The new program, Direct File, helped low- and moderate-income taxpayers file their returns more easily, and had been expanding.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/busi ... -file.html
These vampires want to suck every last drop of blood from AmericansThe Internal Revenue Service is shutting down its free online system for filing tax returns, a program that the Biden administration introduced last year and that users gave high marks.
The fate of the program, Direct File, had become increasingly uncertain given Republican criticism. But a recent report from the Treasury Department made clear that the agency would suspend the offering and suggested that the I.R.S. focus its efforts on its other free programs, particularly Free File, a partnership with a collection of commercial providers.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also the acting I.R.S. commissioner, confirmed the plan outside the White House on Wednesday, saying the program was halted because it wasn’t widely used. “And we think the private sector can do a better job,” he said.
Direct File faced opposition from commercial tax-preparation software firms and from Republicans in Congress, who had urged President Trump to end the program. The I.R.S. was instructed to explore a free direct-filing option as part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the wide-ranging law championed by Democrats and the Biden administration.
“The bottom line here is that the government built something that people liked, but that doing so upset the private industry,” said Adam Ruben, vice president of campaigns and political strategy at the Economic Security Project, an advocacy group for efforts that help low- and moderate-income families. “So now the Trump administration is bending to the power and influence of that industry at the expense of the American people.”
Mr. Ruben said users had saved an average of $160 in filing fees charged by big tax preparation companies.
The free Direct File program was introduced in 2024, for the 2023 tax year, on a restricted basis to low- and moderate-income taxpayers in a dozen states with simpler returns. It widened its reach for the 2024 tax year after the initial trial went well, and became available in 13 additional states and added more features.
In the 2024 tax year, when 146 million returns were filed, just under 300,000 filers used Direct File, at a cost of $31.8 million; roughly 141,000 filers used the offering in the program’s inaugural year, according to the Treasury report to Congress, which said that demand was below expectations.
“While lack of awareness was a factor, eligibility restrictions tied to covered tax situations (rather than a simple income limit) created confusion,” the report said.
For the 2024 tax year, Direct File was open to single filers with wages of $200,000 or less, while married couples filing jointly were eligible as long as their combined wages did not exceed $250,000. Direct File was not open to people who itemized their tax deductions.
The report also suggests modernizing and promoting Free File, which is available to filers if their adjusted gross income is $84,000 or less.
“This path forward aims to increase awareness of and access to free filing services in a cost-effective way that better serves taxpayers’ interests without imposing unsustainable burdens on the government,” the report said.
Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, said she had filed a bill this year to end the program. “Thankfully, the Trump administration is taking decisive action to shut down this wasteful and unconstitutional program,” she added.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Direct File had been created because the existing free options were insufficient — and tax preparation companies had been caught using deceptive practices to trick taxpayers into overpaying.
“Trump and Bessent had already gutted the team that ran the Direct File program, so the outcome of this study was predetermined and the report itself is a sham,” he said in a statement
Are they all idiots? I knew that it would be bad for everybody, why didn't they?