{"id":503,"date":"2025-11-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/?p=503"},"modified":"2025-11-21T11:21:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T17:21:04","slug":"direct-file-shut-down-but-you-could-still-get-your-refund-with-other-free-tax-filing-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/direct-file-shut-down-but-you-could-still-get-your-refund-with-other-free-tax-filing-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct File Shut Down – But You Could Still Get Your Refund with Other Free Tax Filing Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Direct File, the digital service that allowed taxpayers to file their federal taxes directly with the IRS for free, closed on October 15th. However, you still have time to claim your tax refund. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people believe that once a year\u2019s filing deadline has passed, it is too late to claim refunds or tax credits, but that is not the case. In fact, you can claim a refund from up to three years back! There are no penalties for filing late if you are owed a refund. Some families with children could be eligible for thousands of dollars in one or more of these tax credits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may qualify for certain tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit (CTC) or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Once you file, you can usually expect to see money in your account within 21 days if you filed an e-return online. You can opt to receive your refund in a number of ways, including via paper check, direct deposit, or prepaid debit card. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tax credit may also reduce what you owe the IRS if you have income you haven\u2019t reported and paid taxes on. If you find you owe money, you can work with the IRS to create a payment plan and get yourself back on track instead of worrying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many low-moderate-income families and individuals may be leaving money on the table, and it\u2019s not too late to see if you could be eligible for a refund. Learn more about free ways to file on our P\u00e1gina de ayuda para la declaraci\u00f3n de impuestos<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Direct File may be closed, but taxpayers can still claim refunds going back three years. Many families qualify for valuable credits like the CTC or EITC, often worth thousands. Even if you owe taxes, the IRS offers payment plans. Free filing options are still available, making it easier to claim what you\u2019re owed.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Still Time to Claim Your Tax Refund After Direct File Closure","_seopress_titles_desc":"Direct File is closed, but you can still claim refunds up to three years back. Learn about free filing options and valuable tax credits you may qualify for.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"General"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/pexels-nappy-3584088.jpg",1920,1280,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Dave Schmidt","author_link":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/author\/8e5602cd689fe9a2\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"General","slug":"general","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":12,"category_description":"","cat_name":"General","category_nicename":"general","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":522,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503\/revisions\/522"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmypaymentillinois.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}