0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:C000016867Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:C000016869Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:C000016870Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:C000016872Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:C000016871Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:BeforeTaxMember dtft:C000016867Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:BeforeTaxMember dtft:C000016869Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:BeforeTaxMember dtft:C000016870Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:BeforeTaxMember dtft:C000016871Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dtft:C000016867Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dtft:C000016867Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:BarclaysSevenYearMunicipalBondIndexMember dtft:C000016871Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000711600 dtft:S000006133Member dtft:BarclaysSevenYearMunicipalBondIndexMember dtft:C000016872Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 pure iso4217:USD 696 855 834 280 340 2012-06-30 EXAMPLE 696 1055 834 280 340 0.0355 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSIntermediateTaxAMTFreeFund column period compact * ~</div> DWS Intermediate Tax/AMT Free Fund SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 48%. 0.0275 0 0 0 0 352 You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. 100000 How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). www.dws-investments.com 0.0305 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSIntermediateTaxAMTFreeFund column period compact * ~</div> 485BPOS DWS TAX FREE TRUST These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 21) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: Principal Investment Strategy Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. Index comparison for Institutional Class shares began on 12/31/2004. 0 0.04 0.01 0 0 Best Quarter: 5.69%, Q3 2009       Worst Quarter: -4.02%, Q4 2010 Year-to-Date as of 6/30/2012: 3.05% 560 256 51 62 352 160 1214 1460 1824 628 762 2001-06-11 2001-06-11 2001-06-11 1983-04-12 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSIntermediateTax/AMTFreeFundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> 2012-09-26 You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: 2004-12-17 2012-05-31 0000711600 false Investment Objective Fees and Expenses of the Fund Class B converts to Class A after six years; the Example for Class B reflects Class A fees after the conversion. PORTFOLIO TURNOVER Main Investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities issued by municipalities across the United States and in other securities whose income is free from regular federal income tax and alternative minimum tax (AMT). The fund does not intend to invest in securities whose income is subject to AMT. The fund can buy many types of municipal securities of all maturities. These may include revenue bonds (which are backed by revenues from a particular source) and general obligation bonds (which are typically backed by the issuer's ability to levy taxes). They may also include municipal lease obligations and investments representing an interest therein. Credit Quality Policies. This fund normally invests at least 65% of total assets in municipal securities of the top three grades of credit quality. The fund could invest up to 35% of net assets in debt securities rated in the fourth credit grade, which is still considered investment-grade. Management Process. Portfolio management looks for securities that appear to offer the best opportunity to meet the fund's objective. In making its buy and sell decisions, portfolio management typically weighs a number of factors against each other, from economic outlooks and possible interest rate movements to characteristics of specific securities, such as coupon, maturity date and call date, and changes in supply and demand within the municipal bond market. Although portfolio management may adjust the dollar-weighted average effective maturity of the fund's portfolio between three and ten years, it generally intends to keep it between five and ten years. In determining the dollar-weighted average effective maturity, portfolio management uses the security's stated maturity or, if appropriate, an earlier date, reflecting a maturity-shortening device (such as a call, a put, prerefunding, prepayment or redemption provision, or a demand feature) which will likely cause the instrument to be repaid earlier than the stated maturity date. Derivatives. Portfolio management generally may use interest rate swaps, which are a type of derivative (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities), to manage the duration of the investment portfolio (i.e., reducing or increasing the sensitivity of the fund's portfolio to interest rate changes). Portfolio management may also use inverse floating rate securities to seek to enhance potential gains. The fund may also use various types of derivatives (i) for hedging; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Interest Rate Risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Credit Risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Focus Risk. To the extent that the fund focuses on investments from a single state, region or sector of the municipal securities market, its performance can be more volatile than that of a fund that invests more broadly. As an example, factors affecting a state, region or sector such as severe fiscal difficulties, an economic downturn, court rulings, increased expenditures on domestic security or reduced monetary support from the federal government could over time impair a states, region or sector's ability to repay its obligations. Municipal Securities Risk. The fund will be impacted by events in the municipal securities market. Negative events, such as severe fiscal difficulties, an economic downturn, unfavorable legislation, court rulings or political developments, or reduced monetary support from the federal government could hurt fund performance. Market Risk. Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that reduces the prices of securities in that market. Developments in a particular class of debt securities or the stock market could also adversely affect the fund by reducing the relative attractiveness of debt securities as an investment. Also, to the extent that the fund emphasizes debt securities from any given state or region, it could be hurt if that state or region does not do well. Inverse Floating Rate Securities Risk. The interest payment received on inverse floating rate securities ("inverse floaters") generally will decrease when short-term interest rates increase. Inverse floaters are derivatives that involve leverage and could magnify the fund's gains or losses. Derivatives Risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Security Selection Risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of municipalities, industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Counterparty Risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. Tax Risk. Any distributions to shareholders that represent income from taxable securities will generally be taxable as ordinary income at both the state and federal levels, while other distributions, such as capital gains, are taxable to the same extent they would be for any mutual fund. New federal or state governmental action could adversely affect the tax-exempt status of securities held by the fund, resulting in higher tax liability for shareholders and potentially hurting fund performance as well. Liquidity Risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Prepayment and Extension Risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing Risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) 0.0024 0.01 0.01 0 0 0.0078 0.0157 0.0153 0.005 0.0061 517 796 483 160 195 156 51 62 517 496 483 160 195 0.0836 0.0178 0.0075 0.0948 0.0647 0.0647 0.0506 0.0563 0.0864 0.0968 0.0416 0.0414 0.0406 0.0363 0.0467 0.0365 There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 2009-09-30 0.0569 Worst Quarter: 2010-12-31 2012-10-01 0.1015 0.0563 0.0989 0.1015 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSIntermediateTaxAMTFreeFundSupplement column period compact * ~</div> Prior to December 31, 2011, the returns in the bar chart and the after-tax returns in the performance table below were shown for Class S shares. The bar chart and the after-tax returns below are shown for Class A shares because the shares now have 10 or more years of annual returns and are available to most investors. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSIntermediateTaxAMTFreeFund column period compact * ~</div> The fund seeks to provide a high level of income exempt from regular federal income taxes and seeks to limit principal fluctuation. Main Risks Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number for your share class included in this prospectus. Prior to December 31, 2011, the returns in the bar chart and the after-tax returns in the performance table below were shown for Class S shares. The bar chart and the after-tax returns below are shown for Class A shares because the shares now have 10 or more years of annual returns and are available to most investors. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. 0.0032 0.0032 0.0032 0.0032 0.0032 0.0022 0.0025 0.0021 0.0018 0.0029 1214 1460 1824 628 762 0.0285 0.0342 0.0364 0.0958 0.0158 0.0435 0.0434 0.0417 0.0394 0.0415 0.0512 An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Past performance may not indicate future results. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) Year-to-Date Best Quarter: -0.0402 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSIntermediateTaxAMTFreeFund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSIntermediateTaxAMTFreeFund column period compact * ~</div> 0.48 2012-10-01 0.0638 0.0525 0.0638 0.0456 0.0536