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IRS Direct File tax tool eliminated despite success, paper finds

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

A paper titled "Public Interest Capacity: The Case of Direct File" details the successful development and subsequent elimination of the IRS's in-house tax filing tool, Direct File. Despite high user satisfaction and increased tax filing rates in its pilot, the tool was dismantled following a change in administration, largely due to its voluntary nature and competition with the private tax preparation industry. The paper highlights the importance of building internal government capacity for technology development, rather than relying solely on outsourcing, and suggests that civic tech has historically focused on public-facing products at the expense of modernizing essential back-end systems. AI

RANK_REASON Analysis of a past government project and its lessons for civic tech.

Read on Mastodon — mastodon.social →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

IRS Direct File tax tool eliminated despite success, paper finds

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Analysis of a past government project and its lessons for civic tech.
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policy, product
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19 days old
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. Mastodon — mastodon.social TIER_1 English(EN) · [email protected] ·

    The Lessons of Direct File Invest in Capacity Where It’s Hardest to Remove People working in civic tech should read the excellent paper Public Interest Capacity

    The Lessons of Direct File Invest in Capacity Where It’s Hardest to Remove People working in civic tech should read the excellent paper Public Interest Capacity: The Case of Direct File by Donald Moynihan, Pam Herd, and Xiaoyang Xu, which was just published in Public Administrati…

    LINKS en.wikipedia.org/…/IRS_Direct_File irs.gov/…/p5969.pdf cnet.com/…/need-to-renew-your-us-passport… finance.yahoo.com/…/fafsa-2027-28-is-open… gao.gov/…/outdated-and-old-it-systems-slo… spec-ops.ai github.com/…/spec-ops-skills github.com/…/fact-graph github.com/…/direct-file

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