The IRS’s free tax filing pilot program earned approval among taxpayers in its first trial year.
Users gave Direct File high marks across multiple categories, with 90% ranking their overall experience and the customer support as "excellent" or "above average," according to a General Services Administration Touchpoints survey of 11,000 Direct File users.
Direct File is part of the agency’s renewed focus on customer service — an effort to meet taxpayers where they are and improve the tax filing experience — which was boosted by an infusion of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022. With the success of the pilot, the IRS is deciding whether to expand the service to more taxpayers next year and expects to make an announcement later this spring.
“We saw a strong response from the pilot, and Direct File’s users generally found it fast and easy to use,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a prepared statement last week. “This is an important part of our effort to meet taxpayers where they are, give them options to interact with the IRS in ways that work for them and help them meet their tax obligations as easily and quickly as possible.”
Users cited ease of use, trustworthiness and the fact that it was free as the top factors for why they liked the service, according to the survey. The lion’s share of respondents — 86% — said their experience with Direct File increased their trust in the agency.
IRS employees offered customer support via live chat in English and Spanish, and worked alongside the product team to better assist taxpayers. The IRS provided customer support throughout the work week as well as on weekends.
The IRS implemented user feedback throughout the pilot with product updates and enhancements. Ayushi Roy, deputy director of New America’s New Practice Lab, credited the IRS’ “decision to really build with their taxpayer user base” for the success of Direct File.
The IRS committed to “starting small to get it right” — a lesson learned from the rollout of healthcare.gov.
Direct File was only offered to taxpayers with more basic returns in 12 states and wasn’t widely rolled out until mid-March. Over 140,000 taxpayers filed their federal tax returns using the new service. But interest was much higher, with more than 3.3 million taxpayers using the IRS’ eligibility checker to see whether they could use the pilot, according to the IRS.
“As a technologist, I will say, I'm dorking out about the figures,” Roy said. Even the response rate of the General Services Administration Touchpoints survey — just under 10% — is notable.
“Roughly 10% of users were actually interested, invested in providing feedback on their experience — and providing feedback not because the experience was poor, but because the experience was good,” she said.
These positive numbers followed similar findings from the Economic Security Project last week. Three in 4 taxpayers preferred Direct File over alternatives, and 3 in 5 taxpayers were able to file in under an hour with the pilot, according to its survey of more than 4,000 taxpayers.
