The IRS’s new government-run website for free tax filing is now open for the rest of this year’s tax season. The Direct File website is only available to users in 12 states and is the Biden Administration’s attempt to compete with commercial tax filing websites. According to The Washington Post, the launch of the website comes at a time when more than two-thirds of all households have yet to file their returns.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, analysis and commentary. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialists Tayah Frye at [email protected] and Cate Douglass at [email protected].
Steven Hamilton is an assistant professor of economics. His primary area of research is public finance, where he studies the effects of taxes on behavior with a view to designing better tax policy. In recent research, he investigates the degree to which taxpayers should be allowed to claim tax deductions by measuring the extent to which taxpayers use deductions to avoid paying taxes.
William Stromsem is a teaching assistant professor of accountancy. Prior to his post at GW, Stromsem spent most of his career at the American Institute of CPAs Tax Division, where he became the Director of the Tax Division. Since retiring from the AICPA, Stromsem consults with the Texas Society of CPAs and currently serves on the board of Community Tax Aid, the largest low-income tax return preparation clinic in the Washington D.C. area. Stromsem can discuss a number of different aspects of related to the tax filing season, including best practices and tax credits filers should know about, as well as the new free filing system by the IRS and its limitations.
-GW-
