UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-CSR

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED

MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Investment Company Act file number 811-04345

Putnam Tax Free Income Trust

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

100 Federal Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Alexander Y. Kymn, Vice President

100 Federal Street,

Boston, Massachusetts 02110

Copy to:

Bryan Chegwidden, Esq.

Ropes & Gray LLP

1211 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

James E. Thomas, Esq.

Ropes & Gray LLP

800 Boylston Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02199

(Name and address of agent for service)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (617) 292-1000

Date of fiscal year end: July 31

Date of reporting period: July 31, 2026

(a) The Report to Shareholders is filed herewith

Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund
Class A [PPNAX]
Annual Shareholder Report | July 31, 2026

This annual shareholder report contains important information about Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund for the period August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026.
You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) 225-1581.  

WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST YEAR? (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

Class Name	Costs of a $10,000 investment	Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment
Class A	$89	0.87%

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM LAST YEAR AND WHAT AFFECTED ITS PERFORMANCE?

For the twelve months ended July 31, 2026, Class A shares of Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund returned 5.32%. The Fund compares its performance to the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index and the Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†, which both returned 3.74% for the same period.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Top contributors to performance:
↑	Overweight exposure to municipal bonds with 20 to 30 years to maturity
↑	Security selection within bonds rated below investment-grade
↑	Overweight exposure to bonds with no external credit rating

Top detractors from performance:
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds rated below investment-grade
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds with 10 years to maturity

Use of derivatives and the impact on performance:

The Fund utilized U.S. Treasury futures to manage its duration and yield curve exposure, which had a largely neutral impact on performance.

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS?

The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.

VALUE OF A $10,000 INVESTMENT ($9,775 AFTER MAXIMUM APPLICABLE SALES CHARGE) –
Class A 7/31/2016 — 7/31/2026

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (%) Period Ended July 31, 2026

	1 Year	5 Year	10 Year
Class A	5.32	1.19	2.25
Class A (with sales charge)	2.95	0.73	2.02
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index	5.27	0.51	1.95
Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index	3.74	0.77	1.93
Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†	3.74	0.77	2.00

†	The Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark represents the performance of the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index through August 27, 2020, and the performance of the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index thereafter.

Fund performance figures may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which the performance would have been lower.

Performance for periods prior to July 1, 2022, has been restated to reflect the current maximum sales charge, which is lower than the maximum sales charge prior to that date.

Effective August 28, 2020, the Fund adopted its current investment strategy.

For current month-end performance, please call Franklin Templeton at (800) 225-1581 or visit
https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/mutual-funds.

Important data provider notices and terms available at www.franklintempletondatasources.com.

KEY FUND STATISTICS (as of July 31, 2026)

Total Net Assets	$2,488,146,747
Total Number of Portfolio Holdings	907
Total Management Fee Paid	$9,352,711
Portfolio Turnover Rate	34%

WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN? (as of July 31, 2026)

Portfolio Composition^* (% of Total Investments)

	WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?
	Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its:
	• prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information

HOUSEHOLDING

You will receive the Fund’s shareholder reports every six months. In addition, you will receive an annual updated summary prospectus (detail prospectus available upon request). To reduce Fund expenses, we try to identify related shareholders in a household and send only one copy of the shareholder reports and summary prospectus. This process, called “householding,” will continue indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you prefer not to have these documents householded, please call us at (800) 225-1581. At any time, you may view current prospectuses/summary prospectuses and shareholder reports on our website. If you choose, you may receive these documents through electronic delivery.

Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund
Class C [PAMTX]
Annual Shareholder Report | July 31, 2026

This annual shareholder report contains important information about Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund for the period August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026.
You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) 225-1581.  

WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST YEAR? (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

Class Name	Costs of a $10,000 investment	Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment
Class C	$166	1.62%

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM LAST YEAR AND WHAT AFFECTED ITS PERFORMANCE?

