Code For America Celebrates Direct File Extension, Announces Plans to Expand FileYourStateTaxes

Oakland, CA – May 30, 2024 — Code for America—the leading civic tech nonprofit that works with community leaders and governments to build equitable, accessible digital tools and services—today announced plans to expand its successful FileYourStateTaxes program to help more state governments deliver simple, free, and integrated state tax filing for Direct File users. 

The news comes on the heels of a separate announcement from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) that Direct File, the IRS’s groundbreaking new project to provide free and easy online tax filing, will be made permanent. 

“The 2024 Direct File pilot was an enormous step forward in promoting equitable access to the tax system,” said Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America. “By adopting best practices in civic technology, starting small, and always putting taxpayers first, the IRS delivered a product that people loved, and proved beyond a doubt that the government can make it easier for Americans to file their returns.”

“A critical component of Direct File is creating a seamless and integrated process for taxpayers to easily file state tax returns without starting from scratch,” Renteria continued. “Code for America looks forward to helping bring Direct File to more taxpayers in more states through the expansion of our FileYourStateTaxes tool.”

Direct File’s availability in states with state income taxes relies on the availability of a free, integrated state filing product. Code for America partnered with Arizona and New York earlier this year to launch FileYourStateTaxes, which enabled Direct File users in those states to seamlessly file their state returns. FileYourStateTaxes was a demonstrated success, with 96 percent of taxpayers satisfied or very satisfied with their experience, and nine out of 10 taxpayers completing their state returns in fewer than 15 minutes.

Launched as a pilot in 2024, Direct File is a forward-thinking project to provide free, simple, dignified tax filing services to American families. By eliminating barriers to filing a tax return, Direct File is positioned to help deliver up to $12 billion a year in tax benefits to low-income families—life-changing refundable credits that go unclaimed every year because it is often too hard and too expensive to file a return.

In addition to working directly with state tax departments, Code for America will continue to provide publicly available resources to help government leaders and taxpayer advocates bring Direct File to their states. Code for America will also continue its leading role in the Coalition for Free and Fair Filing, a national network of hundreds of organizations supporting Direct File, which it co-founded in 2023.

Code for America has been a leader in the work to make filing taxes easier and more accessible. GetYourRefund, Code for America’s free virtual tax filing service, was made available for the fifth consecutive year during the 2024 tax filing season. GetYourRefund is offered in partnership with Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) organizations across the country. The service is a digital front door to high quality, trustworthy, free tax filing assistance for households with low to moderate income. To date, GetYourRefund has helped 154,000 people successfully file their taxes.

Code for America looks forward to supporting more states in building a future of free, easy, and accessible tax filing. Interested state tax departments should reach out to Code for America at fileyourstatetaxes@codeforamerica.org. 

About Code for America

Code for America, a nonprofit founded in 2009, believes that government can work for the people, and by the people, in the digital age. We work with government at all levels across the country to make the delivery of public services equitable with technology. We work with community organizations and governments to build digital tools, change policies, and improve programs. Our goal: a resilient government that effectively and equitably serves everyone. Learn more at codeforamerica.org.