The Brief

The Trump administration has decided not to offer Direct File, the IRS' electronic tax filing system for free next year, and the program’s future is unclear.

The program was praised for making tax filing easy and economical, and was in the process of rolling out to several more states.

However, it faced criticism from Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies.

The 2026 tax season is fast approaching, and filing may look a little different next year for some taxpayers.

IRS Direct File, the electronic system for filing tax returns for free, will not be offered next year, the Trump administration confirmed last week.

What is IRS Direct File?

The backstory:

Direct File was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 after the IRS was tasked with looking into how

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