New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Makes Announcement With Department Of Treasury

4 months ago

Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) makes an announcement with the Department of Treasury.

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Transcript

00:00Thanks all of you for joining us, and I'm so glad to be here with Governor Murphy,

00:04who has been a true leader on issues that concern the middle class, including lowering costs,

00:09and I'm proud to have known him since he was an ambassador and know that he is a true public

00:14servant. That's why I'm so happy to be here with him today talking about direct file. As you all

00:19know, one of the top priorities of the Biden-Harris administration is lowering costs for families

00:24and putting money back in their pockets. One of the many ways we're working to do this is

00:28by eliminating the cost of tax filing and ensuring Americans receive their full refund

00:32as quickly as possible. Less than two months ago, the Treasury Department and the IRS announced

00:37the direct file, which was piloted in 12 states this year, will be a permanent IRS offering.

00:42We invited all 50 states to participate, starting next following season. New Jersey,

00:48like in so many other things, was the first state to say that they wanted to take advantage of this

00:53because of the governor's leadership. The governor's leadership in making sure that we

00:57reduce costs for the people of New Jersey, and that's why I'm happy to be here with him today

01:02announcing that New Jersey is going to offer its residents direct file in 2025. For the first time,

01:10with simple tax returns, New Jerseyans will be able to file online for free directly with the

01:14IRS, meeting your tax obligations and claiming the credits, deductions, and refunds for which

01:19you're eligible should be easier going forward. But the IRS has been able to do this only because

01:27it received funding from Congress because President Biden and Vice President Harris

01:31fought for. For decades, the IRS had been underfunded, and the funding from the

01:36Inflation Reduction Act is both going to make it possible for us to introduce direct file,

01:41but it's also going to mean that you're going to have access to better in-person services,

01:45better service over the phones, and better service online going forward.

01:50Direct file is a product that is meant to do two of the most important things that we can

01:56make life as easy for the American people, but also lower their costs in order to make sure they

01:59have more money to put in the pockets of their children. What we've seen is the direct file has

02:05reduced time for the people who've already used it with 140,000 people using it during the pilot

02:11phase, and it's also saved money, saving $5.6 million in filing fees and helping those 140,000

02:19people receive $90 million in refunds. Our goal here is to make sure the direct file is something

02:25that is available to Americans in a way that allows them to reduce these costs. While there

02:30have been some who have been against direct file in Congress, the truth is the direct file has

02:36already saved millions of dollars for Americans in states from Texas to California. Frankly,

02:45one of the states that took the most advantage of direct file last year was Texas, where Texans

02:50had the ability to save money and save time. Our hope is that over the course of the next

02:55few years, we'll be in a position where people throughout this country will be able to take part

03:00in this innovative product in order to make sure that their tax filing experience is as easy as

03:05possible, as free, and also that they get the refunds that they deserve. We're so happy today

03:10to have New Jersey as a partner. Governor Murphy, we thank you for your leadership on so many other

03:15things. With that, I'd like to hand it over to you. Wally, thank you. Good afternoon, everyone.

03:22Thank you so much for joining us. I want to thank my old friend, the Deputy Secretary of the U.S.

03:27Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, for being with us, for opening this call, and for his years of service

03:33protecting the financial security of American families. He and I go way back to our days in

03:39the Obama administration, and it's great to be back in business with you, Wally.

03:43I know when the topic of the tax season comes up, folks nervously start checking their calendars,

03:49wondering if it's snuck up on them already. And one of the benefits of doing this

03:54in July is tax day is still eight months away. And the even better news is that today we're

04:01announcing a new easy, as Wally already outlined, an easy option for filing your taxes that will be

04:07available in tax season 2025. Now, it's no secret that filing your taxes is way more complicated

04:15than it needs to be. Between the red tape and the time sink, tax season makes it hard for families

04:22to focus on what matters most in their lives. And you add on to that the price of costly tax

04:30software. And for many families, filing taxes means choosing between spending hard-earned cash

04:36just to file their taxes on time or spending seemingly countless hours they don't have

04:42sorting through receipts and forms. That is wrong, because government is supposed to make our life

04:48easier, not harder. But for too long, our outdated processes for filing taxes have created

04:56unnecessary difficulties for too many families. That's why, with the support first and foremost

05:03of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and the U.S. Treasury Department,

05:09Secretary Yellen and Wally and his team, starting this tax season, the 2025 season,

05:16more than 1 million New Jerseyans, in fact, I just had an update, we think depending on where

05:21the parameters fall, it could be 1.3 million New Jerseyans will have another free option

05:27to file their taxes, and that is direct file. Direct file will allow New Jersey families with

05:34simple tax forms to file their federal and state taxes online for free. This service is seamless,

05:43it's swift, and it's secure. And it will assist New Jerseyans in claiming all the credits,

05:48deductions, and refunds they are entitled to. So direct file, as Wally knows far better than I,

05:55was piloted in 12 states last tax season. And by the way, I think it would have been one of them,

06:01but we were enduring and going through a very significant tech upgrade, which we're about to

06:07finish with, which is great news. But in those 12 states, and in that pilot, more than 140,000

06:14Americans used the service, and they saved families an estimated $5.6 million in tax prep fees

06:22on their federal returns alone. Users also reported that the service was easy to navigate,

06:29and that they received quick answers to their filing questions. Again, Wally's gone through

06:34some of the details, and he's forgotten more about this than I know, but here's the main point

06:39that is relevant to the people of New Jersey. Direct file is easier, cheaper, and more efficient

06:45than traditional tax filing. And more than anything, it will help ensure that our state

06:50government does what it's supposed to do, make public services more accessible and more responsive,

06:56while helping lift our families up rather than weighing them down. That is what good governance

07:02is all about, and that has been the goal not just of the Biden-Harris administration, but of our

07:07administration as well. So while I'm not expecting anyone to get excited about filling out their

07:14tax forms, I trust that this new service will allow more New Jerseyans than ever to file their

07:19taxes quickly and with fewer headaches. And that means you can step away from the computer and the

07:26pile of confusing forms and receipts, and get back outside to watch your kids' soccer game or

07:32spend some time with loved ones. I'm grateful, beyond grateful, to our partners in this

07:38administration and the federal government for offering this new option to our nation's families

07:43and for working with us to bring direct file to New Jersey. This is one of the many bucks that

07:50have stopped with the Biden-Harris administration. So many, how many, Wally, how many decades have

07:55people been complaining about this, looking for an easy fix to file their taxes? Like so many other

08:01things, this administration, and I can't thank all of them enough, including Wally in particular,

08:07said enough. We will actually fix this in their head. And I'm incredibly honored that New Jersey

08:13will be along with you as a partner. And with that, I think, Wally, you and I are going to

08:17take some questions. We'll bring Mike back on to help us moderate.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Makes Announcement With Department Of Treasury

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