[wsha]

Interesting point. For the past few years, I have printed out my return and mailed it in because that is free and e-filing costs money. I do it partly because it is cheaper but also partly because I find it sad that e-filing is not easier and more cost effective for the government to handle than a paper submission (if it is, it is sad that the government is not incentivizing it through cost). Maybe the government just prints the e-filed return out and adds it to the stack of mailed in returns to be processed. It seems like there would be big gains in efficiency if the government had a standard digital submission protocol, if they could get past the initial cost to develop it and could handle the security issues it would entail.

[gergles]

They DO have a standardized submission protocol, you just can't send things to it without a certified client program.

They offer a truly free e-file solution (for Federal): https://www.freefilefillableforms.com/#/fd. Part of the deal for getting all the paid clients certified was that companies had to provide this product for free.

[wsha]

Indeed, I use and appreciate freefillableforms.com. Sorry, I should have clarified that I was talking about the state government tax filing process not having a free electronic submission process (at least for the three states I have filed in recently).