Published: May 2024

Advocates push for adoption of permanent Direct File option for tax filers

Coalition: Coalition for Free and Fair Filing

More than 250 organizations and entities voiced their support for making Direct File—a free, accessible online tax filing system piloted during the 2024 tax season—a permanent option for eligible filers.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, more than 250 organizations and entities voiced their support for making Direct File—a free, accessible online tax filing system piloted during the 2024 tax season—a permanent filing option for eligible filers. The existing tax filing system is complex and expensive. Americans pay billions of dollars to companies such as Intuit and H&R Block to file returns they are supposed to be able to file for free. Low- and middle-income families, in particular, are disadvantaged by the current system. The letter commended the IRS’s work on establishing Direct File, applauded the pilot’s notable success, and urged the agency to make Direct File a permanent fixture of the American tax system. The letter also encouraged future improvements, such as expanding the tool to cover more tax situations, such as gig work and other scenarios that apply to a broad swath of low- and middle-income Americans, and streamlining the filing process by pre-populating filers’ tax data. 

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Read the letter here.

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