IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel testifies throughout the Senate Finance Committee listening to on the fiscal 2024 IRS finances and the IRS’ 2023 filing season, in the Dirksen Building in Washington, D.C., on April 19, 2023.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
This season, more than 140,000 taxpayers efficiently filed returns utilizing IRS Direct File, a free tax filing pilot from the IRS, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS.
The program absolutely opened for certain taxpayers in 12 states in early March and saved filers an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees for federal returns, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel instructed reporters on a press name.
Direct File surveyed more than 15,000 customers, round 90% of whom rated their expertise as “excellent,” the businesses reported.
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“We have not made a decision about the future of Direct File,” Werfel stated, noting the company nonetheless wants to investigate information and get suggestions from a “wide variety of stakeholders.”
The IRS plans to launch a more detailed report concerning the Direct File pilot “in the coming days,” he added.
How Direct File could possibly be expanded
The Direct File pilot included Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
The pilot solely accepted Form W-2 wages, Social Security retirement earnings, unemployment earnings and interest of $1,500 or much less. This excluded filers with contract earnings reported by way of Form 1099-NEC, gig financial system employees and self-employed filers.
Filers needed to declare the standard deduction, which was $13,850 for single filers and $27,700 for married {couples} filing collectively for 2023.