Tax season is less than a month away, and taxpayers are busy working to meet the Tax Day deadline. Instead of making tax filing easier, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and her progressive allies in Congress have pushed for a new Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-led pilot program that allows the agency to both file and prepare tax returns on behalf of all taxpayers. This so-called Direct File program is a clear conflict of interest, unnecessary, unpopular, and potentially unconstitutional. Direct File poses such harm to taxpayers that a coalition of 18 states is urging the IRS to abandon it.

Conflict of Interest 

•  Taxpayers cannot expect the same agency tasked with maximizing revenue for the federal government to have their financial best interest in mind. A recent study from Syracuse University found that the IRS was five times more likely to audit low-income households earning less than $25,000 a year. The IRS also admitted last year that Black taxpayers were much more likely to be audited. Why should taxpayers trust the IRS to maximize the refunds and deductions they are owed?  

Unnecessary 

• The IRS is one of the most unpopular federal agencies. The Direct File program will not repair taxpayers’ trust in the IRS. In fact, it is more likely to do the exact opposite. One tax professional recently warned that Direct File poses “an administrative nightmare.” The IRS already has a limited budget and resources; it doesn’t need to take on a massive new responsibility. 

Unpopular 

• An independent study from the MITRE Corporation commissioned by the IRS found that only 28 percent of all taxpayers are very interested in a Direct File system. Recent polling from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance also found that an overwhelming majority of likely GOP voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada also oppose an IRS-led system to prepare taxes. 

Potentially Unconstitutional 

• Instead of seeking Congressional approval (as IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel initially promised), the Treasury Department and the IRS unilaterally launched this unnecessary pilot program following pressure from Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and other progressives. 

American taxpayers would benefit from a reformed and simplified tax system, yet this pilot program fails to address longstanding issues. Instead, it will disproportionately affect vulnerable and low-income taxpayers the most. 

Urge Washington politicians to denounce Direct File and pledge to end this misguided, wasteful use of taxpayer dollars and expansion of IRS power.