The IRS Direct File program, initially a pilot launched in 2024, has gained popularity among taxpayers due to its accessibility. Despite its broadening scope, with half the country included this year, its future remains in doubt amid opposition from GOP lawmaker concerns over authorization. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pledged its continuation for the current tax season, but commercial tax firms criticize it as unnecessary due to existing free filing options. Key advocates call Direct File a modern solution for taxpayer interaction with the government.
Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a 'direct file' system as part of the money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. Last May, the agency announced that the program would be made permanent.
Merici Vinton, an original architect of Direct File from the U.S. Digital Service, noted the ease and accessibility of the program and called it 'a great example of how people should interact with the government in the 21st century.'
Despite its popularity with the American public, the IRS Direct File program's fate remains unclear as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency cleave their way through the federal bureaucracy.
A Republican tax expert claims the IRS never got congressional authorization to create Direct File, raising questions about the program's legality and future funding.
Collection
[
|
...
]