How to use TurboTax to file your taxes for free in 2018

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TurboTax offers a free online tax filing service for eligible taxpayers.
Tax season officially kicked off January 29, with a final deadline of April 17 this year.
The IRS recommends e-filing your taxes and requesting your refund via direct deposit.
Business Insider decided to try the free version of TurboTax's service.

Tax season is almost over.

Americans now have until April 17 to file their 2017 taxes. While the new GOP tax plan signed by President Trump in December is the law of the land, the changes won't affect your tax return this year. The new tax brackets will only affect income earned starting January 1, 2018.

If your income was less than $66,000 in 2017, many online tax services offer the option to file for your federal taxes — and sometimes state taxes — for free. You can check your options using the IRS Free File Lookup tool.

TurboTax, an offshoot of tech company Intuit, is one such software offering free services to eligible taxpayers.

The IRS also says the fastest way to get your tax refund is the method already used by most taxpayers: filing electronically and selecting direct deposit as the method for receiving your refund. Your refund should hit your bank account within three weeks of filing online. Often, you'll get your money even faster.

I used TurboTaxes to file my taxes last year. This time around, I went on a quick trial run to demonstrate how you can use it during this year's tax season. If you're really not ready to file, TurboTax offers a free tax calculator that will estimate your tax refund for this year and next year in less than five minutes.

Of course, I didn't actually file my taxes this time around. I just went through the motions, to give you a sense of what it's like to use TurboTax.

Here's how it works:

DON'T MISS: H&R Block's tax calculator will estimate your refund for this year and next year — and it takes less than 5 minutes