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Van Hollen, Joins Warren, Carper, Beyer, Porter, Sherman, and Over 130 Lawmakers Touting Direct File’s Successes, Urges Biden Administration to Expand Program, Make Permanent

“We believe that the IRS can offer free and easy tax filing to every American taxpayer who wants it — and that, with Direct File, it will.”
Taxpayers gave Direct File rave reviews, with 90 percent rating their experience positively and 86 percent saying it increased their trust in the IRS

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the Senate Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee Chair, joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.), U.S Representatives Don Beyer (D-Va.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), and over 130 lawmakers - including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member DeLauro (D-N.Y.) - in sending a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel, applauding the successful pilot of the Direct File program, and urging them to make it permanent and expand its functionality and scope. The letter follows the conclusion of the 2024 tax season and implementation of the IRS Direct File program in 12 pilot states, including Massachusetts, which allowed taxpayers to file their returns for free, directly with the IRS. 

“(W)e write to commend you on the historic and resoundingly successful launch of Direct File, the first free, public, electronic federal tax filing tool in U.S. history. Taxpayers want and deserve a free and easy filing option, and thanks to this year’s pilot, taxpayers used Direct File to claim over $90 million in tax refunds and save $5.6 million in estimated filing fees,” said the lawmakers. “We applaud your leadership and Direct File’s incredible success this year, and we call on you to make Direct File a permanent program, expanding it and improving it further next year and in the years to come.”

The Biden administration announced in May of last year that they would be launching a Direct File pilot in 2024. This past tax season, over 140,000 taxpayers used the tool across 12 pilot states, saving taxpayers more than $90 million in refunds and an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees on their federal returns alone. A survey of 11,000 users found that 90 percent ranked their experience with Direct File as “Excellent” or “Above Average,” and 90 percent of survey respondents who used customer service similarly found the experience “Excellent” or “Above Average.” 

“The IRS’s delivery of this new, wildly successful filing tool… demonstrates the huge returns from investing in the IRS and in government technology in general,” continued the lawmakers. “(W)e hope Direct File will support additional sources of income, integrate with more states, offer more flexible identity verification procedures, and accommodate additional tax benefits, with a focus on refundable credits available to low- and middle-income families. Direct File should also continue streamlining the filing process by using taxpayer data that the IRS already has.” 

“(W)e congratulate you on the success of the Direct File pilot and stand ready to work with you on making the program permanent and expanding it. We believe that the IRS can offer free and easy tax filing to every American taxpayer who wants it — and that, with Direct File, it will,” concluded the lawmakers. 

The letter is also signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Robert Casey (D-Penn.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), John Fetterman (D-Penn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The letter is also signed by U.S. Representatives Alma Adams (D- N.C.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Earl Blumenaur (D-Ore.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Matt Cartwright (D-Penn.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas.), Sheila Cherilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Chris Deluzio (D-Penn.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Dwight Evans (D-Penn.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Penn.), Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), William Keating (D-Mass.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ann Kuster (D-N.H.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), Mary Scanlon (D-Penn.), Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Bradley Schneider (D-Ill.), Robert Scott (D-Va.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), David Trone (D-Md.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Susan Wild (D-Penn.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.). 

Earlier this week, more than 250 groups sent a letter to Commissioner Werfel and Secretary Yellen also encouraging them to make Direct File permanent and expand it.

The full letter can be viewed here and below:

Dear Secretary Yellen and Commissioner Werfel,

With the 2024 tax filing season at its end, we write to commend you on the historic and resoundingly successful launch of Direct File, the first free, public, electronic federal tax filing tool in U.S. history. Taxpayers want and deserve a free and easy filing option, and thanks to this year’s pilot, taxpayers used Direct File to claim over $90 million in tax refunds and save $5.6 million in estimated filing fees, with 90 percent of surveyed users rating their experience positively and 86 percent saying their experience with the tool increased their trust in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We applaud your leadership and Direct File’s incredible success this year, and we call on you to make Direct File a permanent program, expanding it and improving it further next year and in the years to come.

In May 2023, the IRS and Treasury Department announced plans to pilot a Direct File tool in 2024, noting that the pilot would allow “the IRS to test functionality for some taxpayers, evaluate success, and use lessons learned to inform the growth of the tool.” At the time, many of us wrote to you in support of Direct File. This filing season, the tool launched as a phased, limited-scope rollout in line with tech industry best practices.

The Direct File pilot has been a clear and resounding success. Over 140,000 taxpayers used the tool across the 12 pilot states, with a survey of 11,000 users finding that 90 percent ranked their experience with Direct File as “Excellent” or “Above Average,” and 90 percent of survey respondents who used customer service similarly found the experience “Excellent” or “Above Average.” Other surveys found 96 percent of users were satisfied with integrated state filing, 82 to 87 percent would recommend Direct File, and 74 to 93 percent prefer it to the previous filing method they used. Individual users also raved about the time and money they saved and the quality of the service they received:

  • “I don’t want to call myself a dummy, but this is taxes for dummies right here,” said the first Direct File user, an HR specialist in Texas who saved nearly $400 in tax prep fees. “I just see it being helpful for so many millions of people.”
  • “It was the fastest I’ve ever done my taxes,” said one taxpayer in California. “I didn’t have to worry about someone upselling me.”
  • “There were no random ads, like ‘What am I clicking on?’” said another taxpayer in Texas, who saved the $80 she typically spends to file her taxes.
  • “I finished this and I was like, wait, I m done? That was so easy,” reported a New York ? filer. “It's not just that you're saving, you know, 80 bucks on TurboTax or whatever. ? ? It's so much less of a stressful thing.”
  • “It was one of the greatest experiences I have had doing [my taxes],” said an Arizonan.
  • “It was the most convenient way I’ve ever filed my taxes,” said a taxpayer in Washington State. “I got to be honest, it surprised me how simple it was.”