The IRS is reminding low- and moderate-income Americans getting ready to file their federal income taxes that they may use online software programs to prepare and file returns electronically for free through the agency's Free File program.

The 7-year-old partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and 19 tax preparation software companies is for households with adjusted gross income of $57,000 or less.

Those taxpayers get free access to online tax software to help them prepare their returns just as they would on paper. About 70 percent of taxpayers qualify for the program.

"Free File walks taxpayers through every step of the filing process to make it fast, easy and secure," said Tim Hugo, executive director of the Free File Alliance, a group of private sector tax software companies.

By filing electronically, taxpayers can expect refunds in as little as 10 days, if they use the direct deposit option. After the return is submitted, a confirmation e-mail is sent to let the taxpayer know the return was accepted.

Some of the 19 software companies in the program set lower income thresholds or have other criteria to qualify. For example, TurboTax Freedom Edition generally requires income of $31,000 or less, and H&R Block's Free File sets an age limit of 51 or younger.

For more information visit www.freefilealliance.org. To use Free File and see a list of participating software companies, visit www.IRS.gov and click the Free File icon.

Roughly 25 million returns have been e-filed through Free File since the program began, including 4.8 million returns last tax season.

Be forewarned that some of the Free File software companies charge a fee for preparing and filing state income tax returns; so be sure to read all the fine print before filling out any state forms online.

"Money Q&A" and "Company Town" are featured exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.