"The Direct File program prepared your taxes: listing exactly how much you made and owed, and all for free. But thanks to lobbying efforts from such tax giants like H&R Block and Intuit, that initiative is all but dead."
"Supporters of the program point to the lobbying efforts by those two tax giants alone as removing a public good to drive the bottom line, while the companies themselves point to the large number of people who use their services."
"In the 2002-2003, the IRS flirted with building a free online filing system and then backed away, in part due to private tax preparers that didn't want to lose their grip on the process."
The 2026 tax season marks the first year Americans cannot use the Direct File program, which aimed to simplify tax filing for millions. The initiative was discontinued largely due to over $103 million in lobbying from H&R Block and Intuit. Despite a high satisfaction rate among users, these companies argued that the program served a small percentage of taxpayers. The IRS had previously considered a free online filing system but opted for partnerships with private tax preparers to avoid competition, leading to the current tax filing landscape.
Read at Fortune
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