How to Save Money When Filing Your Taxes

Want to save money on taxes in 2009? You need to check out these very helpful tax-related resources that will actually help save you money when filing your taxes and reduce your taxes too.

There are all sorts of free tax services and tax credits available that a lot of people are not aware of. You need to educate yourself before filing in order to maximize your returns, especially if you prepare and file your own taxes.

Free File

Free File is a service offered by the IRS in partnership with a group of private sector tax software companies. It offers a free way to prepare and e-file your federal taxes online if your adjusted gross income is $57,000 or less in 2009.

TaxACT 2009 Free Edition

If you prepare your own taxes, but don’t like to file online you can click the above like and download TaxACT 2009 free edition.  The free software offers everything that you need to prepare your federal income tax, print it and even efile should you prefer.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

There are a wealth of tax credits available for energy, education, new vehicle purchases and first-time homebuyers that will help save you money on taxes.You will also find changes in unemployment and COBRA that will benefit you if you are unemployed. In short, there are more stimulus benefits than I ever imagined and they are all summarized here at this IRS Information Center. You need to check this out before filing to see if you are eligible for any of these tax benefits in 2009 and also to educate yourself about tax advantages for the future.

States with Free Online Tax Returns

If you live in a state with a state income tax, check out the links below to various states that are offering free online tax filing regardless of income with the noted exception of New Jersey.

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey (New for 2009: Taxpayers with a NJ Gross Income over $150,000 can NOT use NJ Webfile)
• New Mexico
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Utah
• Virginia
• Wisconsin

If you come across any other ways to save money on taxes please add a comment to this post on Living Frugal Tips to share with everyone. Let’s join together to stick it to Uncle Sam.