Close to 2 million taxpayers have used the IRS Free File option this year, up 12.5% with only about two weeks left in the filing season.
“The Free File program continues to be an important part of our portfolio of free options available for taxpayers, and we encourage taxpayers to see if there’s a free option that works for them,” Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement to Bloomberg Tax.
The 1.8 million returns filed through March 30 is 200,000 more than last year’s figure. This boost in returns filed through the partnership between the IRS and eight tax preparation companies comes as the IRS pilots its separate, limited-in-size free electronic filing tool also known as Direct File.
Critics of Direct File worry that the IRS would do away with its Free File partnership if its new pilot is successful. Earlier this year, an IRS official said the agency had recently signed an extension of the memorandum of understanding with its partners and was committed to a long-standing relationship with Free File.
Taxpayers who made $79,000 or less in 2023 can file using the Free File program, which gives the option to file returns through guided tax preparation or using an IRS fillable form. Partners include 1040Now, Drake, ezTaxReturn.com, FileYourTaxes.com, On-Line Taxes, TaxAct, TaxHawk, and TaxSlayer.
About 70% of taxpayers in the 2022 tax year were eligible to use Free File, but only 2% used it, according to an annual report to Congress from the National Taxpayer Advocate.
As of March 22, the IRS had sent out 54,990,000 refunds, totaling about $169.4 billion. The average refund was $3,081.
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