In a post on X, unelected government official Elon Musk revealed that he has cut the staff of the Internal Revenue Service that oversaw the system that allows Americans to file their taxes for free easily on its website.A right-wing MAGA influencer called the "direct file" tax program a "far left go...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25117460

Summary

Elon Musk claimed on X that he eliminated the IRS team responsible for the “Direct File” program, which allows Americans to file taxes online for free.

His statement came in response to a right-wing influencer criticizing the program as government overreach.

However, the Treasury Department confirms that the Direct File system remains active, offering free tax filing with customer support.

The program, available in English and Spanish, is optional, allowing taxpayers to choose between using it or filing their taxes manually.

  • @[email protected]
    19•16 hours ago

    You do you. Personally, I want to get my money while I still can. But if you would rather throw away you and your children’s money then … 'kay.

    Because there are basically 3 outcomes for the IRS at this point

    1. musk et al completely destroy it and insist that income tax is no longer a thing and only sales tax exists. I forget if this is part of project 2025 but it is something republicans have been arguing for decades because it predominantly hurts lower income households
    2. Democrats do their fucking job and intervene and we file taxes normally
    3. musk et al completely compromise the IRS and make it a point to attack “the little guy” so they can insist they are hard on crime while actively ignoring all their cronies who refuse to ever pay taxes again.

    And if you truly refuse to use any software? You can file by hand. I did back in college when I couldn’t afford even fricking turbotax.

    • @[email protected]
      5•11 hours ago

      Democrats cannot fix this. Perhaps you lived under a rock, but they lost power in all branches of government. Further, whether the actions by Musk violate the constitution is up for review by the courts, not congress. Remember who is in charge there? People warned that electing Trump would end Democracy, but I guess they were just scaremongering.