Congressmembers laud success of IRS Free Direct File, push for permanency

On Friday, more than 130 members of Congress lauded the new Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Free Direct File Program and pushed for the Biden administration to make the program permanent.

In a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, lawmakers applauded the successful pilot program for the Direct File initiative, and urged the department to expand its functionality and scope. The letter follows the initial run of the program where 12 states allowed taxpayers to file their returns directly with the IRS free of charge.

“Taxpayers want and deserve a free and easy filing option, and thanks to this year’s pilot, taxpayers used Direct File to claim over $90 million in tax refunds and save $5.6 million in estimated filing fees,” the lawmakers wrote. “We applaud your leadership and Direct File’s incredible success this year, and we call on you to make Direct File a permanent program, expanding it and improving it further next year and in the years to come.”

The Direct File program was announced by the Biden administration in May 2023. The program allows taxpayers to file their taxes online using a modern tax filing portal. A survey of 11,000 users of the pilot program, found that 90 percent ranked their experience as “excellent” or “above average,” and another 90 percent of the survey respondents who used the program’s customer service also reported the experience as “excellent” or “above average.”

“Taxpayers want and deserve a free and easy filing option, and thanks to this year’s pilot, taxpayers used Direct File to claim over $90 million in tax refunds and save $5.6 million in estimated filing fees,” the Congress member said. “The Direct File pilot has been a clear and resounding success… Direct File’s success is even more notable given the failures of the U.S. tax filing system to date. The average American spends $150 and nine hours to file their taxes each year.”

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