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Title: The IRS' free tax-filing tool reportedly won't be offered in 2026

Link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-irs-fre...

Direct File, the free, government-provided alternative to services like
TurboTax, won't be available for the 2026 tax season, Bloomberg Tax reports.
That's based on a letter sent from the Internal Revenue Service to
participating states that says that "no launch date has been set for the
future."

A Biden administration project, Direct File was designed to be an easy way
for eligible taxpayers to file taxes online, without having to pay for a
service like TurboTax or H&R Block to do it on their behalf. The IRS began
piloting Direct File for the 2024 tax season, and opted to make it a
permanent option later that year. Direct File was available for the most
recent 2025 tax season in 25 states in the US.

Despite the service's success, the Trump administration appears to opposed to
offering Direct File in its current form. The "Big Beautiful Bill" passed in
July 2025 includes funding for the IRS to research "the cost to replace any
direct e-file programs run by the Internal Revenue Service" and "the cost of
developing and running a free direct e-file tax return system." Whatever the
results of that research, later in July, former IRS Commissioner Billy Long
seemed to suggest the e-filing option had been eliminated. "You've heard of
Direct File, that's gone," Long said at a tax professional summit. "Big
beautiful Billy wiped that out."

Engadget has contacted the IRS to confirm that Direct File won't be offered
in 2026. We'll update this article if we hear back.

While the IRS has yet to formally announce that Direct File is going away
outside of Long's comments, the tool is currently unavailable through the IRS
website. Additionally, the position to lead the Direct File project inside
the IRS is currently vacant under acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-
tech/the-irs-free-tax-filing-tool-reportedly-wont-be-offered-in-2026-
185430716.html?src=rss

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