Merici Vinton leads high stakes, nationwide launches, most recently serving as a Senior Advisor to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. While at the US Digital Service and in partnership with the IRS, Merici spearheaded the launch of the IRS’ new free and beloved tax filing service, Direct File.
Merici was one of the first employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and developed the technology strategy for the agency, steering it towards one of openness from day one, building the agency on foundations of open source, open data, and transparency. Their trailblazing vision set the standard for modern web services in government.
We’re launching a national series of digital service retrospectives to capture hard-won lessons, surface what worked, be clear-eyed about what didn’t, and bring digital service experts together to imagine next-generation models for digital government.
Americans trade stocks instantly, but spend 13 hours on tax forms. They send cash by text, but wait weeks for IRS responses. The nation’s revenue collector ranks dead last in citizen satisfaction. The problem isn’t just paperwork — it’s how the government builds.
“The first rule of government transformation is: there are a lot of rules. And there should be-ish. But we don’t need to wait for permission to rewrite them. Let’s go fix and build some things and show how it’s done.”
Direct File redefined what IRS service could look like, with real-time help and data-driven improvements. Let’s apply that bar elsewhere.
It takes the average person over 9 hours and costs $160 to file taxes each year. IRS Direct File meant it didn’t have to.