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RALEIGH – Governor Roy Cooper and Ronald Penny, Secretary of the NC Department of Revenue (NCDOR), announced this week that North Carolina will join the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Direct File program for the upcoming tax filing season.
Starting in 2025, eligible North Carolina residents will be able to use the free Direct File tool to file both their state and federal tax returns directly with the IRS. Approximately 1.25 million North Carolina residents will be eligible to use Direct File this upcoming tax season. The Biden-Harris administration paved the way for this important resource with the Inflation Reduction Act to provide taxpayers with an easy-to-use, free filing option.
“Filing taxes is often stressful, expensive and time-consuming for North Carolina taxpayers and families. The IRS Direct File tool helps eliminate unnecessary hurdles and fees by allowing taxpayers to file their tax return directly with the IRS for free, keeping more money in their pockets,” Cooper said. “This resource will help ensure eligible families receive tax credits. We are grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for their diligent work in developing this tool and for making it available to North Carolinians for free. We look forward to rolling it out as an option this coming tax season.”
“Making Direct File a filing option available to North Carolina residents is a huge win for working families. It provides a free filing option for eligible taxpayers, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet,” Penny added. “Direct File will help minimize tax fraud, strengthen the security of our tax system, and protect our residents from identity theft so we can continue to invest in our state and its people. It will also reduce the number of paper filings state employees must process, which will increase the overall efficiency of the Department of Revenue.”
During the 2024 tax season, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS ran a successful Direct File pilot program that enabled 140,000 taxpayers to file over $90 million in tax refunds. The average taxpayer spends about $270 and up to 13 hours filing their taxes each year. According to the IRS’s 2024 tax season After Action Report, the Direct File pilot program saved participating taxpayers an estimated $5.6 million in tax preparation fees.
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