The short answer, as of this filing year: nowhere. IRS Direct File, the government-built tool that let taxpayers in 25 states prepare and e-file federal returns directly with the IRS at no cost, was shut down before the 2026 filing season. The agency told participating states in late 2025 that the tool would not be available this year and that no future launch date had been set.
That matters because Direct File was the first serious attempt in decades to let Americans file directly with the government the way taxpayers in much of the world do, and because millions of people who used it or heard about it are now searching for it and coming up empty. If you were one of them, here is what the tool was, why it is gone, and which free options still work in 2026.
What Direct File was
Direct File launched as a pilot during the 2024 filing season in 12 states, offering a plain-language, interview-style way to file simple federal returns on a phone or computer, with live chat help from IRS staff. For the 2025 season it expanded to 25 states and covered more tax situations, including more credits and retirement income. It handled the federal return and then handed users off to their state’s own free filing tool where one existed.
Users did not pay anything, did not see upsells, and did not share their data with a private company. The tool imported basic information the IRS already had and did the math as you went. Reviews from people who used it were, by government-software standards, remarkably warm.
Why it is gone
Direct File was politically contested from the start. The paid tax-preparation industry opposed a permanent government-run competitor, and critics in Congress questioned whether the IRS should build filing software at all. After the change in administration, the program’s future was publicly in doubt through 2025, and in November 2025 the IRS informed state partners that Direct File would not operate in the 2026 filing season.
The tax law enacted in July 2025 also directed the Treasury Department to study options for free filing going forward, including public-private approaches. Translation: some kind of free federal filing may return in a future season, in some form, but nothing has been announced, and nothing government-built is available to file with today. The IRS keeps its current list of no-cost options on its file-for-free page, which is the page worth bookmarking rather than any news story.
What still works: Free File
The biggest surviving free option is IRS Free File, the long-running partnership between the IRS and private software companies. If your 2025 adjusted gross income was $89,000 or less, you can use brand-name guided software free for your federal return, reached through the IRS Free File lookup tool. It remains open through the October extension deadline, so extension filers can still use it now.
The differences from Direct File are worth knowing. Free File runs on private companies’ software, some partners charge for state returns, and you must enter through the IRS website to get the free version. But the federal return itself costs nothing, and the guided interview covers the common credits most families claim.
What still works: Fillable Forms and free human help
Above the income limit, Free File Fillable Forms remain available to everyone regardless of income. They are bare-bones electronic forms with basic math support and no guidance, best for confident filers with simple returns.
If you would rather have a person help, the VITA and TCE volunteer programs prepare returns free for lower- and moderate-income taxpayers, people with disabilities, and older Americans, and some sites operate beyond the spring rush. Military families can use MilTax through the Department of Defense at any income level. None of these is as seamless as Direct File aimed to be, but together they cover most households that should not be paying to file.
If you used Direct File before, check two things
First, your records. Direct File users could download copies of their filed returns, and you will want last year’s return handy no matter how you file next season, since preparers and software ask for prior-year adjusted gross income to verify identity when e-filing. If you did not save a copy, you can get a free transcript of your past return through your IRS online account.
Second, your state. Several states built or connected their own free state-return tools to feed off Direct File, and a number of those state tools still operate on their own. Your state revenue department’s website will say whether a free state filing option remains even though the federal half is gone.
The larger story is unfinished. Treasury’s review of free filing options is ongoing, states that invested in the program have pushed for a successor, and the underlying question, whether filing a simple tax return should ever cost money, has not gone away. For now, though, the practical guidance is plain: Direct File works nowhere in 2026, and Free File, Fillable Forms, and the volunteer sites are the free routes that remain.
