The Trump administration killed IRS Direct File. It deserved to die.
Direct File, launched during former President Joe Biden’s term, was meant to simplify federal tax filing for Americans and save them money. The program first launched as a pilot for tax year 2023 for taxpayers in 12 states to file their returns directly to the IRS.
The program expanded the next year to 25 states.
Without it, Direct File supporters said Americans will end up spending more time and money to file their taxes. Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who served under Biden estimated the average American taxpayer spent $270 and 13 hours filing their tax return.
Critics, armed with facts, said Direct File cost taxpayers a lot of money to develop, but few Americans used it.
Almost no one, relatively speaking, uses it.
Direct File had the lowest participation of all free tax preparation programs, according to a House Ways and Means report. Just under 141,000 returns were filed during the tax year 2023 pilot program with a dozen states.
It was a well-intentioned failure.
Silly emotional responses aside, the program did not work nor did it benefit a large percentage of US citizens. The problem is, of course, that congress is a monolithic entity that generally refuses to accept its failures and, instead simply kicks the can down the road with more of our tax dollars, trying to prove it wasn’t a failure.
End result is $38 trillion in debt.
“Republicans Kill Biden Administration’s IRS Direct File”— MORE PROOF THAT REPUBS IN CONGRESS CAN BE EVERY BIT AS STUPID AS Commie-cRATS !! Direct File has already been developed and is more convenient and less expensive to the government and filers to use than alternatives, which require massive amounts of labor !!! It includes both STATE AND FED RETURNS with significant… Read more »
Cry harder, dolt. No one used it, relatively. It’s ROI is negative. Suck it up, buttercup.
Stop with the sky screaming, dolt!
did you not read the article? 141K people out of the population of 25 states is not a success.