Trump Administration To End IRS’ Free Tax Filing Program
Another day, another useful program soon to be gutted by the Trump Administration…
The Associated Press reports that Trump plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program. The electronic system allowed citizens to file their tax returns directly to the agency for free.
Developed during the Biden presidency, the program was credited by users with making tax time easier, faster, and more economical. However, Republican lawmakers and commercial tax prep companies said it was a waste of money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.
The program had been in limbo since the start of Trump’s second presidential term, with close ally Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency slashing jobs and departments.
More from AP:
Musk posted in February on his social media site, X, that he had “deleted” 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as Direct File.
There was some hope that Musk, with his DOGE team of computer programmers, could take over Direct File and improve it. But the two people familiar with the decision to end Direct File said its future became clear when the IRS staff assigned to the program were told in mid-March to stop working on its development for the 2026 tax filing season.
“It is an outrage to see everyday taxpayers play no role in this decision,” said Adam Ruben, vice president of the Economic Security Project. “The fix was in from the beginning. It is an outrage to see everyday taxpayers play no role in this decision. Cutting costs and saving money for families were just empty campaign promises.”