For the twelve months ended July 31, 2026, Class C shares of Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund returned 4.51%. The Fund compares its performance to the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index and the Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†, which both returned 3.74% for the same period.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Top contributors to performance:
↑	Overweight exposure to municipal bonds with 20 to 30 years to maturity
↑	Security selection within bonds rated below investment-grade
↑	Overweight exposure to bonds with no external credit rating

Top detractors from performance:
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds rated below investment-grade
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds with 10 years to maturity

Use of derivatives and the impact on performance:

The Fund utilized U.S. Treasury futures to manage its duration and yield curve exposure, which had a largely neutral impact on performance.

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS?

The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.

VALUE OF A $10,000 INVESTMENT – Class C 7/31/2016 — 7/31/2026

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (%) Period Ended July 31, 2026

	1 Year	5 Year	10 Year
Class C	4.51	0.42	1.63
Class C (with sales charge)	3.51	0.42	1.63
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index	5.27	0.51	1.95
Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index	3.74	0.77	1.93
Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†	3.74	0.77	2.00

†	The Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark represents the performance of the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index through August 27, 2020, and the performance of the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index thereafter.

Fund performance figures may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which the performance would have been lower.

Class C share performance reflects conversion to class A shares after eight years.

Effective August 28, 2020, the Fund adopted its current investment strategy.

For current month-end performance, please call Franklin Templeton at (800) 225-1581 or visit
https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/mutual-funds.

Important data provider notices and terms available at www.franklintempletondatasources.com.

KEY FUND STATISTICS (as of July 31, 2026)

Total Net Assets	$2,488,146,747
Total Number of Portfolio Holdings	907
Total Management Fee Paid	$9,352,711
Portfolio Turnover Rate	34%

WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN? (as of July 31, 2026)

Portfolio Composition^* (% of Total Investments)

	WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?
	Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its:
	• prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information

HOUSEHOLDING

You will receive the Fund’s shareholder reports every six months. In addition, you will receive an annual updated summary prospectus (detail prospectus available upon request). To reduce Fund expenses, we try to identify related shareholders in a household and send only one copy of the shareholder reports and summary prospectus. This process, called “householding,” will continue indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you prefer not to have these documents householded, please call us at (800) 225-1581. At any time, you may view current prospectuses/summary prospectuses and shareholder reports on our website. If you choose, you may receive these documents through electronic delivery.

Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund
Class R6 [PAMLX]
Annual Shareholder Report | July 31, 2026

This annual shareholder report contains important information about Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund for the period August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026.
You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) 225-1581.  

WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST YEAR? (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

Class Name	Costs of a $10,000 investment	Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment
Class R6	$56	0.54%

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM LAST YEAR AND WHAT AFFECTED ITS PERFORMANCE?

For the twelve months ended July 31, 2026, Class R6 shares of Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund returned 5.67%. The Fund compares its performance to the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index and the Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†, which both returned 3.74% for the same period.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Top contributors to performance:
↑	Overweight exposure to municipal bonds with 20 to 30 years to maturity
↑	Security selection within bonds rated below investment-grade
↑	Overweight exposure to bonds with no external credit rating

Top detractors from performance:
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds rated below investment-grade
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds with 10 years to maturity

Use of derivatives and the impact on performance:

The Fund utilized U.S. Treasury futures to manage its duration and yield curve exposure, which had a largely neutral impact on performance.

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS?

The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.

VALUE OF A $10,000 INVESTMENT – Class R6 7/31/2016 — 7/31/2026

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (%) Period Ended July 31, 2026

	1 Year	5 Year	10 Year
Class R6	5.67	1.50	2.53
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index	5.27	0.51	1.95
Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index	3.74	0.77	1.93
Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†	3.74	0.77	2.00

†	The Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark represents the performance of the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index through August 27, 2020, and the performance of the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index thereafter.

Fund performance figures may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which the performance would have been lower.

The Fund began offering Class R6 shares on 5/22/2018. Returns for periods before 5/22/2018 are based on the Fund’s Class Y performance, which has not been adjusted for the lower operating expenses; had it been adjusted, performance would have been higher. For periods after the share class offering, performance for the specific share class is used, reflecting the applicable expenses and maximum sales charges.

Effective August 28, 2020, the Fund adopted its current investment strategy.

