Telefile

Back in the olden days (i.e. the early 2000s), filing our taxes every year was a whole different ball game. The internet wasn’t really a fully ubiquitous, everybody-has-it-fast, household thing, so we had two options when it came to submitting that federal tax return: we could either send it in via snail mail—gasp—or certain taxpayers could actually phone in their return from the comfort of their own home.

This phone service was called “Telefile,” and for people filing the 1040EZ form—the most standard and simple of all the tax forms—it was a big time-saver. All they’d have to do was call the number and follow the prompts to enter all of the numbers from their 1040EZ into the Telefile service. Once they were done, they’d get a confirmation, and bim bam boom, taxes = filed.

The IRS ditched Telefile in 2005 in favor of E-filing, which is the online tax filing service we’ve all come to know and love. It’s a lot more versatile of a service, since we can use it with tax forms other than the 1040EZ, but ol’ Telefile will always hold a special place in our hearts.