ReturnBuilder Private: nothing leaves your browser

Free · Private · Built on IRS records

Your taxes, filled in from the IRS's own records.

The IRS already has a copy of nearly every tax form sent to you. Download those records, drop them here, answer a few questions, and get every line of your Form 1040 with a step-by-step guide to file it for free.

  • Nothing is uploaded
  • Every IRS form accounted for
  • File free with the IRS

How it works

1

Download from the IRS

Sign in at irs.gov and save two or three PDFs. About ten minutes the first time.

2

Drop them here

We read every W-2, 1099 and 1098 the IRS has on file, right in your browser.

3

Answer, then file free

A few questions the IRS can't answer, then your full return and a free way to file it.

Get your transcripts

About 10 minutes
  1. Sign in to the IRS
    irs.gov/your-account
    No IRS account yet?

    You create one through ID.me. Have a photo ID and your phone ready; it takes about 10 minutes the first time, with a selfie or a short video call.

  2. Open your transcripts
    Records & Status›Tax Records›View or create transcripts
  3. Click EN next to these
    Wage & Income · year you're filingEN
    Account Transcript · year you're filingEN
    Record of Account · the year beforeEN
    Married?

    Your spouse signs in to their own IRS account and downloads their Wage & Income transcript. Yours only shows your own forms.

    What about the other transcripts?

    The Return Transcript isn't needed: last year's Record of Account already includes it. You'll add each file in its own box on the next step.

Before you file

Filing early? Check for missing forms.

Employers and banks keep sending forms to the IRS into the spring. A transcript may not be complete until about July, so compare our list with the paper forms you received.

Your files never leave this computer

PDFs are read inside your browser. The page is blocked from sending anything over the internet (connect-src 'none'), so not even this site can see your numbers.

Is this for you?

Filled in from your transcripts

  • W-2 jobs, bank interest, dividends and stock sales
  • Retirement, Social Security and unemployment income
  • A mortgage, student loans, an HSA, children
  • Gig work and a side business
  • Every filing status; Florida, Illinois, Utah and Washington

Add a few numbers for

  • Rental properties, with depreciation
  • Partnerships, S corps or trusts (K-1s)
  • Marketplace health insurance (1095-A)
  • College tuition credits and IRA contributions
  • Anything else, typed onto the right line for you

Not covered yet: farm income, foreign income or foreign tax credits, the alternative minimum tax, and states other than these four. If your return needs one of these, we tell you instead of guessing.

A few questions

The transcripts cover the forms. These fill in what the IRS doesn't know. Your refund updates as you answer.