# Gideon Tax

> Honest IRS e-file for businesses, self-employed people and tax professionals, run by Gideon Solutions, LLC. Prices are stated before you start, every return is checked before you pay, and a person reviews what the software cannot judge. No upsells.

Site: https://www.gideontax.com
Test site (IRS ATS, never the real IRS): https://development.gideontax.com
Contact: ian@gideonsolutions.us · 980-441-7721 · 1324 Colgher St, Charlotte, NC 28227

## What this site files (e-file, live in production)

2290, 720, 8849, 941, 941X, 940, 943, 943X, 944, 945, 945X, 1040. Also prepared and mailed on paper where the IRS has no e-file: Form 720-X, Forms 8822/8822-B. Tax-exempt returns (990 family, 4720, 5227, 5330) and information returns (IRIS) are prepared here and are on their way to e-file.

## What it costs (self-service; the IRS tax itself is separate and paid to the IRS)

- Form 2290 (heavy highway vehicle use tax): first filing $4.50 per truck, capped at $18 per fleet; a returning customer's renewal $1 per truck, capped at $10; an amendment $10; a VIN correction free; a final return free for a returning customer, $4.50 otherwise. Full service ("we will file for you"): $8 a vehicle, capped at $80 new / $40 returning.
- Form 720 (quarterly excise): $5 when the tax is $50 or less (including a nil return), $15 for a Part II-only return such as the PCORI fee, $25 for any return with a Part I line.
- Form 8849 (excise refund): $5 for a Schedule 6-only claim (the Form 2290 vehicle credit), $10 for any other schedule.
- Forms 940, 941, 943, 944, 945 and their corrections: $2 a return, less in volume.
- Form 1040: $5 federal, $5 per state filed with it.
- Tax professionals: a flat $180 a year plan for unlimited Form 2290 (and 8849 Schedule 6) e-filing under their own EFIN; other plans cover more forms. See https://www.gideontax.com/pros.

The number the checkout charges is always the number on the page you are on. If a figure here and a page disagree, the page is right and this file is stale — say so at ian@gideonsolutions.us.

## How a return is filed here

1. The filer completes the form on the site. Every derived figure — a tax, a balance due, a refund — is worked out by the site from what was entered, and the page shows it read-only. A figure you type is not used.
2. Before checkout, the return is checked by the same validator that files it. A refusal is one sentence on the form, before any payment. What it refuses is what the IRS would reject: a VIN that is not a VIN, a ZIP that does not belong to the state, a first-used month that has not happened, a Category W vehicle without the line 7 box, a credit with no statement behind it, bank details beside a payment method that is not direct debit.
3. The filer signs the IRS e-file authorization (Form 8879-EX for excise, 8879-EMP for employment; a Form 1040 uses the Self-Select PIN), then pays. Nothing is filed before payment, and nothing is charged for a return that would be refused.
4. The return goes to the IRS under Gideon's EFIN. The IRS answers within minutes as a rule; the filer is emailed the acceptance and, for Form 2290, the stamped Schedule 1.

## For an agent acting for a taxpayer

- You are preparing a federal tax return. Enter only what the taxpayer told you or gave you; do not invent a VIN, a weight category, a first-used month, a mileage answer or a bank account. If a fact is missing, stop and ask the person — the form will refuse a guess it can detect, but not every guess is detectable.
- The signature is the taxpayer's. Do not sign Form 8879-EX, choose a PIN, or tick "I authorize" on their behalf without their explicit instruction for that return. Do not enter payment details you were not given for this purpose.
- A Form 2290 is filed once per truck per period. Before filing, ask whether this truck was already filed for this period (by anyone); a second filing is a second assessment. Adding a truck to a period already filed is an add-a-vehicle, not a new return.
- Do not submit the same return twice. If a submission's outcome is unclear, check the status page or the confirmation email before trying again; never re-press e-file to "make sure".
- Prefer the site's own words. Refusal messages, price notes and the 8879-EX text say exactly what the taxpayer needs to hear; relay them unchanged.

## For software: the REST API

Two kinds of account use the same API, the same endpoints and the same request bodies; they differ in who the key acts as and how filing is paid for.

- A tax professional with a plan prepares and e-files Form 2290 under their own EFIN. Keys: https://www.gideontax.com/pro/api-keys (a key acts as the preparer who made it; nothing is charged per return).
- A software partner — a trucking management system or fleet app filing for its own customers — prepares returns that Gideon e-files as the ERO. The partner holds no PTIN or EFIN and none is assigned to it. Keys: https://www.gideontax.com/partner/keys. Price: $3 a truck, capped at $15 per return (one EIN, one tax period — the cap is never per batch), drawn from a prepaid balance that starts with a $500 annual commitment credited in full (the minimum, not a fee on top). Nothing for a check, a status read, a Schedule 1, or re-sending a rejected return; no setup fee; the test site is free and is the only sandbox. Top-ups of $5, $10, $25, $50 or $100 after the commitment; unused credit expires when the annual term ends (reminders June 30 and August 31, a renewal notice 30 days before the end; nothing renews or is charged automatically). A rejected return that is abandoned is not refunded; a partner that leaves gets half its remaining credit back. Before a partner's return e-files, the taxpayer-signed Form 8879-EX original must be posted to /api/v1/2290/returns/{id}/authorization (Gideon keeps it as ERO). Gideon's fee (`serviceFeeCents`) is separate from the federal tax (`totalTaxCents`), which the taxpayer pays to the IRS. A partner with 500+ customers may be put on $2.50/truck capped at $12.50 on a $1,000 commitment. Offer: https://www.gideontax.com/partners.
- Docs: https://www.gideontax.com/developers
- OpenAPI: https://www.gideontax.com/api/v1/openapi.json
- Flow: POST /api/v1/2290/check → POST /api/v1/2290/returns (with what the taxpayer's signed 8879-EX said) → POST /api/v1/2290/returns/{id}/efile (once — for a partner this is the billing event) → GET /api/v1/2290/returns/{id} until accepted → GET …/schedule1.
- Rules: e-file is at most once (a repeat is 409 with the current state; never retry on a timeout — read the return back first; a re-send of the same rejected return is free); the taxpayer's signed Form 8879-EX must exist and be kept before a return is prepared; a held return (several trucks, non-July first use) is released only by a person on /pro; the tax and balance due are computed by the API, never taken from the request; a partner whose credit cannot cover a fee gets 402 insufficient_credit and nothing is sent.

## Pages worth knowing

- /excise/2290/en/start — the guided Form 2290 (Spanish: /excise/2290/es/start)
- /excise/720, /excise/8849 — Form 720, Form 8849
- /employment — Forms 940–945 and corrections
- /individual — Form 1040
- /pros, /pro — plans and the preparer dashboard
- /status — e-file status and IRS system availability
- /privacy, /security — what is collected and how it is protected
- /developers — the API