Code for America’s FileYourStateTaxes Program Expands to Four New States

San Francisco – Today, Code for America announced new partnerships with the State of New Jersey and Idaho State Tax Commission that will enable those states to join IRS Direct File, providing residents access to free, easy, online federal and state tax filing.

The news follows prior announcements of Code for America’s new partnerships in North Carolina and Maryland, as well as existing 2024 partnerships with Arizona and New York. These six states are joined by nine other states with income tax and nine states without income tax that will all participate in Direct File in 2025. In all, IRS Direct File—a new free tax-filing tool that allows taxpayers to submit a federal tax return electronically—will be available in nearly half of states in its first year as a permanent program.

“Today’s announcements show that Direct File has the wind at its back,” said Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America. “Direct File’s functionality continues to grow in leaps and bounds, and states across the country are joining the effort to revolutionize and democratize access to the tax system. Code for America is proud to be playing a pivotal role in helping scale this transformative program.”

The collaborations in New Jersey and Idaho will make FileYourStateTaxes—Code for America’s integrated state tax filing tool—available to Direct File taxpayers in those states, as with the Maryland and North Carolina partnerships announced earlier. In the 2024 pilot, FileYourStateTaxes was a resounding success in making state tax filing seamless and easy for Direct File users.

“IRS Direct File will offer significant time- and cost-savings for many New Jerseyans filing their federal taxes this year. With the pending addition of FileYourStateTaxes to the State’s offerings, Garden State taxpayers will also be able to realize a more streamlined experience in filing their State taxes that will keep more money in their pockets, and create a more efficient process for State government,” said New Jersey Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio. “I want to thank my colleagues in the New Jersey Office of Innovation and the Code for America team for their collaboration with our Division of Taxation as we work to bring this valuable tool to New Jerseyans across the state.”

In New York, the Department of Taxation and Finance announced today that the Department will take over operations of the state tax filing tool beginning in filing season 2025, in line with Code for America’s approach of collaborating with government to develop a service and then empowering government to iterate as needed to sustain that service over the long term. New York’s pilot year partnership with Code for America empowered the state to move quickly and deliver on the promise of simple, free state tax e-filing integrated with Direct File. This hand-off is the next step in both organizations’ shared vision for tax filing in the state. 

“Code for America was a great partner in helping to develop Direct File in New York State,” said NYS Acting Tax Commissioner Amanda Hiller. “Their technological experience was invaluable and so was their advice on improving the consumer interface. We’re now moving from the start-up phase to the build-out phase and our close collaboration is continuing.” 

Finally, Code for America will continue its partnership with the Arizona Department of Revenue, with Arizona continuing to use FileYourStateTaxes in filing season 2025. Code for America and the Department look forward to building on the successes of the pilot year to support more tax situations and serve more taxpayers in year two.

“In Arizona, we are putting money back in people’s pockets by making it free and easy to file their taxes,” said Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. “I look forward to expanding this resource to even more Arizonans next tax season.”

These six states — North Carolina, Maryland, Idaho, New Jersey, New York, and Arizona — join nine other states with income tax participating in Direct File, several of whom will, like Code for America’s partners, provide fully-integrated solutions. The other participating states are using other technology solutions to support state filing. Code for America has seen strong support for Direct File across the country in its conversations with state tax departments over the summer, and expects to see the number of participating states continue to grow in the years to come.

The Direct File program, launched by the IRS as a 12-state pilot in early 2024, enables taxpayers to file their federal income tax returns directly with the government. During the pilot, three states provided companion state tax filing tools that allowed Direct File users to seamlessly file their state returns using a novel integration strategy pioneered by the Direct File team. Code for America partnered with two of these states—Arizona and New York—during the 2024 tax filing season to develop and launch FileYourStateTaxes. FileYourStateTaxes’s unabashed success proved the success of this model, helping pave the way for more states to join in 2025.

In May, the IRS announced that it would make the Direct File program permanent following positive user feedback. Subsequently, Code for America announced plans to support Direct File’s expansion by bringing FileYourStateTaxes to additional states in 2025.

About Code for America

Code for America is the leading civic tech nonprofit that works with community leaders and governments to build equitable, accessible digital tools and services. Founded as a non-profit in 2009, Code for America believes that government can work for the people, and by the people, in the new 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.