The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said use of the Direct File pilot program launched this year exceeded expectations.
More than 140,000 taxpayers filed their taxes directly with the IRS in April, exceeding the agencies goal of 100,000 users. The program, which allowed users to file their taxes for free, also received positive user ratings and saved taxpayers money, the agency said.
“The IRS’s Direct File pilot enabled more than 140,000 taxpayers to file their taxes for free, saving participants time and money,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said on Friday. “Thanks to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS created a program that helped taxpayers access $90 million in refunds, achieved top notch customer service ratings and provided the data and lessons necessary to determine next steps.”
The IRS said that users claimed more than $90 million in refunds and saved an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees. The program was available in 12 states and was designed to follow best practices for rolling out new technology, officials said by starting small and building from there once the department was sure it worked.
The IRS collected information on user experiences with Direct File and found that 90 percent of respondents to a survey about the pilot ranked their experience as “excellent” or “above average.” The new program also gave the IRS an opportunity to test a large-scale, live-chat feature. Direct File customer service representatives handled tens of thousands of chats, the agency said, and 90 percent of survey respondents who used the live-chat function rated their experience as excellent or above average.
The Treasury Department and the IRS said they will continue to analyze the pilot program’s results before deciding on the program’s future.