BUFFALO, N.Y. — The IRS will allow you to file for free, if your adjusted gross income was $79,000 or less in 2023.
Christopher Fabian, vice president of EG Tax, said be careful filing for free on your own.
"The free stuff has always been out there. The IRS and the government is just really pushing it this year because the I'm thinking the high cost of everything out there, inflation, so they're thinking people need to save money," Fabian said.
There are a lot of new things this year.
"They did revamp the energy credit for 2023, so it's no more a lifetime limit where people are already maxed out. So now windows are worth $600, new doors could be worth up to $500, a furnace up to $600, air conditioning up to $600, as long as they're high energy efficient," Fabian said.
If you have an electric vehicle, there's a credit as much as $7,500, depending on the type of car.
The standard deduction did go up a married couple over age 65. Federal refunds may be lower than you expect.
"Where a single person normally gets back about $1,500 this year, they're lucky if they get back $100," Fabian said.
Fabian added: "The federal government adjusted the circular E, which controls your federal withholding through your paycheck. So what they did was give people more money each paycheck instead of waiting for it until you file your taxes, so a single person who normally gets $1,500 back is only getting about $100 back this year. If not, some of them even end up owing $100, so that's a big change. Even married couples, it's impacting their returns, and it's impacting everybody, so yeah, there is a major decrease in refunds this year."