As usual, I take advantage of the automatic 2 month extension given to non-residents to file US tax returns. I never owe anything anyway, given the foreign tax credit. Usually, I wait till mid-June and, for reasons, always mail in a paper return. But given the impending Canadian postal strike, I filled out the paper return yesterday and mailed it today, making sure it had a date cancellation so I am not concerned. But the last thing I did was scan it to a single pdf file. The IRS site seems to say that the only way to file electronically is to go through some tax prep software and have an income lower than mine. Is there any way of just emailing the scanned return?
They won’t take it by email: Sending and receiving emails securely | Internal Revenue Service
(emphasis added)
When not to use email
You may not use email for communications that do not satisfy the criteria described under “When you may use email.” Unless you’re involved in an ongoing interaction with an IRS employee and they request a document by email, do not use email to respond to an IRS notice or to submit your original tax return to the IRS. To respond to a notice, follow the directions provided in the specific notice. Send original returns using standard filing procedures (mail or e-file).
They were experimenting with better e-filing options, but then the government died. Their existing e-file options are here: File your taxes for free | Internal Revenue Service.
Free File is the one that has an income cap. Direct File is the experiment that some states joined, but probably won’t have a future anymore under the new administration.
The whole thing is very archaic and confusing (on purpose) because Intuit keeps successfully bribing Congress to not do anything about it.
You may be thinking of free electronic filing, which has income limits, but I don’t believe paid electronic filing does.
FreeTaxUSA is… free and, AFAICT is not income capped. State filing costs $14, but Federal costs nothing. They do try to upsell you along the way, but I’ve had no trouble skipping past that.
The IRS tells you specifically not to file by mail if you’ve filed online.
There is a reason for me not to use online filing. I am not sure free-file is available outside the US.
In any case, thinking about it, I realize that I would never open an attached pdf file from an unknown source. That is just good digital hygiene. The return, whenever they get it, will still have a timely postmark.