Gov. Jared Polis is asking the federal government to reverse its decision to suspend a free tool that streamlines tax filing.

Last month, the Treasury Department announced it was officially suspending Direct File, a free online tax filing platform launched by the IRS last year. Taxpayers in 25 states could access the program during the 2025 tax season, with over 750,000 returns submitted. It was scheduled to roll out in Colorado next year, according to Polis’ office.

In an October report, the Treasury notified Congress that it planned to suspend the program, as it was too expensive and wasn’t being used enough to justify the costs.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that Direct File “wasn’t used very much,” adding that he believed the private sector could do a better job of providing free tax filing services to the American public

In a letter to Bessent, Polis said he was “disappointed” to hear about the program’s suspension.

“The IRS’ implementation of Direct File — essentially a rapidly built government startup — was designed with the help of taxpayers to improve the overall tax experience by addressing the high cost and complexity of filing,” he said, adding that the average American spends 13 hours and $290 to file their taxes.

“Direct File offered a free, efficient alternative that saved taxpayers both time and money, making government more efficient and reducing taxpayer errors,” he added.

Direct File was a bipartisan effort, Polis said, and a recent poll by the Economic Security Project found that nearly 90% of Americans supported free federal tax filing, including 92% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans.

“Here in Colorado — where we’re proud to have the biggest tax credits in the country for working families — we are committed to getting money back into the hands of our taxpayers despite Direct File’s suspension,” Polis said. The state recently launched a pilot project to notify Coloradans who may be eligible for unclaimed tax refunds. Those notices will be sent by the end of June.

“These are real solutions that simplify our cluttered tax code and make it as easy as possible to get tax refunds back to the people,” Polis concluded. “Still, as a federal filing tool, there is no substitute for Direct File, and we urge Treasury to look again at the results and reconsider their decision, given how successful Direct File was.”