The nation’s tax prep giants and Republican lawmakers are laser-focused on ensuring this is the last year the Internal Revenue Service offers free tax filing.
The Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File is available in 25 states this tax season. But as the program has expanded its reach, it has simultaneously become the target of millions in lobbying dollars aimed at unravelling the federal government’s efforts to offer Americans a free way to directly file simple tax returns.
“We think [the IRS] ought to wind it down, and they ought to focus their attention on other key priorities like modernization,” said David Ransom, a tax lobbyist at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck who represents the American Coalition for Taxpayer Rights, an alliance of tax prep companies including TurboTax owner Intuit and H&R Block.