Filing your income tax manually is estimated to take the average taxpayer more than 24 hours to complete, and that is just for Federal Income Tax. That is a lot of time to spend in pain!

So what are the alternatives? You can hire a tax professional or CPA and pay hundreds of dollars in fees, you can file free using the IRS free File or you can use online tax websites that will also do it for free with limitations.

If your adjusted gross income is $56,000 or less in 2008 you can use IRS Free File. IRS Free File is a partnership between the IRS and private tax prep companies designed to promote the use of e-filing tax returns by taxpayers. However, not all of these programs are the same. Each of the Free File programs have there own eligibility requires. Some are available to residents or certain states, or limit it to taxpayers in a certain age bracket. Others may have a lower income limit than the IRS treshold of $56,000. Another thing to be aware of is that some will file your state income tax for free while others will charge you a fee.

Another option is to go to the IRS website www.irs.gov and use their Free File Fillable tax form. These electronic forms will do the math for you, but that’s it. However, this alternative will not help you determine if you should itemize or take the standard deductions. This option is recommended for those who are know the tax forms and the specific forms they will need to complete their tax filing.

But your best option may be to use free tax return websites that will prepare, print and efile for free that handles simple that handles simple and complex returns. You can also pay a small free to get the deluxe editions that provide free guidance and also do your state tax returns for you.

When you consider time versus money, paying $10.00 to $20.00 and spending 2 hours is well worth spending nothing and spending 24 hours completing your taxes. But you make the call!