Due to a decline in use and increasing costs, the Internal Revenue Service is discontinuing its TeleFile program. The IRS will shut down TeleFile, which allows taxpayers to file certain forms by telephone, after Aug. 16, 2005. An IRS announcement said that a decline in use for most forms, coupled with increasing costs to maintain the system, led to the decision.
TeleFile began nationally in 1997 for single Form 1040EZ filers, and was later expanded to allow the filing of selected Forms 1040EZ, Forms 941 and 4868, and individual tax returns for eight states. "Despite its initial success, the program has since experienced a decline in use for most forms as other electronic filing alternatives have become available. This, coupled with increasing costs to maintain the TeleFile infrastructure, led the IRS to decide to discontinue the
program," an announcement issued by the IRS said.
Taxpayers can use TeleFile for Form 1040EZ through Aug. 15.
The IRS said that electronic filing alternatives are available on its Web site
irs.gov .