Turning IRS' Free File program into law is a bad idea, Professor Ventry writes

Making the IRS’ Free File tax program a permanent part of the tax law is a terrible idea, Professor Dennis J. Ventry, Jr. writes in an op-ed for The Hill.

In April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Taxpayer First Act, which includes a provision to codify the Free File program. This means the IRS and its Free File partners – online tax preparers who have promised to offer services, gratis, to some filers - would no longer periodically review and renegotiate the program’s terms and conditions.

This would prevent the IRS from verifying that Free File Alliance members, which include H&R Block and TurboTax maker Intuit, are delivering free filing services as promised.

“Even worse,” Ventry writes, “codification would enshrine a program that inflicts substantial harm on taxpayers by facilitating predatory upselling of paid products to Free File users, violating taxpayer privacy laws and stripping taxpayers of legal remedies in the event of disputes with FFA companies.”

Rather than codify Free File, “Congress should restructure it to focus on providing truly free e-filing services,” Ventry concludes.

Professor Ventry is an expert in tax policy and legal ethics. His research interests include tax expenditure analysis, family taxation, professional responsibility and standards of care, tax filing and administration, tax compliance, public finance, and tax and legal history. In addition, he is chairman of the IRS Advisory Council, and co-author on the casebook, Federal Income Taxation with Martin McMahon, Jr., Daniel L. Simmons, and Bradley T. Borden.

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