Democrats urge Trump nominees to keep the IRS's free direct-tax-filing tool, touting it as a DOGE-friendly program [View all]

Source: msn/Business Insider

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As some Republicans urge President-elect Donald Trump to kill the IRS's free direct-tax-filing tool, Democrats are attempting to preserve it. In a letter to the Treasury secretary nominee, Scott Bessent, and the IRS commissioner nominee, Billy Long, Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Coons of Delaware touted what they see as the benefits of the program.

"Direct File is making the process of interacting with the government more efficient, a goal we all can agree on," Warren and Coons wrote in a letter exclusively provided to Business Insider. Twenty-two other senators and 113 House members, all Democrats, also signed on. The duo also said the program "fits the bill" of a program that's reportedly being explored by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's "Department of Government Efficiency": a mobile app to allow Americans to file their taxes directly to the IRS for free.

"The Direct File pilot program has proved that it is efficient, cost effective, user friendly, and secure — a pilot program that already meets the DOGE leaders' goals," the senators wrote, adding that, as Musk and Ramaswamy have said, "Americans deserve a simple and free way to meet their tax obligations online."

The program, enabled by the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, launched in 12 states last year and is set to expand to 13 more states this year. More than 140,000 have filed their federal tax returns via the program, according to the IRS

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-urge-trump-nominees-to-keep-the-irs-s-free-direct-tax-filing-tool-touting-it-as-a-doge-friendly-program/ar-AA1xfPAZ