II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4508 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a free on-line 

tax preparation and filing service and programs that allow taxpayers 

to access third-party provided tax return information and information 

held by the Internal Revenue Service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 12, 2022 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. 

HASSAN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. PADILLA, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. KAINE, Ms. SMITH, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. CASEY, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. KING, and Ms. HIRONO) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish 

a free on-line tax preparation and filing service and 

programs that allow taxpayers to access third-party provided tax return information and information held by 

the Internal Revenue Service. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tax Filing Simplifica5 tion Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON AGREEMENTS RESTRICTING GOV2 ERNMENT TAX PREPARATION AND FILING 

3 SERVICES. 

4 The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary’s del5 egate, may not enter into any agreement after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act which restricts the Sec7 retary’s legal right to provide tax return preparation serv8 ices or software or to provide tax return filing services. 

9 SEC. 3. GOVERNMENT-ASSISTED TAX PREPARATION AND 

10 FILING SERVICES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

13 following new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 7531. GOVERNMENT-ASSISTED TAX-RETURN PREPA15 RATION PROGRAMS. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAMS.—The Sec17 retary shall establish and operate the following programs: 

18 ‘‘(1) SIMPLIFIED TAX BENEFITS PORTAL FOR

19 NON-FILERS.—Not later than March 1, 2023, a pro20 gram through which any eligible taxpayer (as de21 fined in subsection (b)(1)) can claim any credit al22 lowed under subpart C of part IV of subchapter A 

23 of chapter 1 (including the earned income tax credit 

24 under section 32 and the portion of the child tax 

25 credit allowed under section 24(d)) for the taxable 


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1 year without being required to report any additional 

2 income data to the Internal Revenue Service. 

3 ‘‘(2) ONLINE TAX PREPARATION AND FILING

4 SOFTWARE.—Not later than January 31, 2024, soft5 ware for the preparation and filing of individual in6 come tax returns for taxable years beginning after 

7 2022. 

8 ‘‘(3) TAXPAYER DATA ACCESS.—Not later than 

9 March 1, 2024, a program under which taxpayers 

10 may download third-party provided return informa11 tion and IRS-held information relating to individual 

12 income tax returns for taxable years beginning after 

13 2022. 

14 ‘‘(4) EXPEDITED TAX FILING.—Not later than 

15 March 1, 2024, a program under which eligible indi16 viduals (as defined in subsection (e)(1)) may elect to 

17 have income tax returns for taxable years beginning 

18 after 2022 prepared by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(b) SIMPLIFIED TAX BENEFITS PORTAL FOR NON20 FILERS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub23 section (a)(1), the term ‘eligible taxpayer’ 

24 means a taxpayer who is not required to file a 

25 return of tax for the taxable year. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXPANSION TO INCLUDE POPU2 LATIONS OTHER THAN NON-FILERS.—At the 

3 discretion of the Secretary, with respect to any 

4 taxable year beginning after 2023, the term ‘eli5 gible taxpayer’ may include taxpayers who are 

6 required to file a return of tax for the taxable 

7 year. 

8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The program de10 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) request no information other than 

12 that which— 

13 ‘‘(I) is strictly required for pur14 poses of determining the amount of 

15 any credit described in subsection 

16 (a)(1), and 

17 ‘‘(II) is not already contained in 

18 the records of the Internal Revenue 

19 Service or to which the Internal Rev20 enue Service does not have access, 

21 ‘‘(ii) be user-tested, 

22 ‘‘(iii) use plain language and be made 

23 available in all languages for which trans24 lations are provided on the public website 

25 of the Internal Revenue Service, 


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1 ‘‘(iv) be accessible on mobile devices, 

2 ‘‘(v) conform to all guidelines under 

3 section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

4 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), 

5 ‘‘(vi) be available for use by taxpayers 

6 throughout the calendar year, 

7 ‘‘(vii) be displayed in a prominent po8 sition on the website of the Internal Rev9 enue Service, 

10 ‘‘(viii) be advertised through direct 

11 mailings, and 

12 ‘‘(ix) provide real-time feedback to 

13 taxpayers using the program and, in the 

14 case of a claim for any credit described in 

15 subsection (a)(1) which is not allowed to 

16 the taxpayer, provide additional informa17 tion to the taxpayer on subsequent actions 

18 with respect to such claim. 

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A)(i) 

20 shall not apply with respect to any information 

21 relating to demographic characteristics which— 

22 ‘‘(i) is collected by the Internal Rev23 enue Service for the purposes of improving 

24 equity, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is not required to be submitted 

2 by the taxpayer for purposes of using the 

3 program described in subsection (a)(1). 

4 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF CREDIT AMOUNT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of deter6 mining the amount of any credit described in 

7 subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall determine 

8 such amount based on— 

9 ‘‘(i) any information which the tax10 payer elects to provide through the pro11 gram described in such subsection, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) any information available to the 

13 Internal Revenue Service at the time that 

14 the taxpayer is claiming such credit 

15 through the program described in such 

16 subsection. 

