The Internal Revenue Service has officially ended Direct File, the free, government sponsored program, where individuals could file their 1040’s. The Service will now begin promoting several alternatives offered by private companies such as Free File, another complimentary 1040 filing program.
The Direct File Program was initially offered to the public in limited states. The program itself wasn’t comprehensive and couldn’t be used by taxpayers that didn’t have the simplest of returns.
According to a Treasury Department announcement, less than 300K Americans used the program to file their returns this year. Given the $41M the Service spent on the program, it’s been deemed that this money could be better spent elsewhere.
How anyone could ever expect the IRS to help them properly file an income tax return is beyond my imagination. At least now, the mere temptation has gone away.
Let me leave you with this…
It looks like the government will again reopen after the longest shutdown in American History. The House is set to vote on a spending bill sent over by the Senate this evening and the President has signaled that he will sign the bill.
The bill includes, but is not limited to, the following…
1 – It funds the majority of government operations through January 30th of 2026.
2 – It reverses firings and provides back pay for federal employees.
3 – It pledges a vote on healthcare subsidies at some point in the future.
4 – It provides a potential $500K pay out to Senators who sue the Federal Government if investigators collected their information without their knowledge.
5 – It provides for additional security to judges and lawmakers after the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
My problem with all of this is that it only funds the government for another 10 weeks. What would happen if the warring parties came up with another reason to not come together by then and we needed to go through another one of these in the middle of a tax season?
That would be a real mess. But somewhere in the back of your mind, you know it’s possible. They’re only putting a Band Aid on a wound.
We’ll see. When you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
Accounting Solutions Ltd. stands ready to complete our mission and purpose of protecting you, your family, and your business. Whether you need Payroll Services, or Accounting and Tax Work, you have but to ask. I’m here and I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
773-267-7500
888-310-0300
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