The Internal Revenue Service is the nation’s tax collector, but a new poll released on Monday found that the majority of people support the concept that the organization also functions as a free tax preparer.
The IRS is looking at whether it may offer a free alternative to for-profit tax preparation services like TurboTax and H&R Block for submitting tax returns.
Voter Support for IRS Website’s No-Cost Tax-Filing Service
76% of respondents stated they were in favor of the IRS setting up a free, straightforward tax return filing option on its website.
The plan was supported by nearly 90% of respondents who identified as Democrats (88%) as well as 69% of independents and 64% of respondents who lean Republican.
The Economic Security Project, a left-leaning advocacy organization, partnered with Navigator, which describes itself as a “progressive” public-opinion research firm.
On Capitol Hill, the tax preparation sector and many Republicans have come out against the IRS offering a direct-filing alternative, while many Democrats support it. The agency’s report on the matter is anticipated this week at the earliest.
Support for a direct filing option maintained steady across all income levels in the poll that was issued on Monday. While 74% of respondents with annual incomes above $100,000 favored a direct-filing option, just 77% of households earning less than $50,000 did.
A direct filing option sponsored by the IRS was backed by 80% of respondents between the ages of 18 and 44 and 71% of respondents 65 and over, according to the poll.
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Calls for Direct Filing System Rise
Proponents of a direct filing system claim that very few households make use of the IRS’s present free-filing program, which is a collaboration with certain tax preparation software providers.
The Inflation Reduction Act, a tax and environmental package passed last summer, included $15 million for the upcoming IRS research. The funding is a portion of $80 billion allocated over ten years to enhance IRS operations and enforcement.
Intuit was fined $141 million by attorneys general last year for allegedly deceiving taxpayers into believing they were receiving free tax preparation. Intuit has insisted that clients were made aware of its online services, and it has underlined that it reached a settlement without acknowledging any fault.
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, said that some Intuit customers will receive the settlement funds.
The majority of payments, which relate to taxpayers who used TurboTax to file their federal income taxes for tax years 2016, 2017, and 2018, when they would have qualified to do so through the IRS Free File Program, are anticipated to range between $29 and $30.
Tax
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