House Republicans want to make filing taxes harder and more expensive

A group of nearly 30 House Republicans on Tuesday urged Donald Trump to get rid of the IRS' free program to file federal taxes—a move that would make it more expensive for millions of Americans to file their taxes.

Direct File is a product of the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided money for the IRS to create a free alternative to TurboTax and other for-profit tax-preparation companies. 

The program especially benefits low-income Americans who cannot afford tax preparers. And it poses a threat to tax-preparation companies, who stand to lose revenue if the IRS has its own program for Americans to use to prepare and file their annual returns.

In the letter, Republicans tried to make Direct File sound bad but actually made the program look pretty appealing.

“As you know, during the last tax year, the IRS rolled out its Direct File pilot program in 12 states, through which taxpayers file their taxes directly to the IRS instead of through a trusted accountant or reputable third-party preparation service,” the GOP lawmakers wrote in a letter to Trump, telling him he should get rid of Direct File on “day one” of his presidency. 

“Under the guise of offering a convenient ‘free-to-file’ alternative preparation service, the IRS asserts itself as the tax assessor, collector, preparer, and enforcer—all in one—when the program is used,” they continued.