The IRS has been one of those departments that has been affected quite badly by the Donald Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE. And, that has gotten the taxpayers worried this season as they do have to pay their taxes. However, despite the growing uncertainty of the existence of various free tools to file taxes, tax agencies have urged the citizens to use Direct File to fill their tax returns.
Direct File is a free filing tool and has faced scrutiny from the GOP. For the week ending March 28, the IRS received 800,000 fewer tax returns in comparison to the same period last year. More than 86 million tax returns have been filed this tax season via digital means. As reported by Kipliner, “The agency expects over 140 million individual tax returns for the 2024 tax year to be filed by the April 15, 2025, federal deadline, ‘Tax Day.’”
Direct File was launched last year under Joe Biden’s administration and after seeing success it has now expanded to 25 states. Going by the numbers more than 30 million tax payers will be eligible for this program and a study revealed that 90% of users had reviewed their experience as positive on the platform. However, despite performing so well, the future of Direct File remains uncertain under Trump’s administration.
As certain GOP lawmakers had accused Direct File of creating confusion for tax payers, Musk stated that he had deleted “18 F”, “the digital services agency responsible for developing the IRS Direct File system in early February. More planned layoffs at the IRS could impact the program further.”
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed this concern and mentioned, “I will commit that, for this tax season, that Direct File will be operative.” Moreover, last year, the IRS had announced that Direct File would remain as a permanent option in 2025 for taxpayers to file their taxes.
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Former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel had said in a statement, “The clear message is that many taxpayers across the nation want the IRS to provide more than one no-cost option for filing electronically.” As Kiplinger reported, “the program was expanded to residents of 25 states this year and could be used by as many as 30 million eligible taxpayers. The move to make Direct File permanent came after multiple lawmakers and organizations urged IRS leaders to renew the program.”
The report further mentioned, “Today, Direct File offers live support from IRS staff Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET. You can also file from your smartphone, tablet, or computer if your state is eligible. Assistance is offered in Spanish and English.”
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Another report that came from the Economic Security Project taxpayers could save $8 billion in filing fees and additional $3 billion in time costs every tax season if they use Direct File. However, despite being such a beneficial platform, certain Republicans claim that the “program would cause taxpayers to miss their refunds or suffer penalties if they were unaware that they must file their state taxes separately from their federal taxes.”
It now remains to be seen if Direct File stays this tax season for the benefit of taxpayers or if the Trump administration goes ahead and orders a ban on its usage.
