Liberal Dark Money Network Arabella Advisors and Other Progressive Non-Profits Are Behind the Push for the IRS’s Direct File Initiative

A network of progressive non-profits has quietly spent years pushing the IRS’s new “Direct File” service.

Progressive supporters of Direct File claim to advocate for low-income taxpayers. Research shows that key organizations promoting Direct File are closely tied to Arabella Advisors and its billion-dollar network of left-leaning dark money groups.

One Arabella-backed organization, the Economic Security Project (ESP), has funded advertising and research in support of Direct File. Last year, the group received a $752,197 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to “conduct research on the impact and usage” of Direct File.

A person holds a poster encouraging people to use IRS Direct File on April 5, 2024, outside the IRS building in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Economic Security Project)

That work culminated in a media blitz encouraging largely low-income taxpayers to adopt Direct File, which was first made available as a pilot program in 2024 for taxpayers across a dozen states. Last year, the IRS agreed to make the program permanent, but it has since come under fire from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump-appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agreed to temporarily keep the program through the 2025 tax season, earning