Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are stepping into uncharted territory as they lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a bold initiative under President-elect Donald Trump to overhaul federal processes. One of their headline-grabbing proposals is a free IRS mobile app to let Americans file taxes directly—potentially cutting out private giants like Intuit (INTU, Financial), the maker of TurboTax. Supporters see this as a huge win for taxpayers, especially low-income earners, but skeptics argue the complexity of the U.S. tax code isn't something an app can fix. Congressional approval would be needed to address deeper issues, and that's no small hurdle.
For Intuit, the stakes are sky-high. TurboTax has dominated the tax preparation market for years, generating billions annually, but Musk's free-filing vision could upend that dominance. The company already felt the heat this year from the Biden administration's pilot program for free tax filing, which attracted over 100,000 users. Now, DOGE's plans amplify those challenges, signaling a potential shift toward government-backed filing tools that could erode Intuit's revenue streams. The question for Intuit is clear: can it adapt to an evolving tax landscape, or will it lose ground to a rising tide of free alternatives?
Meanwhile, Wall Street is buzzing with the implications of DOGE's broader ambitions. Tesla (TSLA, Financial) shares have climbed more than 52% in the past three months, as investors bet that regulatory rollbacks from DOGE's federal overhaul could benefit Musk's empire. But there's no shortage of questions surrounding potential conflicts of interest, with DOGE targeting agencies like the SEC and FTC that oversee Musk's companies. As DOGE reshapes government processes, the ripple effects are already being felt, setting the stage for seismic shifts in both the public and private sectors.
