The IRS's Free Direct File May Be Dead, But What if You Haven't Filed Yet?

Getty Images/CNET Reports of the IRS Direct File's death may not have been exaggerated after all. The agency's free program for filing electronic tax returns may be the latest victim of the Trump administration's DOGE efficiency team, according to reporting by the Associated Press. It cited two anonymous sources familiar with the decision who said staff were told to stop working on the program for the 2026 tax filing season. Rumors of the service's demise began back in February with a social media post from Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, who claimed the office responsible for IRS's Direct File had been "deleted." Whatever Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency -- or DOGE -- may be doing, Direct File has remained available for residents of the 25 states where it has been rolled out so far. The official IRS webpage currently displays a message urging users to file quickly if they missed the April 15 deadline or to find out if their deadline was extended due to a natural disas ... Read full article.