News from the South - Virginia News Feed
Fifteen years after shuttering its tax-prep app, Va. may be ready to compete with TurboTax again
by Rob Pegoraro, Virginia Mercury
June 9, 2025
The Virginia Department of Taxation’s website parts company with the web presences of other agencies in the commonwealth: It doesn’t offer its own tools to help you complete your primary task there — taxes.
While you can renew a car registration at the Department of Motor Vehicles site and register an LLC at the State Corporation Commission’s site, Virginia Tax doesn’t let you file your state income taxes online and instead points you to commercial tax-prep services.
That’s not because Virginia Tax hasn’t developed its own filing app. It’s because 15 years ago, the department shelved the iFile app that had already drawn more than 278,000 users in 2009.
In 2010, then-Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, signed a bill patroned by Del. Kathy Byron, R-Lynchburg, which had Virginia retire iFile and cede tax preparation to private providers that would offer apps for free to lower-income residents – the same proposition the Internal Revenue Service accepted in 2002.
That removed a free option from higher-income taxpayers, with Intuit’s market-leading TurboTax charging a state tax-prep fee that now stands at $64, despite the relative simplicity of the state’s Form 760. Most other commercial tax-prep services charge for state filing, although Cash App Taxes does not.
“We should not have to pay a for-profit company in order to file our taxes easily,” Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, said after reviewing a constituent’s complaints.
But even taxpayers eligible to use Free File, historically around 70% of total users, have largely ignored it. In 2024, Virginia Tax processed 89,064 Free File individual returns – far fewer than the 4,128,006 total individual returns received electronically or the 446,782 filed on paper.
Electronic returns cost 10 cents each to process and paper ones cost $5.96 each, Heather Cooper, Virginia Tax’s director of communications and training, confirmed in an email.
At the federal level, the IRS has downgraded from the Free File partnership. Pro Publica’s coverage of how Intuit had made its Free File options hard to find online led to the IRS altering its Free File arrangement in 2019 to drop that deal’s prohibition on competing with commercial tax-prep apps, and the IRS has now offered its Direct File app for two tax seasons in a row.
Vanessa Williamson, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, called its popularity among users “remarkable” — 74% of 440 respondents in a survey done after the 2023 tax-year filing season said they preferred it over other filing methods.
“The success of Direct File should be a model for the states,” she said.
Virginia has not been among the 25 states supporting Direct File, but it may now be ready to reverse its own Free File decision — even as the Trump administration appears intent on scrapping Direct File.
Two years after Tran introduced a bill to revive iFile that died in committee, the delegate sponsored a similar bill this year that would also have Virginia join Direct File. That one, with a companion measure sponsored by Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, passed the General Assembly only to meet a veto from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Youngkin’s veto message cited “uncertainty” about Direct File’s fate and also noted another recent advance towards returning Virginia to online filing: budgetary language requiring Virginia Tax’s next revenue-management system to support “an electronic filing system for individual income tax that can be used by all Virginians.”
We should not have to pay a for-profit company in order to file our taxes easily.
– Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax
Tran suggested that wording in the budget could be enough to accomplish her bill’s goal, depending on how Virginia Tax interprets it.
That interpretation could rely on who the next governor appoints to her cabinet, but the two presumptive candidates, former Democratic congresswoman Abigail Spanberger and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle Winsome-Sears, have not spoken out on this issue. A query to each campaign’s press office went unanswered.
Intuit questioned the need for a public tax-prep app.
“Free filing options for state tax preparation are already available today,” spokesperson Tania Mercado said. “Filing federal and state taxes together and linking tax returns allows taxpayers to save time, ensure accuracy, improve privacy and data protection, and reduce the chances of tax refund fraud.”
Opponents of direct filing also question whether public-sector developers would have the same motivations as private-sector counterparts.
“Additionally, the private sector would have an incentive to find as much savings as possible for taxpayers when preparing their taxes,” Americans for Tax Reform said in a 2010 statement commending Virginia joining Free File.
Tran’s reply: Nobody is banning commercial tax apps.
“Having a direct free file way for you to pay your taxes is not a requirement for you to use that option,” Tran said. “That is a decision you as a taxpayer get to make.”
In Maryland, the free iFile tax-prep app the state has offered since 2001 drew relatively few users this year: 39,717 returns out of more than 2.6 million submitted electronically, a little over half of the 76,918 paper returns handled as of early May, officials said.
Almost 6,000 more returns came in via Maryland’s Direct File portal using an interface developed by Code for America, Robyne McCullough, media relations director at the Maryland comptroller’s office, said by email. When Maryland launched that partnership, officials estimated that almost 700,000 Marylanders would be eligible to use Direct File.
But Maryland taxpayers have that choice, while Virginians do not.
“The thing preventing us from having a high-quality, free public tax preparation system is not technology or logistics, it’s just politics,” said Williamson, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center fellow.
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
The post Fifteen years after shuttering its tax-prep app, Va. may be ready to compete with TurboTax again appeared first on virginiamercury.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This content critiques the privatization of state tax filing services and highlights the advocacy for publicly provided free tax preparation, a position more commonly associated with progressive or center-left policies that favor government intervention to ensure broader access to essential services. It presents statements from Democratic officials supporting the return of free state-provided filing options and portrays Republican decisions, such as Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s veto, as obstacles to such efforts. The balanced inclusion of opposing views from private-sector representatives and conservative groups maintains an overall fair tone, though the framing leans slightly toward favoring expanded government role in tax preparation services.