For current month-end performance, please call Franklin Templeton at (800) 225-1581 or visit
https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/mutual-funds.

Important data provider notices and terms available at www.franklintempletondatasources.com.

KEY FUND STATISTICS (as of July 31, 2026)

Total Net Assets	$2,488,146,747
Total Number of Portfolio Holdings	907
Total Management Fee Paid	$9,352,711
Portfolio Turnover Rate	34%

WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN? (as of July 31, 2026)

Portfolio Composition^* (% of Total Investments)

	WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?
	Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its:
	• prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information

HOUSEHOLDING

You will receive the Fund’s shareholder reports every six months. In addition, you will receive an annual updated summary prospectus (detail prospectus available upon request). To reduce Fund expenses, we try to identify related shareholders in a household and send only one copy of the shareholder reports and summary prospectus. This process, called “householding,” will continue indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you prefer not to have these documents householded, please call us at (800) 225-1581. At any time, you may view current prospectuses/summary prospectuses and shareholder reports on our website. If you choose, you may receive these documents through electronic delivery.

Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund
Class Y [PAMYX]
Annual Shareholder Report | July 31, 2026

This annual shareholder report contains important information about Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund for the period August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026.
You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) 225-1581.  

WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST YEAR? (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

Class Name	Costs of a $10,000 investment	Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment
Class Y	$64	0.62%

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM LAST YEAR AND WHAT AFFECTED ITS PERFORMANCE?

For the twelve months ended July 31, 2026, Class Y shares of Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund returned 5.58%. The Fund compares its performance to the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index and the Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†, which both returned 3.74% for the same period.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

Top contributors to performance:
↑	Overweight exposure to municipal bonds with 20 to 30 years to maturity
↑	Security selection within bonds rated below investment-grade
↑	Overweight exposure to bonds with no external credit rating

Top detractors from performance:
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds rated below investment-grade
↓	Overweight exposure to bonds with 10 years to maturity

Use of derivatives and the impact on performance:

The Fund utilized U.S. Treasury futures to manage its duration and yield curve exposure, which had a largely neutral impact on performance.

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS?

The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.

VALUE OF A $10,000 INVESTMENT – Class Y 7/31/2016 — 7/31/2026

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (%) Period Ended July 31, 2026

	1 Year	5 Year	10 Year
Class Y	5.58	1.44	2.50
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index	5.27	0.51	1.95
Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index	3.74	0.77	1.93
Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark†	3.74	0.77	2.00

†	The Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Linked Benchmark represents the performance of the Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index through August 27, 2020, and the performance of the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend Municipal Bond Index thereafter.

Fund performance figures may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which the performance would have been lower.

Effective August 28, 2020, the Fund adopted its current investment strategy.

For current month-end performance, please call Franklin Templeton at (800) 225-1581 or visit
https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/mutual-funds.

Important data provider notices and terms available at www.franklintempletondatasources.com.

KEY FUND STATISTICS (as of July 31, 2026)

Total Net Assets	$2,488,146,747
Total Number of Portfolio Holdings	907
Total Management Fee Paid	$9,352,711
Portfolio Turnover Rate	34%

WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN? (as of July 31, 2026)

Portfolio Composition^* (% of Total Investments)

	WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?
	Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its:
	• prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information

HOUSEHOLDING

You will receive the Fund’s shareholder reports every six months. In addition, you will receive an annual updated summary prospectus (detail prospectus available upon request). To reduce Fund expenses, we try to identify related shareholders in a household and send only one copy of the shareholder reports and summary prospectus. This process, called “householding,” will continue indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you prefer not to have these documents householded, please call us at (800) 225-1581. At any time, you may view current prospectuses/summary prospectuses and shareholder reports on our website. If you choose, you may receive these documents through electronic delivery.

(b) Not applicable

(a) The Registrant has adopted a code of ethics that applies to its principal executive officers and principal financial and accounting officer.

(c) N/A

(d) N/A

(f) Pursuant to Item 19(a) (1), the Registrant is attaching as an exhibit a copy of its code of ethics that applies to its principal executive officers and principal financial and accounting officer.

