The U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have reported that the Direct File pilot program surpassed expectations, with 140,803 taxpayers filing their taxes directly with the IRS for free, resulting in substantial savings for taxpayers. Users of the program claimed over $90 million in refunds and saved an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees on federal returns alone.
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo praised the success of the program, stating, “The IRS’s Direct File pilot enabled more than 140,000 taxpayers to file their taxes for free, saving participants time and money. Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS created a program that helped taxpayers access $90 million in refunds, achieved top-notch customer service ratings, and provided the data and lessons necessary to determine next steps.”
The program, which was made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, aimed to simplify the tax filing process for taxpayers in 12 states with simple taxes. Users of Direct File reported a high level of satisfaction, with 90% of respondents ranking their experience as “Excellent” or “Above Average” in a GSA Touchpoints survey. Direct File also received a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +74, indicating exceptional user satisfaction.
In addition to the positive user feedback, Direct File allowed the IRS to test a large-scale live-chat feature, with customer service representatives handling tens of thousands of chats with high efficiency. The operational costs of Direct File, including customer service, cloud computing, and user authentication, were reported to be just $2.4 million, demonstrating a cost-effective approach to tax filing.
The Treasury and IRS are now set to analyze the results of the pilot program before making decisions on the future of Direct File in the coming weeks.
