The U.S. Treasury and the IRS on Thursday announced a major expansion to the Direct File tax filing program for the 2025 tax season.
More than 30 million taxpayers across 24 states will be newly eligible to file their federal taxes directly with the IRS online for free.
This year the program will be available for taxpayers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The program now covers more income, credit and deduction scenarios and will allow some 30 million taxpayers nationwide who have "simple tax situations" to file for free. The Treasury is expected to publish a guide to eligibility on its website.
Direct File was first deployed for the 2024 tax season through the Inflation Reduction Act, as a way to reduce the time and expense involved with filing federal taxes.
"Direct File has the potential to save Americans tens of millions of dollars in filing fees in the upcoming filing season, advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of reducing costs for American families," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
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More states are expected to join eligibility for the 2026 tax season.
State taxes are not eligible for filing through Direct File, but the Treasury says in many cases it is able to send taxpayers directly to state filing tools once they've completed their federal return.
