I have used the free version of the website taxact to do my tax forms for 5 years or more. It does the 1040a and itemized deductions too. When you are finished, you can do the e-file for free and print out a copy of your form. We usually get our refund back in less than a month.
Do not go to H&R Block!!!!!!! A simple tax return can cost around $200-300. Their employees are nothing more than data entry clerks with only a few having the minimal of tax knowledge. Their biggest mistakes are with the 1099's. The one time I went to them, I was audited (only time in my life) due to their error inputing a CSA 1099R. This is a lady who proudly announced she had 11 years of experience, yet I had to explain to her the CSA 1099R was a from federal income not a state income she insisted on. She was totally clueless on how State Civil Service and Federal Civil service income is reported. Her business card read she was a Financial Advisor. Should have read trained Monkey. Cost me $320.00 to have her input the imformation into a software package she had not familiarized herself with. This was ten years ago. Things haven't changed with this business.
Vegas is spot on about VITA/AARP. In my area, it is done at the local libraries; in my mom's city it is done at a couple of the malls, the Goodwill's who have a workforce program and at the OASIS sites. If it is something complex (like 1099-C's or rental income), most VITA sites do not do these. For those, you may try the law school as they do pro-bono (free) programs for the elderly for tax issues that require legal look-over. Good luck.
Sure there is free help. Look for VITA sites (sponsored by the IRS) or contact your local AARP office to get scheduled. Most of the free sites can handle routine returns and some of the schedules. If for some reason your return is too complex for them they won't do it. In that case try one of the businesses like H&R Block, but ask ahead of time what they think it will cost you.
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