The Senate is voting to save free IRS Direct File today

The Senate is getting ready to vote on a bill to resurrect IRS Direct File, the free tax filing service axed by the Trump administration in 2025. On Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) will seek unanimous consent to pass the Direct File Act, where it will either get fast-tracked to the House of Representatives or forced back into the standard, slow-moving lawmaking process if all 100 senators don’t agree.

Launched in 2024 as a pilot program, IRS Direct File allowed Americans to file taxes directly with the government for free. It spread to 25 states before IRS Commissioner Billy Long declared it “gone” last fall. But Warren and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) aim to bring the service back with a bill introduced in February that’s backed by more than 160 Democratic lawmakers.

Under the IRS Direct File Act, Americans would be able to file their taxes directly to the IRS for free. It would also ensure that the IRS doesn’t enter into agreements that “restrict its ability” to offer free tax preparation or filing services. In prepared remarks before Congress later today, Warren will call out the $1 million donation to President Donald Trump’s inauguration from TurboTax parent company Intuit and its persistent lobbying to prevent the government from launching services like IRS Direct File.

“To Republicans who say that making filing your taxes for free with the IRS is too expensive: for just one day of bombing Iran, we could pay for 20 years of Direct File,” Warren’s remarks say. “And to Republicans defending the status quo, ask yourselves why you’re on the side of TurboTax and H&R Block instead of your constituents.”