TAX - No More Printed Tax Packages in the Mail

Direct paper tax filings by individuals have decreased and majority of the paper filings are through paid tax preparers.

So Individual and business taxpayers will no longer receive paper income tax packages in the mail from the IRS.

Those thick tax packages, with the forms, schedules and instructions for filing a paper income tax returns, and sticking out of mailboxes were a familiar sight during tax season.

Starting January 2011, taxpayers used to the printed tax packages arriving automatically to their homes every year will now have to find other sources to get them.

These are some of the sources for getting the printed tax packages:

Local IRS offices

Participating libraries

Post offices.

If you are ready to change from the days of printed file forms to the new of era of computerization, there are other options:

Download and print forms and instructions from the IRS website

If you like completing online fillable taxforms and free electronic filing, the IRS Free File is suitable.

The following services are also available but come with some conditions of eligibility:

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program for free tax preparation and, in many cases, free electronic filing - available only to Individuals with incomes $49,000 or less.

The Tax Counseling for the Elderly Individuals service for free tax counseling and basic income tax preparation - restricted to taxpayers aged 60 and older.

Apart from the free fillable taxform and e-filing mentioned above, the IRS Free File service offers nearly 20 commercial software providers - for taxpayers who earn $58,000 or less .

PLEASE NOTE: The above income limits were for the 2009 tax year and may or may not change for the 2010 tax year. Updates are expected in early January, 2011.

So, while printed tax packages will not become extinct anytime soon, they won't be coming to our mailboxes anymore.