The Trump Administration reportedly intends to end the IRS Direct File program, the optional and free tax filing service. This move would be unfortunate given longstanding, bipartisan concerns about the high costs of filing taxes in the US.

For example, in 1985, when President Reagan proposed fundamental tax reforms, he included an option to have the government prepare people’s tax returns. And, in a prior congressional session, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced the Tax Filing Simplification Act to direct the IRS to create a free tax filing option.

Today, while some taxpayers may feel that their paid tax filing method is worth the price, our research shows that others may prefer an option like Direct File. 

Direct File had a successful launch

Direct File was piloted in 2024 and eligibility was expanded to an estimated 30 million tax filers in 25 states in 2025. Various reports suggest those who used Direct File found it simple and easy to use and gave the service top marks.

TPC’s research found that, nationwide, interest in Direct File was high, with nearly 75 percent of nonelderly adult tax filers expressing interest in using the service if it were available to them, as of December 2024. 

Interest was high across groups of people by income, race and ethnicity, age, and educational attainment (Figure 1). And, at least two-thirds each of those who already filed their taxes for free and those who paid to file their taxes showed interest in using Direct File.

In other words, even when piloted and used by a small subset of eligible tax filers in 2024 and 2025, Direct File had broad-based support for future use.

Direct File helped working families

Many Americans who are interested in Direct File are attracted to a tax filing service that is always free and is easy to use. For this tax filing season, Direct File included the ability to auto-populate some information from common forms like W-2s, reducing chances for errors and making tax filing quicker and more convenient. And, unlike other products marketed as free, Direct File customers are not presented with costly upgrades throughout the filing process. 

For policymakers currently debating whether to expand tax benefits like the child tax credit for working families, it is important to understand that services like Direct File could bring many more eligible families into the tax system to receive these benefits.

Legislation could reintroduce Direct File

Efforts to promote Direct File this year were limited compared to 2024, and there was confusion over the program’s continued existence in the midst of DOGE’s involvement and news of IRS layoffs. That may explain why uptake of the service was perhaps lower than anticipated in 2025.

Importantly, Direct File simply provided filers with another option and was never mandatory. If a filer wanted to continue to use a paid tax preparer or commercial software because they did not like Direct File’s interface or because they just felt more comfortable with their own method, they could have. 

The existence of Direct File also does not remove the need for improvements to other tax filing options—in January, for example, the Senate Finance Committee released a bipartisan discussion draft which includes regulation of paid preparers.

Given the significant and broad-based interest in Direct File, as our research has shown, Congress—which is responsible for creating our labyrinthine tax code in the first place—could once again consider legislating a free and optional tax filing service like Direct File to help all families navigate the tax system.