Trump administration reportedly plans to eliminate IRS Direct File program
The Trump administration plans to end the IRS Direct File program, the e-filing system that allowed taxpayers to file returns directly to the agency for free, according to media reports.
The Associated Press and FedScoop cited anonymous sources familiar with the plans. The Treasury Department has not made a decision about the program’s future, the AP reported, citing another anonymous source.
Users credited the program created under the Biden administration with making filing taxes easy as well as saving them time and money. In a survey of more than 15,000 users after its rollout in 2024, 90% of respondents ranked their experience as excellent or above average.
But the program has faced scrutiny from Republicans and commercial tax preparation companies who call development of the software a waste of taxpayer money because third-party free filing programs already exist and they predicted future added costs if it was made available to filers in more states.
When asked for comment, the IRS directed Paste BN to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which could not immediately be reached."
Direct File was available in 25 states this year
During the 2025 tax season, Direct File was available in 25 participating states. But the future of the program has been in question for a few months. While leading the Department of Government Efficiency, (DOGE), Elon Musk posted on X that 18F, the Direct File development team, had been “deleted.” The statement caused confusion about whether the program was still live, but it was available for users throughout tax season.
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, criticized the Trump administration over the reported plans in a statement Wednesday.
“Direct File was a massive success, saving taxpayers millions in fees, saving them time and cutting out an unnecessary middleman that took money out of Americans’ pockets for no good reason,” Wyden said. “Trump and Secretary Bessent are robbing regular American families to pay back lobbyists that spend millions to make tax filing more expensive and more difficult.”
But David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, joined critics of the program and said Direct File was created with funds it should not have been using. The Inflation Reduction Act allocated $15 million for a task force within the IRS to create a report about the costs and opinions of a potential direct e-file program.
“The IRS created Direct File without congressional approval,” Williams wrote on X, responding to a quote defending Direct File that was featured in the AP's original story. “In fact, the $15M from the Inflation Reduction Act was supposed to be for a study. Instead, the IRS built the software.”
As of Friday afternoon, the Direct File program was still live on the IRS website.
Contributing: Reuters
Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_