“A Government Accountability Office report from April 2022 found that only 4 million individuals, or about 4% of all eligible taxpayers, used the program to file their federal tax returns.”
About 70% of Americans qualify for Free File, the IRS deal that lets private tax prep companies handle free returns. Only 4% use it. Congress gave the IRS $15 million and nine months just to study whether it should build its own system. Four percent uptake after more than 20 years is not a program. It is an alibi.