If You’re In One Of These 12 States, You’ll Have A New Tax Day Option This Years

It’s a new year, so naturally it’s time to start dreading another April 15. And while you might not be looking forward to an encounter with the IRS, there’s something new in the works that might make things a little easier and less expensive.

But before you get too excited, let’s take a look at some important caveats.

What’s going on?

As the federal tax agency revealed late last year, there’s a new internal system that will allow taxpayers to file their returns directly and without any fee. It sounds pretty good, although it’s not available to everyone … at least not this year.

For the 2024 season, it’s only open to taxpayers who:

• Live in one of a dozen states
• Are low- or moderate-income taxpayers
• File simple returns with the standard deduction
• Aren’t part of the “gig work” economy

Nevertheless, the number of eligible people is expected to number in the hundreds of thousands, and the IRS expects to expand the program even further over the next several years.

IRS commissioner Danny Werfel called it a “critical step forward for this innovative effort that will test the feasibility of providing taxpayers a new option to file their returns for free directly with the IRS.”

Of course, not everyone is sold on the idea.

Who’s pushing back?

As you might imagine, companies that make their money offering tax prep assistance don’t like the government horning in on their territory.

Intuit spokesperson Tania Mercado called it a “half-baked solution” that simply squanders taxpayer money.

And a number of lawmakers are concerned that this will give the government even more control over the money Americans earn.

Here’s a list of the states included in the trial: Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

Chris Agee January 6th, 2024

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