Tag Mobile Free Smartphone Lifeline Plans

Operating in 19 states, Tag Mobile is another Lifeline provider for eligible low-income individuals/households. Through the federal Lifeline program, Tag Mobile offers free smartphones along with talk/text and data for qualified individuals/households in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

If your state isn’t part of the Tag Mobile jurisdiction, check out our State Listings to find free government phone providers where you live.

Lifeline Plans

Tag Mobile has two Lifeline plans. There’s one for all states except California and of course, there’s a plan just for California.

Non-California Applicants

Residents living in states other than California get 1,000 free voice minutes, unlimited texting and 1 GB of data. If you have an existing smartphone and would like to use it oon the Tag Mobile Lifeline plan, then you can use the SIM only plan. The SIM only bring your own phone (BYOP) plan provides the same talk, text and data limits whether you bring your own phone or not.

California Applicants

California residents get unlimited talking and unlimited texting. They also get 500 MB of LTE data for the first three months. After the first three months, the data limit increases to 1 GB of data. However, the first 500 MB of data is at LTE speed.

California residents also have the option to select the SIM only Lifeline plan. If you bring your own phone and use the Tag Mobile SIM card, you get 3 GB of data along with unlimited talk and unlimited text.

All free smartphones come with voicemail, caller ID, call waiting and nationwide coverage.

How to Qualify for Tag Mobile Lifeline

In order to get the free government smartphone with the associated talk/text and data, you must have an income at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (California income limits may differ). Or, you must participate in one of the following government assistance programs:

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 'Food Stamps'
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Medicaid
Federal Public Housing Assistance
Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit Program

If you live in California, participating in any of the following programs makes you eligible for Tag Mobile Lifeline benefits:

Medicaid/Medi-Cal
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Federal Public Housing Assistance or Section 8
CalFresh, Food Stamps or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC)
National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs)
Stanislaus County Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (StanWORKs)
Welfare-to-Work (WTW)
Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN)

Tribal TANF
Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
Head Start Income Eligible (Tribal Only)
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations
Federal Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit Program

How to Apply Tag Mobile's for FreeSmartphone

With the rollout of the National Verification program, there are several ways to apply for your free smartphone. Residents subject to the progam can visit CheckLifeline.org and begin the application process there. Once approved nationally, you may visit Tag Mobile and complete the application process.

Residents in states not subject to the National verification program, can go straight to the Tag Mobile site and begin the application process online. Or, if you prefer, you can download the Lifeline application from Tag Mobile’s site, complete it and submit it along with the necessary documentation. You may either fax (972)488-8636 or email the application to support @tagmobile.com.

Once you’ve submitted the necessary information you can track the status of your application from the Tag Mobile website.

Things to Know about Lifeline

Once your application is approved by Tag Mobile, you should receive your phone within 7 to 10 business days.

You are required to recertify annually to ensure you still qualify for Lifeline benefits.

If you need additional talk or air time, you can add minutes by visiting the Top Up page on the Tag Mobile website.

You must use your phone at least once every 30 days to maintain your enrollment status.

Only one Lifeline benefit per household.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: This site was created to help people find information about free government phones. We do not mail, activate or repair free government phones nor do we provide service. If you have questions about phone service we suggest you contact the phone service provider directly.

Last Modified: 7 June 2021