Elon Musk caused quite a stir this week when he claimed that the office responsible for the IRS’ Direct File tax return filing program had been “deleted,” but the program is not actually going away for the time being and you are safe using it — for now.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, among other companies, has emerged as a close adviser to President Donald Trump, who appointed the businessman to head up the Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE — a freewheeling organization focused on cutting federal programs and spending. Taking to his X platform (formerly Twitter) on Monday night, Musk responded to a post from a right-wing influencer touching on the Direct File program, stating that it had been ended.
“That group has been deleted,” Musk wrote, without elaboration.
The potential disruption to tax filing, among many other federal programs, comes just as Americans are turning their attention to tax matters. The IRS started accepting tax returns on Jan. 27 and will continue to accept them through the traditional April 15 for most filers.
Whatever Musk and DOGE may be doing, Direct File remains available via its official IRS webpage for residents of the 25 states where it has been rolled out so far. While it is unclear what might happen to the service in the near future, an IRS representative responding to an inquiry from said that tax returns already submitted through Direct File will be treated like any other return and shouldn’t be impacted by any changes to the program.
What is Direct File?
Direct File was first rolled out by the IRS in 2024 in 12 states as a service allowing taxpayers to file their annual returns directly to the agency for free, an extension of the earlier but less fleshed out Free File service. Musk’s claim about doing away with the program raised concern and confusion for many, as the service had been well-received overall.
The program was also expanded for 2025, with new features and availability in 25 states. Whether it will be available by the end of tax season remains to be seen.
The Trump administration’s moves, including an indefinite hiring freeze at the IRS, have prompted concerns about whether tax return processing will be slowed down this year, but these worries appear to be unfounded for the time being.
Will Direct File go away?
Speaking with via email correspondence, Jassen Bowman, an IRS enrolled agent and expert on all thing taxes, noted that the both agency and the new Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have committed to keeping the program going through at least the 2025 filing season. However, given the chaotic state of things right now, it’s future in the short-term isn’t clear and it could be subjected to erratic decision making, so anyone interested in using it this year should
“All that said, things have become a bit unpredictable in Washington, so there is always a chance that the administration could decide to pull the program,” Bowman wrote. “My advice for people that are eligible to use Direct File would be to use it, but closely monitor the status of their return as it’s processed and, of course, keep copies of everything they submitted.”
How can I use Direct File safely this year?
On the subject of whether the program will be around for the rest of the 2025 tax season, Bowman went into more detail about the steps taxpayers should take with Direct File if they opt to use it this year.
“Anybody using Direct File for their 2024 tax return should closely monitor the status of the return,” Bowman explained. “Processing should take less than a few days. On top of that, don’t throw away those W-2s and other documents. Instead, keep all the documents you used to file your return, and keep a copy of the tax return itself. This is always good advice, but particularly so now. If the IRS does shut down the program, they would most likely process returns that were already filed.”
