Trump Kills Successful IRS Direct File

King Don is trying to doublespeak us into believing he’s lowering our cost of living. But he’s not lowering our costs for paying taxes. He’s killing IRS Direct File, the project President Joe Biden launched to allow Americans to avoid high tax-prep charges and file their 1040s online directly with the IRS:

An email sent Monday from IRS official Cynthia Noe to state comptrollers that participate in the Direct File program said that “IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026. No launch date has been set for the future.”

The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. However, it faced criticism from Republican lawmakers, who called it a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist (though they are difficult to use), and from commercial tax preparation companies, which have made billions from 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. “It wasn’t used very much,” he said. “And we think that the private sector can do a better job” [Fatima Hussein, “IRS Direct File Won’t Be Available Next Year. Here’s What That Means for Taxpayers,” AP, 2025.11.05].

No, Scott, the private sector can’t do a better job, because the private sector isn’t offering free and easy tax prep!

The IRS’s assessment of its Direct File pilot in 2024 showed the taxpayers who were eligible to use that limited first-year trial loved it:

A key aspect of the pilot was learning more about what taxpayers expect from this kind of system. More than 15,000 Direct File users participated in the General Services Administration’s Touchpoints survey, which collects comprehensive user feedback about government systems. In the GSA Touchpoints survey about Direct File:

• 90% of respondents ranked their experience as Excellent or Above Average.
• When asked what they particularly liked, respondents most commonly cited Direct File’s ease of use, trustworthiness, and that it was free.
• Additionally, 86% of respondents said that their experience with Direct File increased their trust in the IRS.
• 90% of survey respondents who used customer support rated that experience as Excellent or Above Average.

Direct File’s users told us that the system saved them time — filing their taxes with Direct File generally took less than an hour, and many reported filing in as little as 30 minutes. One taxpayer even said it was fun. Nearly half of Direct File users reported paying for tax preparation last year, and the Treasury Department estimates that Direct File users saved $5.6 million in tax preparation fees [Internal Revenue Service, “IRS Direct File Pilot Program: Filing Season 2024 After Action Report,” 2024.05.03].

Nothing King Don has done has won 90% approval and increased trust in government among 86% of users. Direct File was a true success, improving tax collection and saving Americans money. Evidently King Don was jealous of a government program that outpolled him and actually did its job well.