<p>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the decision to cancel the IRS&#8217;s Direct File program during a Senate exchange on Wednesday, arguing the &#8220;free&#8221; service cost taxpayers $72 million annually.</p>
<p>During a hearing, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) pressed Bessent on why the program was scrapped, calling it &#8220;free and easy to use.&#8221; Bessent pushed back, saying the service was only free to users, not taxpayers.</p>
<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t free,&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;It was $72 million for about 300,000 taxpayers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Roughly 60% of users did not complete their filings through the platform.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisCoons?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisCoons</a>: &#8220;Why&#8217;d you shut down Direct File when it was free and easy to use?&#8221;<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a>: &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t free and the—&#8221;</p>
<p>Coons: &#8220;Direct File was free to taxpayers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bessent: &#8220;Not to the American people. It was … $72 million for about 300,00 taxpayers.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/fdku7e4vBh">pic.twitter.com/fdku7e4vBh</a></p>
<p>— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2046965475934863719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Bessent argued that taxpayers could instead use private options such as FreeTaxUSA to file federal returns at no cost.</p>
<p>The IRS launched Direct File as a pilot program to allow taxpayers with relatively simple returns to file directly with the government, bypassing private tax preparation companies. It was rolled out in phases with limited eligibility.</p>
<p>Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a supporter of the program, has proposed legislation to reinstate it.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It doesn’t make any sense for [President Donald] Trump and [former Trump adviser Elon] Musk to get rid of Direct File—unless they want to do a big favor for giant tax prep companies by squeezing more Americans into paying for those products,” Warren said, pointing to Musk&#8217;s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Treasury officials have instead pointed toward expanding the existing Free File program, which relies on private tax software companies to provide free filing options for eligible taxpayers, rather than building a permanent government-run system. </span></p>

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Dems Go After Trump For Ending ‘Free’ Tax Program But Fine Print Steals The Show