In early February 2025, claims emerged that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk, had terminated, or planned to terminate, a program — Direct File — run by the IRS that allows (some) citizens to file individual tax returns for free:

Tax season can be stressful from gathering all the required documents to finding a trusted place to file. Here are some options for filing for free.

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk posted on his social media site that he has “deleted” 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as the IRS's Direct File program

Eligible Americans can now file their taxes using IRS Direct File, which allows taxpayers in 25 states, including New York, to file their federal taxes directly with the IRS for free.

IRS Free File program at IRS.gov offers free tax software to those with adjusted gross incomes of $84,000 or less. Other free programs exist, too.

You already pay a lot in taxes, so it makes sense to try to save money when filing your annual tax return. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently expanded the Direct File program, which

Elon Musk posted that the IRS Direct File group had been "deleted," prompting confusion about the free tax prep service's future.

The Internal Revenue Service is accepting tax returns for tax season 2025, including through the expanded Direct File program. Why it matters: There's been some confusion on the status of the free online tax-filing program after Elon Musk posted on X Monday that he had "deleted" 18F,

Elon Musk stirred up confusion over the status of the IRS’s Direct File program when he reposted a description of it and said he “deleted” it. “That group has been deleted,” Musk posted on X. However,

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk posted on his social media site that he has “deleted” 18F, a government agency that worked on technology projects such as the IRS's Direct File program. This led to some confusion about whether Direct File is still available to taxpayers this season.