The Board of Trustees of the Registrant has determined that Warren Lowell and Manoj P. Singh possess the technical attributes identified in Item 3 to Form N-CSR to qualify as “audit committee financial experts,” and has designated Warren Lowell and Manoj P. Singh as the Audit Committee’s financial experts. Warren Lowell and Manoj P. Singh are “independent” Trustees pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Item 3 to Form N-CSR.

Under applicable securities laws, a person determined to be an audit committee financial expert will not be deemed an “expert” for any purpose, including without limitation for the purposes of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, as a result of being designated or identified as an audit committee financial expert. The designation or identification of a person as an audit committee financial expert does not impose on such person any duties, obligations, or liabilities greater than the duties, obligations, and liabilities imposed on such person as a member of the audit committee and board of directors in the absence of such designation or identification. The designation or identification of a person as an audit committee financial expert does not affect the duties, obligations, or liability of any other member of the audit committee or board of directors.

(a) Audit Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the last two fiscal years ending July 31, 2025 and July 31, 2026 (the “Reporting Periods”) for professional services rendered by the Registrant’s principal accountant (the “Auditor”) for the audit of the Registrant’s annual financial statements, or services that are normally provided by the Auditor in connection with the statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for the Reporting Periods, were $52,564 in July 31, 2025 and $46,060 in July 31, 2026.

(b) Audit-Related Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the Reporting Periods for assurance and related services by the Auditor that are reasonably related to the performance of the Registrant’s financial statements were $0 in July 31, 2025 and $0 in July 31, 2026.

(c) Tax Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the Reporting Periods for professional services rendered by the Auditor for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning (“Tax Services”) were $12,762 in July 31, 2025 and $12,762 in July 31, 2026. These services consisted of (i) review or preparation of U.S. federal, state, local and excise tax returns; (ii) U.S. federal, state and local tax planning, advice and assistance regarding statutory, regulatory or administrative developments, and (iii) tax advice regarding tax qualification matters and/or treatment of various financial instruments held or proposed to be acquired or held.

There were no fees billed for tax services by the Registrant’s investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the Registrant (“Service Affiliates”) during the Reporting Periods that required pre-approval by the Audit Committee

(d) All Other Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the Reporting Periods for products and services provided by the Auditor to the Registrant, other than the services reported in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this item, were $0 in July 31, 2025 and $0 in July 31, 2026.

There were no other non-audit services rendered by the Auditor to the Service Affiliates requiring pre-approval by the Audit Committee in the Reporting Periods.

(e) Audit Committee’s pre-approval policies and procedures described in paragraph (c) (7) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

Pre-Approval Policies of the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee. The Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee of the Putnam funds has determined that, as a matter of policy, all work performed for the funds by the funds’ independent auditors will be pre-approved by the Committee itself and thus will generally not be subject to pre-approval procedures.

The Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee also has adopted a policy to pre-approve the engagement by the fund’s investment manager and certain of its affiliates of the fund’s independent auditors, even in circumstances where pre-approval is not required by applicable law. Any such requests by the fund’s investment manager or certain of its affiliates are typically submitted in writing to the Committee and explain, among other things, the nature of the proposed engagement, the estimated fees, and why this work should be performed by that particular audit firm as opposed to another one. In reviewing such requests, the Committee considers, among other things, whether the provision of such services by the audit firm are compatible with the independence of the audit firm.

(2) None of the services described in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this Item were performed in reliance on paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

(f) Not applicable.

(g) Non-audit fees billed by the Auditor for services rendered to the Registrant and the Service Affiliates during the reporting period were $489,647 in July 31, 2025 and $1,557,011 in July 31, 2026.

(h) Yes. The Registrant’s Audit Committee has considered whether the provision of non-audit services that were rendered to Service Affiliates, which were not pre-approved (not requiring pre-approval), is compatible with maintaining the Auditor’s independence. All services provided by the Auditor to the Registrant or to the Service Affiliates, which were required to be pre-approved, were pre-approved as required.

(i) Not applicable.

(j) Not applicable

Not applicable.