Taxpayers In 13 States Can File Online Directly To The IRS This Year

For the first time ever, some taxpayers will soon be able to file their taxes online directly with the IRS for free, without using a third-party service like TurboTax or H&R Block.

For the 2024 tax season, residents of 13 states will be able to file their income taxes online at www.irs.com/directfile, the IRS said Tuesday. Taxpayers in Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and New York will be able to file their federal and state taxes on the new system, while those in Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming (which don’t have state income taxes) can use it to file their federal taxes.

The pilot program is a major step forward in the IRS’s decades-long effort to provide basic tax filing services to the public online, free of charge. Many taxpayers use third-party accounting software to file their taxes, often using services that charge tax preparation fees. The IRS’s “free file” program, which allows people under certain income limits to file taxes for free through certain online providers, is little publicized and little used.

The new IRS program was created with some of the $80 billion funding from Congress authorized in the Inflation Reduction Act, intended to modernize the agency and improve customer service. Recent surveys have shown the idea of the IRS allowing taxpayers to file for free directly on its website, as is done in many countries, is a popular one with the public.

The agency’s ill-fated first attempt, Cyberfile, began in 1995 and was scrapped in 1996 after independent inspectors found the program was mismanaged. Since then, filing taxes online has been strictly the domain of private companies. 

Until now, the IRS has accepted electronically filed tax returns, but only from third-party tax prep services, not individual taxpayers. Consumer advocacy groups have long demanded the IRS provide a direct free filing option on its website. 

"This is a critical step forward for this innovative effort that will test the feasibility of providing taxpayers a new option to file their returns for free directly with the IRS," IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a press release. "In this limited pilot for 2024, we'll be working closely with the states that have agreed to participate in an important test run of the state integration. This will help us gather important information about the future direction of the Direct File program."

The pilot program will only be available to certain eligible taxpayers at first, and will expand as the tax filing season goes on. It’s also limited in its capabilities, and will only accept returns with certain common kinds of income (including wages and Social Security benefits) and tax credits, the IRS said. 

The program has yet to be finalized, but the IRS said it was likely to accept commonly used credits including the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, student loan interest deduction, and several others.

Direct File will be available on mobile devices as well as desktop computers, and users will be able to connect with IRS employees for help filing their returns.