By Sabrina Eaton
cleveland.com
(TNS)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes wants to secure the future of the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File tax filing program and require that all states make it available to their residents.
The Akron Democrat on Wednesday introduced legislation called the “Get Your Money Back Act” that would keep the program developed under the Biden administration from being terminated by Republicans who control Congress and the White House.
[Editor’s note: The House version of the One Big Beautiful Act passed in late May included language to officially terminate Direct File. However, in the bill passed by Congress that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, it directs the IRS to set up a task force to report on how the IRS can replace any direct e-file program run by the agency with public-private partnerships. Republicans are appropriating $15 million for the task force and report, which is due in 90 days.]
A statement from Sykes described the Direct File program, which was rolled out as a pilot program in 2024 and expanded this year to include 25 states, as “effective and popular” and expressed frustration that Ohioans weren’t able to take advantage of it before because the state didn’t opt in.
She noted that in the 2024 tax season, the Direct File program helped approximately 140,000 taxpayers claim more than $90 million in refunds and save an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees.
“My legislation would implement this successful program nationwide, improving everyone’s experience with tax season,” said a statement from Sykes, who signed onto a letter spearheaded by Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren that urged the Trump administration to preserve and expand the program.
The letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused the Trump administration of trying to sabotage the program at the behest of the tax preparation industry, because its free, easy-to-use program threatens its bottom line.
“The Trump Administration’s dismantling of a program that makes tax filing easier and free for millions of Americans is shameful,” said the letter signed by more than 175 Democratic Congress members. “Taxpayers have spoken loudly and clearly: Direct File works well for them, and more Americans want access to it.”
Republican foes of the program say it was never authorized by Congress, and that the Trump administration is rightly calling for its reexamination as part of its broader goal to eliminate wasteful spending at IRS.
Nebraska Republican Rep. Adrian Smith, a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, argues it amounts to a costly redundancy that puts “the IRS into the role of both tax preparer and tax auditor.”
He says IRS’s existing Free File program, which lets qualified taxpayers prepare and file federal income tax returns online for free using guided tax preparation software, is a better option.
“Law-abiding middle-class taxpayers and small businesses should not live in fear of a burdensome, unnecessary audit from an overreaching IRS,” said a statement from Smith. “Free File fills a need for taxpayers in an efficient, cost-effective way—just the sort of thing we should be doing more of in Washington.”
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©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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Tags: Congress, IRS, IRS Direct File, Legislation, Taxes
