Use This Free, Popular Tax Filing Service Before The Government Possibly Kills It

There’s a free, easy electronic filing option that taxpayers in 25 states can now use ― but it might not be available for much longer.

Instead of using a commercial tax preparer that you need to purchase in order to file your returns, the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File program takes out the middleman and allows taxpayers to file their federal returns to the IRS for free. Since the pilot program started last year, the service has been well-liked by tax filers.

In a government survey of 11,000 Direct File users, 90% of respondents rated their experience with Direct File as “Excellent” or “Above Average,” citing Direct File’s ease of use, trustworthiness, and the fact that it was free.

And yet despite these rave reviews, the program’s future is uncertain.

Billionaire investor and President Donald Trump’s new Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has only publicly committed to keeping the IRS Direct File service through the 2025 tax season. And Trump adviser Elon Musk created more confusion over the program’s future when he posted on X that he “deleted” 18F, the technology government agency that helped to build the Direct File program.

When HuffPost asked about the program’s present and uncertain future, the IRS said in a statement: “Direct File is open and accepting returns every day. We’ve continued to make updates, such as accepting the 1099-R, so now most retirement income is covered.”

So at least for 2025, the Direct File service is still usable for tax filers, and it’s a helpful alternative to using a third-party service.

Minnie Sage, the program director of Tax-Aid, a nonprofit that provides free tax services to the San Francisco Bay Area, said the IRS Direct File program is a good option for people with simple returns. For example, if you just have one or two W-2 documents, you are likely a good candidate for the service, Sage said.

“There’s so many unscrupulous, paid preparers out there that people will go to thinking they’re going to get a better refund. So I think this is great for a lot of people,” she said.

And what makes Direct File different from other free filing opportunities that some tax preparers offer is that people of most income levels can use it. You can use the IRS tax tool as long as your wages are not more than $200,000.

Before you file, first see if you live in one of the 25 eligible states. Understand that if you did not live in one of the participating states for the full past year, you may not qualify to do your return through this program. If you earn money through the gig economy or real estate, you also cannot use this service.

And know that Direct File is still new and only lets you file federal returns, not state ones. After you submit your federal return through the tool, the IRS will direct you to your state’s free filing service like CalFile for California or New York State Direct File for New York.

If you have ever used TurboTax or H&R Block, the online IRS tax tool will look familiar. You will be asked a series of yes-or-no questions about your income, marital status, residency and dependents to figure out which potential tax breaks you qualify for.

If you have created an online IRS account in the past, filling out your return is easier. The Direct File tool can auto-populate your return with personal information like your name, date of birth and mailing address you have shared with the IRS.

Similar to other online tax filing programs, this tool also saves your work as you go, so you can close Direct File and do not have to finish in one sitting.

Confused about how to navigate the site? The Direct File program also provides a customer support representative who can chat with you on the phone or via text in English or Spanish if you have a tax question.

If the Direct File program does end up getting cut, there are still other free filing options. The IRS partners with select tax software companies like 1040.com and FreeTaxUSA for free filing for certain people who earn a gross income of $84,000 or less. Or look up if a community organization in your city has received a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant from the IRS to help fund free tax preparation for underserved populations. These were the 2025 grant recipients in the U.S., for example.

Sage said people too often make the mistake of paying for an expensive third-party program when their return would have been easy to do for free.

In 2022, only 2% of all taxpayers used a free filing system even though approximately 70% of U.S. taxpayers qualified for a free filing tax program, according to a survey done by Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS.

“Preparers charge about $300, and when you’re on a fixed income that really makes a difference,” Sage said.