[zbentley]

Yes, but Direct File moved us closer to a future where the government could pre-fill data for (and/or potentially just send a bill to) tax filers. Even if other free tax filing software exists, the loss of Direct File is painful because it was advancing the precedent of first party tax software.

[sgerenser]

That’s valid, but my comment was about why a (non-governmental) third party or charity wouldn’t want to take the open source Direct File software and run with it. If they aren’t actually the government running it, it completely loses its primary advantage.