The IRS will test a free online tax prep service next year

We are close to filing our taxes directly with the IRS. The agency just submitted a detailed report to Congress Plans to launch trial of free, government-run tax filing software For the 2024 filing season. If the free Direct e-File system is successful and the government rolls it out to the rest of the country, maybe we’ll see tax filing corporate giants like Intuit when we file without considering endless complicated forms. Have to do an end run around. Calculation.

Who knows? It might even open the door to pre-filled tax forms that the government already knows, instead of curiously filling in numbers all we need to do is confirm. After all, the IRS seems to know when you’ve done it wrong, so why not just point out what we owe or what we’re getting back in the first place?

As per the release, The IRS was directed by the Treasury Department To launch a pilot program, which would involve an unspecified number of taxpayers, to gather more information about the IRS’s ability to administer such a system.

Required as part of the Inflation Reduction Act that passed last year reports (PDF) How difficult it would be to develop direct filing options, what they would cost, and a survey of taxpayer opinion about the program. Ultimately, the IRS concluded that “many taxpayers are interested in using a free IRS-provided tool to do their taxes” and that creating one is within its capabilities, provided it has continued representation in the government’s budget. .

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who submitted the report to Congress, was quoted in the release as saying that government-run Direct File programs are common in other countries:

“The IRS is committed to significantly better serving taxpayers by providing tools, information and assistance to make it easier for them to comply with their tax filing obligations. Direct File – used by many tax jurisdictions around the world – It has long been discussed in the US as an option to improve the customer experience for taxpayers,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel.

The news is the latest chapter in an ongoing saga whose most recent roots are in the 2019 blasts ProPublica Report It detailed how e-filing companies such as TurboTax maker Intuit were working to block the public from accessing free, easy filing options.

In short, ProPublica showed that companies like Intuit struck a deal with the IRS where they offered free direct file options to low- to moderate-income taxpayers in exchange for the IRS not creating such a program of its own. I promised. And he did create them — he didn’t just link to them or talk about them and add code that would prevent them from appearing in Google searches.

Following ProPublica’s report, the IRS updated the Free File Agreement to explicitly prohibit commercial tax preparation firms from hiding those pages, as well as allowing companies such as Intuit and H&R Block to manufacture simplified filing software. He also attacked his commitment to quit. The IRS can now create its own program.