WASHINGTON– IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the Trump administration has confirmed.
An email sent Monday by IRS Official Cynthia Noe to state auditors who participate in the Direct File program stated that “IRS Direct File will not be available during the 2026 filing season. No launch date has been set for the future.”
The program developed under President Joe Biden has been credited by users for making filing taxes easy, quick and economical. However, it has been criticized by Republican lawmakers, who called it a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist (although they are difficult to use), and by commercial tax preparation companies, which have made billions by charging people to use their software.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is also the current IRS commissioner, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that there are “better alternatives” to Direct File. “We didn’t use it much,” he said. “And we think the private sector can do a better job.”
The Center for Taxpayer Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the IRS’ latest evaluation of the program and the report indicates that 296,531 taxpayers submitted accepted returns for the 2025 tax season through Direct File. This represents an increase from the 140,803 accepted declarations submitted in 2024.
Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with studying how to create a “direct file” system as part of money it received from the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law by Biden in 2022. The Democratic administration spent tens of millions of dollars developing the program.
Last May, the Biden-led agency announced that the program would become permanent.
But the IRS has faced an intense backlash against Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have spent millions to lobby Congress. The average American typically spends about $140 per year preparing their taxes.
The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration, as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Effectiveness navigated their way through the federal government. But the Associated Press reported in April that the administration planned to eliminate the program, its future becoming clear after IRS staff assigned to it were ordered to stop working on its development for the 2026 tax filing season.
As of Wednesday, the Direct File website says “Direct File is closed. More information will be available at a later date.”
The Washington Post and NextGov were first to report on the email sent to state comptrollers confirming the program would not be offered next year.
Adam Ruben, vice president of the liberal-leaning Economic Security Project, said “it’s not surprising” that the program was cut.
“Trump’s billionaire friends get favors while honest, hard-working Americans will pay more to file their taxes,” he said.
