US IRS free online tax filing open source repo

The United States Government introduced Direct File, a free online tax filing service for taxpayers, in order to allow individuals to electronically submit their federal tax returns directly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The user-friendly service, accessible via mobile devices as well as laptops, tablets and desktop computers, is available in both English and Spanish and caters to a diverse range of taxpayers with varying levels of expertise and accessibility requirements.

By interpreting the Internal Revenue Code (26 USC) in straightforward questions, Direct File guides users through the process without requiring additional instructions or publications. The tax information provided by taxpayers is then converted into standard tax forms and transmitted to the IRS' Modernized e-File (MeF) API, which is accessible for authorized public use.

This innovative service also incorporates the Fact Graph, a Scala-based declarative knowledge graph data structure designed to handle incomplete information, such as partially completed tax returns. The Fact Graph, written in Scala and running on both the backend and client sides, can potentially benefit revenue agencies and business rule engine implementations.

Although Direct File currently focuses on federal tax returns, it enables taxpayers to import their federal return data into third-party tools that can file state and/or local taxes, streamlining the process through a State API. Direct File was developed by an in-house team of IRS technologists in collaboration with USDS, GSA, and vendors TrussWorks, Coforma, and ATI.

The repository, while including detailed information on the program's history, is now archived and no longer maintained. Users are advised that the code may contain unpatched vulnerabilities and should not be utilized in production systems. Certain sensitive information, such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Federal Tax Information (FTI), Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU), and source code developed for National Security Systems (NSS), is not included in the repository due to restrictions under 40 U.S.C. § 11103. Consequently, some functionality may have been removed or rewritten.