As the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is gearing up to pilot its first-ever Direct File tool in the coming tax season – allowing taxpayers to directly file their taxes with the government by only using the online tool – IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel is holding his breath on the potential success of the tool’s introduction.
In a keynote address at ACT-IAC’s CX Summit on Dec. 7, Werfel discussed the potential of the Direct File tool, and the possibility of further scaling up similar efforts.
“I don’t know, I’m really interested in seeing what the pilot says,” Werfel said. “What is the customer reaction, what’s the take-up rate, what are some of the technical issues that we’re experiencing … these are all questions that we’re going to answer in the upcoming filing season,” he said.
The IRS is teaming up with 13 states to allow taxpayers to file both state and Federal taxes as part of this pilot program that will focus on speeding and streamlining the tax filing process for taxpayers in those states.
The pilot is also aimed at giving taxpayers an additional option to using traditional paper-based filing or using a third party’s software tools to file their taxes. “We are working right now diligently to be ready to have this solution,” he said.
The program also comes as the IRS is taking historic steps to modernize many of its IT processes, scale up its workforce, and enhance its customer experience by utilizing billions in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.
“It’s an exciting moment for the IRS to be deploying this type of product, because it gives taxpayers another option,” Werfel said.
