{"id":2398762,"date":"2025-02-04T14:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-stirs-up-confusion-about-the-status-of-irs-direct-file-program-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T14:12:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:12:04","slug":"musk-stirs-up-confusion-about-the-status-of-irs-direct-file-program-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/musk-stirs-up-confusion-about-the-status-of-irs-direct-file-program-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Musk stirs up confusion about the status of IRS Direct File program &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmusk-stirs-up-confusion-about-the-status-of-irs-direct-file-program-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2398762&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>elon Musk\u2063 recently caused confusion regarding the IRS&#8217;s Direct \u2062File program when he posted on \u2062social media that a group related to the program had been &#8220;deleted.&#8221; \u2064In his post, Musk indicated he was referring to 18F,\u2063 a federal\u2063 agency involved in the program&#8217;s creation, rather than Direct File itself, \u200cwhich is still operational. A Community Note added to \u200cmusk&#8217;s \u200bpost clarified\u200c that Direct file is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/youtuber-and-investor-turned-ca-gov-candidate-talks-future-schools-solving-homelessness-crisis-and-more\/\" title=\"YouTuber And Investor Turned CA Gov Candidate Talks \u2018Future Schools,\u2019 Solving Homelessness Crisis, And More\">free service<\/a> allowing users to e-file their tax returns directly \u2063with \u200cthe IRS and \u200ddoes\u2063 not mean the \u2063government\u200c prepares taxes\u2062 on behalf of individuals.<\/p>\n<p>Originally launched as a pilot in 12 states during \u200cthe 2024 tax season,Direct file has as expanded\u2064 to 25 states and is set to \u2063continue through at least the 2025 tax \u2063season,according \u2063to\u200d Treasury Secretary scott Bessent. However, the program has faced criticism from \u200dsome Republican \u200dlawmakers, who argue it represents government \u2063overreach \u200dand have urged President Trump to take action against \u2062it.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Musk stirs up confusion about the status of IRS Direct File program<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1973510\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elon-musk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Elon Musk<\/a> stirred up confusion over the status of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/irs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">IRS<\/a>&rsquo;s Direct File program when he reposted a description of it and said he &ldquo;deleted&rdquo; it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;That group has been deleted,&rdquo; Musk <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1886498750052327520\">posted<\/a> on X.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">That group has been deleted <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TICeriaLlA\">https:\/\/t.co\/TICeriaLlA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1886498750052327520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 3, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>However, Musk, who was appointed to lead the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-government-efficiency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Department of Government Efficiency<\/a>, was not talking about Direct File but instead 18F, the federal agency tasked with creating the program.<\/p>\n<p>A&nbsp;Community Note was added to Musk&rsquo;s post, clarifying that Direct File was still operating.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;IRS&rsquo;s Direct File service is a free service that allows people to prepare and e-file their tax returns,&rdquo; the community note said.&nbsp;&ldquo;Contrary to the post&rsquo;s claim, the service does not put &lsquo;the government in charge of preparing people&rsquo;s tax returns for them.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Direct File, which allows taxpayers to file their tax returns directly with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/better-than-expected-u-s-economy-added-638000-jobs-in-october-unemployment-dropped-to-6-9\/\" title=\"Better Than Expected: U.S. Economy ... 638,000 Jobs in October, Unemployment Dropped to 6.9%\">federal government<\/a>, was launched as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fla-gov-desantis-announces-plan-to-work-with-publix-pharmacy-to-distribute-covid-19-vaccine\/\" title=\"Fla. Gov. DeSantis announces plan to work with Publix Pharmacy to distribute COVID-19 vaccine\">pilot program<\/a> in 12 states during the 2024 tax season. It has since been made permanent and has expanded to 25 states.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during his Jan. 16 confirmation hearing that he was committed to maintaining Direct File through at least the 2025 tax season.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have said the program is &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yellen-under-fire-for-big-ticket-pledge-to-global-pandemic-fund-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Yellen under fire for big-ticket pledge to global Pandemic Fund - Washington Examiner\">government overreach&#038;rdquo<\/a>; and have called on President Donald Trump to end it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We write to urge you to take immediate action, including but not limited to a day-one executive order, to end the Internal Revenue Service&rsquo;s (IRS) unauthorized and wasteful Direct File pilot program,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/adriansmith.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/adriansmith.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/Letter%20to%20President-Elect%20Trump%20re%20IRS%20Direct%20File%20-%20Version%20%232%20-%2012-10-2024%20%40%2005-22%20PM.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said<\/a> a letter sent to Trump. &ldquo;The program&rsquo;s creation and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">ongoing expansion pose<\/a> a threat to taxpayers&rsquo; freedom from government overreach, and its rollout and structural flaws have already come at a steep price.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1973510\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1973510\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Musk causes confusion regarding IRS Direct File program status<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2542,"featured_media":2398763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Elon-Musk-Special-Government-Employee-ethics.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[17803,49800,4250,49801],"class_list":["post-2398762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-confusion","tag-irs-direct-file","tag-musk","tag-tax-program"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Elon-Musk-Special-Government-Employee-ethics.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2398762"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2398770,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398762\/revisions\/2398770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2398763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2398762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2398762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2398762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}