[Ir0nMan]

You haven't realized that they have been taking their payment from your refund all these years? They are a business not a charity.

[stronglikedan]

They truly do simple 1040s for free, even though they are indeed not a charity.

[Spivak]

I mean I've paid like $18 to efile my state taxes but they haven't taken any of my refund and I get it direct deposited from the IRS.

What tax complexities exist for low income people that would cause $200 fees?

[tracker1]

Sell some stuff on Etsy and get payouts on social media. As soon as you start adding in business expenses, it inflates pretty quickly.

I've often taken on a side project or two a year for software dev/consulting and it usually winds up being $200-350 to have my taxes done. If I only have W2 income, I'll do the electronic version of TurboTax though. I also do 0 deductions and have extra out of each check taken out just in case, I don't set aside or do quarterly payments and usually get a decent return back.