The Internal Revenue Service is studying the results of its Direct File Pilot that was conducted in 12 states during the recently ended tax season. The IRS said this month expects to reach a decision this spring.The agency noted that, “No decision has been made about the future of Direct File at this time.”
The IRS said 140,803 taxpayers used Direct File to file federal tax returns. In the 12 participating states, taxpayers filed $90 million in tax refunds and reported $35 million in tax balances due. The IRS gave the states with the most returns as follows: California (33,328), Texas (29,099), Florida (20,840), New York (14,144) and Washington (13,954).
The IRS will meet with the appropriate parties to learn how taxpayers interacted with the system. It said that during the pilot, more than 3.3 million taxpayers started the eligibility checker, 423,450 taxpayers logged into Direct File and 140,803 taxpayers submitted accepted returns.
A General Services Administration Touchpoints survey of more than 11,000 Direct File users found that 90 percent of respondents said their experience was “Excellent” or “Above Average.”
