax and TaxSlayer in the past. They hide their free file (even the Federal File) from users unless they use the IRS link.

But this is false. Go check it yourself: federal efile through Freetaxusa is free. I did it last night.

I've already filed for the year, so it's too late for me to check it that way.

Or, unless you're saying I should believe the marketing, but again, we're in a thread about the marketing from companies in that industry being false…

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