Posted on 04/16/2025 5:47:57 PM PDT by Olog-hai
The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained it was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.
The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have slashed their way through the federal government. Musk posted in February on his social media site, X, that he had “deleted” 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as Direct File. […]
Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how to create a “direct file” system as part of the 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 agency announced that the program would be made permanent.
But the IRS has faced intense blowback to Direct File from private tax preparation companies that have made billions from charging people to use their software and have spent millions lobbying Congress. The average American typically spends about $140 preparing returns each year. …
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
I do mine using pdf’s and mail it in. All fifty pages.
AP is most certainly lying.
AP
Anything to Promote a narrative that Trump is bad. There are many ways to file taxes for free, adding another program is just a waste of tax money.
Also given it is as usual two “sources” I am inclined to consider this story to be made up for the purpose to hurt Trump.
I did that in 2021. pdf’s printed and mailed in. That was the year there were trailers full of returns the ‘covid’ prevented IRS from porcessing. Burnt, lost or whatever.
Never filed since. Retired on SS.
Nobody knocking on my door.
Cons - it'll encourage activity in the black market to evade the sales tax.
Good for you.
I tried to file with a ‘free’ commercial service.
None would allow me to do it for free. I wasted a lot of time.
Given how much the IRS has taken from me, it should allow me to hand it over without me getting bilked.
Put some ‘service’ in the Internal Revenue Service.
No company should feel entitled to profit off a government mandate.
Funny, I have been filing taxes electronically for at least a decade now. Although it was purchasable software before.
I use a tax preparer now simply because I know a guy and its way easier to do it through him in 30 minutes through his file programs.
You probably don't owe any taxes anyway, but why give the feral government an opening to come after you?
One thing to note is some of the $1400 covid checks were kept from us simply because they lost our return.
Random taxpayer: Hey government, I need credentials to file online. Government: Um, we'll send you the credentials to file online but it will take "21 days" for you to get them in the U.S. mail. Taxpayer: But there's only 18 days before the tax filing deadline. Government: Ok, then you can instantly get your credentials online enabling you to file before the filing deadline! Taxpayer: Great, tell me how. Government: You have to log on to our site but in order to do that, we'll need to first violate your privacy and you'll have to give us all kinds of additional personal data about yourself that you won't want to give us and there's no guarantee that all that extra personal data you give us won't end up in the hands of hackers who steal all that additional personal information you give us that actually ends up on a third-party server run by some corporation. Taxpayer: F u, I'll send my return in the U.S. mail.
Conclusion: Biden's handlers were idiots.
Back in 2021 and 2022 I couldn’t figure out a way to see what happened to that return. I wasn’t about to pay a service to research what happened. In the past I never would learn if my return was processed in 2019 or earlier.
Yes — I sleep at night.
Did you owe taxes or get a refund that year?
Did the refund show up or the check get cashed?
Its been net zero for years.
Then you are correct in assuming you have nothing to worry about.
I just don’t trust the feral government. Trump won’t be there forever. Who knows what comes next?
I’m not understanding why anyone would want to file an electronic tax return. That seems like just another way for Big Brother to instantly check and cross-check you.
I’ll stick with sending in my returns by carrier pigeon.
I've never done my taxes online. I've always printed out the form, and sent it in. Thankfully, I only have to fill out two pages, and not 50.
Free filing programs are not hard to use. most are pretty easy.
I use FreeTax USA, what is not free is the filing for state returns and of course they make money with add ons like audit protection, Etc.
Still cheaper than dealing with traditional guys if your return is easy to do.
The software today is really good and not hard to use.
The best way to stifle the black market is to LOWER OUR TAXES and kill the incentive to use the black market to evade them
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