New Jersey is joining the IRS’s Direct File system in 2025, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury said Wednesday, giving eligible residents the option to file their federal income tax returns for free directly with the IRS.
The announcement comes nearly a month after Oregon said it would be the first state to welcome Direct File after the IRS tested the free electronic filing tool during the 2024 tax filing season. The Democrats’ 2022 tax-and-climate law set aside $15 million for the IRS—which has continually said the program isn’t mandatory for states—to study the creation of such a system, leading to the 12-state pilot. The IRS said after the last tax filing season that Direct File would become available nationwide.
More than 1 million New Jerseyans will be able to file their taxes online for free in 2025, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a press release Wednesday. State governments must create their own platforms to connect state tax filings to the IRS’s Direct File.
After filing their federal taxes with the new tool, New Jersey taxpayers who use Direct File will be sent a link to a separate state system, where they will have to re-enter their information to file their state returns. Some states with an income tax that participated in Direct File in 2024, such as New York, were able to automatically carry federal taxpayer information over to the state system.
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