The IRS has ended the Direct File program, which let some taxpayers file their annual returns for free using software developed by the government. Many tax preparation companies opposed this, as did some Republican members of Congress.

Now, the program is dead, and the IRS is looking to boost access to free tax preparation through other means.

For the last couple of years and until a week ago, Americans had two options for filing their taxes for free online: Direct File And Free File.

“So think about free file as a public-private partnership,” said Don Moynihan, professor of public policy at the University of Michigan.

That Free File partnership has been around for a couple of decades. On one end is the IRS; on the other are online tax preparation companies that provide their services for free (to some taxpayers, with income restrictions).

“One of the limitations of Free File is that it's never really broadened its horizons to get more than a couple of percentage of the tax-paying population,” Moynihan said — and that’s even though most taxpayers are eligible to use it.

Direct File started two years ago as a pilot program during the Biden administration. “It was really to have a fuller menu of options for taxpayers,” said Daniel Werfel, IRS commissioner at the time.

With Direct File, people with relatively simple returns file directly through an online portal run by the IRS, answer some questions, input W-2 info, and it’s done. This year, about 300,000 taxpayers used Direct File.

“The taxpayers that used the system said it was really easy to use, it was clear, it was intuitive,” Werfel said. “Many of them finished the process within 30 minutes.”

At this point, you’re probably wondering what the catch is. Well, some Republican lawmakers were looking at the cost of the Direct File program — in the tens of millions of dollars and counting — and were also hearing complaints from the lobby representing tax preparation companies.

Last year, during a hearing, Republican Senator Mike Crapo said Direct File was inefficient.

“Were the IRS to use this year's direct file spending to pay third-party providers to prepare and file returns instead, literally hundreds of times the number of taxpayers could file for free,” he had said.

The die was cast earlier this year, when the Trump administration reduced the staff working on Direct File by 80%. Last week, it officially killed the program.

“How long have we been talking about free public tax preparation? 80 years,” said Vanessa Williamson, who wrote a new book on U.S. tax history called “The Price of Democracy.”

Many other nations help people prepare their taxes for free. And even though Direct File didn’t survive, Williamson said it still laid important groundwork.

“Direct file is a model for states, and it's a model for the federal government in the future, if we ever decide that we want to make government services easy again,” she said.

In a report to Congress, the Treasury Department said that while it’s killing Direct File, it will boost Free File instead — including by increasing its promotion to taxpayers.