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Taxes: free help, money you may be owed, and what to do if you can’t pay
For people in the United States who are worried about federal income taxes and can’t pay someone to sort them out. Whether you need to file. The credits many people miss. Where a trained volunteer will do your return for free. What to do about years you didn’t file, a bill you can’t pay, or a letter from the IRS. And the words to say when you call. One thing at a time.
Right now
- Open the envelope. The IRS says to review a letter carefully and, if it asks you to respond, act by the due date. Most letters ask for one thing.
- Before you pay anyone to do your taxes, ask whether there is a free site near you. The IRS number for finding one: 800-906-9887.
- You owe and can’t pay? The IRS says to file on time anyway and pay what you can. It has payment plans, and it can delay collection if paying would keep you from meeting basic living expenses: 800-829-1040, Monday to Friday.
- A call that threatens arrest, or demands payment now? The IRS says that is not the IRS. Hang up.
- The worry is too much tonight? Call or text 988, at any hour. In danger: 911.
More help
- Short of money for rent, food or bills? When the money runs out, Food help and A place to stay.
- Lost the papers that prove who you are? When your ID is gone.
- Keeping track of calls, letters and dates? Paper trail, Dates to keep, Where things are and Call script.
- Seeing what you can pay each month? Money plan and Bills.
- Not sure a call or letter is real? Is this a scam?
- Lost your job this year? When you lose your job.
- Coming home from prison or jail? Coming home.
- A return for someone who died? After a death.
- A medical bill too? When a medical bill is too much.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- When you need a lawyer and can’t pay: where free legal aid is, and what to do with court papers before the date on them. General information, not legal advice.
- Help as you get older: one number that finds help near you, staying in your own home, help paying for Medicare, and scams.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No tax preparer, accountant or lawyer has reviewed it. The facts come from pages read on October 5, 2026: the Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov), the Taxpayer Advocate Service (taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov) and Military OneSource, describing its own service. The page says whose words it is passing on. The dollar amounts are for tax year 2025 (returns most people file in early 2026) unless the page says otherwise, and they change every year: check the IRS page before you rely on one. One IRS page we read was last reviewed in May 2025 (the offer in compromise) and one in October 2025 (the ITIN); the dates we found are on the page. Two IRS pages give different income figures for its volunteer sites; we give both. We did not read any state’s tax rules, and most states have their own income tax. We did not read about self-employment tax and estimated payments, audits in detail, liens and levies in detail, innocent spouse relief, bankruptcy, taxes after a death, taxes for people living abroad, or how tax debt affects immigration cases or benefits. The IRS page for “Direct File” returned “not found” on the day we read, so this page says nothing about it. The line about 988 was read on October 1, 2026. Many lines are our own suggestions, and the page marks them as ours. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a tax preparer, a law firm or a government agency, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].