News from the South - Virginia News Feed
Do you think the Orlando Magic won this trade?
SUMMARY: The Orlando Magic clearly won the trade by acquiring a strong backcourt duo of Jaylen Suggs and Desmond Bane. Suggs provides defense, facilitation, and scoring with reliable shooting, while Bane is a potent scorer and shooter who can deliver 25 to 30 points. Though Bane might have fewer touches in Orlando due to the presence of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, the overall starting lineup ranks among the best in the Eastern Conference. With rivals like the Celtics, Sixers, Pacers, and Cavs facing uncertainty or lacking depth, the Magic’s talent positions them as a competitive force in the East.
Do you think the Orlando Magic won this trade?
You can catch more of the Sports Overtime podcast on 13News Now+!
News from the South - Virginia News Feed
Senate draft of ‘big, beautiful bill’ could cut funds for Virginia hospitals, also affect Medicaid
by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury
June 20, 2025
Virginia’s hospitals are monitoring congressional budget proposals with concern.
While the recently-passed U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the President Donald Trump-backed “big beautiful bill” retained federal mapping that preserves Medicaid access in Virginia, a new draft in the U.S. Senate could alter two critical funding mechanisms that support Virginia’s hospitals and their ability to bolster the state’s expanded Medicaid program.
The Senate proposal could change provider assessment rates and state-directed payment programs. The two funding mechanisms are critical to hospital operation in Virginia and how they chip into the expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid program.
Ultimately, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association estimates each program could take a $2 billion hit, if the proposal is fully implemented.
“If you are taking policy actions that impact Medicaid, that is going to impact providers’ stability, access to care for patients and could destabilize hospitals or even lead to closures,” said Julian Walker, vice president of communications with the association.
Provider assessment rates are essentially a type of tax that hospitals use to help cover the state’s share of Medicaid costs, allowing them to draw down additional federal matching funds. Changing that rate would also change how much money hospitals can tap into for themselves, and to feed into the state’s Medicaid expansion.
Medicaid is a large federal program that helps states provide health insurance to their low-income or disabled residents. In 2018, when Virginia expanded its Medicaid program to make more people eligible, Virginia’s hospitals footed some of the bill for it. Walker emphasized that the two funding tracks the Senate bill is exploring are interconnected when it comes to supporting hospitals and Medicaid in Virginia.
More than the potential for people to lose their health insurance, Democratic U.S. Senate leadership has stressed how rural hospitals could suffer.
“Enacting these drastic health care cuts that will kick millions of people off their health insurance coverage, rural hospitals will not get paid for the services they are required by law to provide to patients,” wrote Sens. Edward Markey, Ron Wyden, Jeffrey Merkley, and Chuck Schumer in a letter to Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
“In turn, rural hospitals will face deeper financial strain that could lead to negative health outcomes for the communities they serve,” they added.
The cuts federal lawmakers are exploring are part of a Trump-led effort to extend certain tax cuts and trim the federal deficit, while boosting federal spending on defense and border security. Legislators have explored cutting several federal social aid programs or incentive packages to achieve these goals. Medicaid in particular has appeared to be a potential target, as it’s one of the largest sources of federal spending to states.
While Republicans, which currently control both chambers of congress, have largely been on board with Trump’s plans, some like Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, have expressed caution as lawmakers continue to workshop the proposals.
Walker, with the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, also said hospitals in rural areas could see a domino effect of problems if the Senate version progresses as-is. Rural hospitals are often a key local employer, Walker explained, and they also often serve sizable portions of Medicaid patients.
In the meantime, he said that Virginia’s hospitals are engaging with lawmakers in D.C. about the issue.
The Mercury reached out to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine’s office for comment but didn’t hear back by press time.
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
The post Senate draft of ‘big, beautiful bill’ could cut funds for Virginia hospitals, also affect Medicaid appeared first on virginiamercury.com
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This article presents information with a focus on the potential negative impacts of proposed Medicaid funding cuts, emphasizing concerns from hospitals and Democratic lawmakers. It highlights the risks to healthcare access, especially in rural areas, and frames the Senate Republican-led budget changes as harmful to vulnerable populations. While it acknowledges Republican efforts and internal GOP debate, the tone and sources—such as Democratic senators and healthcare advocates—reflect a perspective sympathetic to protecting Medicaid and social services, which aligns with a center-left stance without overt partisan rhetoric.
News from the South - Virginia News Feed
How much screen time is too much for kids? | NBC4 Washington
SUMMARY: Dr. Adrienne Collier, a pediatrician with Kaiser Permanente, advises that young kids and teens should have two to three hours of non-school screen time, especially in summer. Excessive screen time can disrupt sleep, cause visual problems, and increase risks of depression and anxiety. She recommends turning off screens 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime and keeping phones out of children’s bedrooms to avoid distractions. Parents should model healthy screen habits by limiting phone use during meals and encouraging outdoor activities like walking or playing with pets. Emphasizing family conversations and attention to surroundings helps children develop better habits and well-being.
Too much screen time can affect kids’ eyes, sleep, attention and mental health. News4’s Erika Gonzalez looked at what parents need to know about digital devices as summertime routines take hold.
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