Professor Ventry speaks of Free File's 'Agency Capture' at Georgetown Law

On April 23, Professor Dennis J. Ventry, Jr. gave a presentation titled “Free File: A Story of Agency Capture” as part of the Tax Law and Public Finance Workshop Series at Georgetown Law.

“The IRS Free File program and the Free File Alliance (FFA) harm taxpayers,” Ventry said in his presentation. “Meanwhile, the IRS refuses to conduct any meaningful oversight over the program or FFA companies, thereby failing to protect taxpayers and exacerbating an already abusive program. Worse, Congress wants to make Free File a permanent part of the Internal Revenue Code, obligating the IRS to partner in perpetuity with FFA companies and their abusive tactics.”

Ventry made these comments while controversy over the Free File program and reportedly deceptive practices by FFA companies shook Washington, D.C. and threatened to derail a long-negotiated IRS tax administration bill. 

Ventry’s previous public criticism of the Free File Alliance prompted the industry coalition to to file a public records request with UC Davis regarding all of Ventry’s correspondence on the matter.

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. He is the former 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.