Some taxpayers will soon qualify for Direct File, a free tax-filing platform from the IRS. Here's what taxpayers can expect this season.
  • Some taxpayers will soon qualify for Direct File, a free tax-filing option from the IRS.
  • The pilot will begin as an invitation-only service before rolling out to certain taxpayers in 12 states by mid-March.
  • In 2023, individual U.S. taxpayers spent an average of $150 to prepare and file returns, according to the IRS.

As the tax season kicks off next week, Americans have several free filing options — and some taxpayers will soon qualify for a new offering from the IRS.

Known as Direct File, the agency’s free filing software pilot will begin as an invitation-only service for a group of government workers before rolling out to certain taxpayers in 12 states by mid-March.

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Direct File comes after a feasibility report authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act. The report found nearly three-quarters of taxpayers expressed interest in a free IRS-provided filing system.

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Eligible states will include Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 year ago

      Even if it only took you 15 minutes, and it sure takes a lot of people who get W-2s a lot more than 15 minutes… that’s 15 minutes too long. Why should you have to do the government’s job for it?

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 year ago

          The government should already have a record of how much you’ve been paid every year. Why do they not have that record in your case? Do you not declare your income in whatever job you have?

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              0·
              1 year ago

              Oh well. Guess you don’t get to benefit from something everyone who isn’t self-employed should benefit from.

              Nah, let’s leave the tax code impossibly complicated and easy for rich people to game on behalf of the handful of self-employed people in this country.

              Tell you what, you keep doing your 15-minute taxes and the rest of us won’t have to waste those 15 minutes. How’s that?