17 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT THIRD-PARTY INFOR18 MATION.—In the case of any third-party pro19 vided return information which is received by 

20 the Secretary after any determination made 

21 under subparagraph (A) with respect to a tax22 payer, if such information would have resulted 

23 in an increase in the amount of any credit de24 scribed in subsection (a)(1) had it been in25 cluded in the prior determination made under 


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1 such subparagraph, the Secretary may make a 

2 payment to the taxpayer in an amount equal to 

3 the difference between— 

4 ‘‘(i) the amount determined under 

5 subparagraph (A) with respect to such 

6 credit prior to receipt of such information, 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the amount that would have oth9 erwise been determined under subpara10 graph (A) if such subparagraph had been 

11 applied subsequent to the receipt of such 

12 information. 

13 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE TAX PREPARA14 TION AND FILING SOFTWARE.—The software described in 

15 subsection (a)(2) shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) satisfy the requirements described in sub17 section (b)(2), except that, for purposes of subpara18 graph (A)(i)(I) of such subsection, such subpara19 graph shall be applied by substituting ‘the prepara20 tion and filing of an individual income tax return’ 

21 for ‘determining the amount of any credit described 

22 in subsection (a)(1)’, and 

23 ‘‘(2) be compatible with the program described 

24 in subsection (a)(1) so as to permit a taxpayer to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) submit any required information once 

2 for use by both programs, and 

3 ‘‘(B) based on such information, be di4 rected to the appropriate program. 

5 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR TAXPAYER DATA ACCESS

6 PROGRAM.—Return information under the program estab7 lished under subsection (a)(3) shall be made available— 

8 ‘‘(1) for any calendar year beginning after De9 cember 31, 2024, not later than 15 days after the 

10 Secretary receives such information, and 

11 ‘‘(2) through a secure function that allows a 

12 taxpayer to download such information from the 

13 website of the Internal Revenue Service in both a 

14 printable document file and in a computer-readable 

15 form suitable for use by automated tax preparation 

16 software. 

17 ‘‘(e) EXPEDITED TAX FILING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of 

19 the program established under subsection (a)(4)— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the term ‘eligible 

22 individual’ means, with respect to any taxable 

23 year, any individual who— 

24 ‘‘(i) elects to participate in the pro25 gram established under subsection (a)(4), 


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1 ‘‘(ii) does not claim any deduction al2 lowed under section 62 for purposes of de3 termining adjusted gross income, 

4 ‘‘(iii) claims the standard deduction 

5 under section 63, 

6 ‘‘(iv) does not file schedule C, and 

7 ‘‘(v) has no income other than income 

8 from— 

9 ‘‘(I) wages (as defined in section 

10 3401), 

11 ‘‘(II) interest, or 

12 ‘‘(III) dividends. 

13 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR

14 TAX YEAR 2023.—With respect to any taxable 

15 year beginning in 2023, the term ‘eligible indi16 vidual’ shall only include such populations of in17 dividuals described in subparagraph (A) as is 

18 determined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(C) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY AFTER

20 TAX YEAR 2023.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion 

22 of the Secretary, with respect to any tax23 able year beginning after 2023, the term 

24 ‘eligible individual’ may include popu25 lations of individuals who would not otherVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jul 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4508.IS S4508

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1 wise satisfy the requirements established 

2 under subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—Not later than August 

4 31, 2025, the Secretary shall submit a re5 port to Congress that contains rec6 ommendations for such legislative or ad7 ministrative actions as the Secretary deter8 mines necessary with respect to expanding 

9 the populations of individuals that may 

10 qualify as eligible individuals for purposes 

11 of the program established under sub12 section (a)(4). 

13 ‘‘(2) RETURN MUST BE FILED BY INDI14 VIDUAL.—No return prepared under the program es15 tablished under subsection (a)(4) shall be treated as 

16 filed before the date such return is submitted by the 

17 taxpayer as provided under the rules of section 

18 6011. 

19 ‘‘(3) INTERACTION WITH SOFTWARE.—Not 

20 later than March 1, 2024, the Secretary shall pro21 vide for interaction between the software described 

22 in subsection (a)(2) and the program established 

23 under subsection (a)(4) such that an individual may 

24 elect to have their income tax return partially pre25 pared by the Secretary pursuant to such subsection 


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1 (based on such information as is available to the 

2 Secretary) and made available through the software 

3 described in subsection (a)(2) for the individual to 

4 complete and file. 

5 ‘‘(f) VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual shall not par7 ticipate in any program described in subsection (a) 

8 or access any information under such a program un9 less such individual has verified their identity to the 

10 satisfaction of the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(2) ACCESSIBILITY.—For purposes of 

12 verifying the identity of any individual seeking to 

13 participate in any program described in subsection 

14 (a) or to access any information under any such pro15 gram, the Secretary shall ensure that— 

16 ‘‘(A) any verification procedures are acces17 sible to a significant majority of taxpayers, and 

18 ‘‘(B) for any taxpayer who cannot access 

19 or use such verification procedures, a secondary 

20 verification procedure (or multiple secondary 

21 verification procedures) that is accessible by 

22 such taxpayer, including in-person verification 

23 procedures. 

24 ‘‘(3) ONLINE VERIFICATION.—Not later than 3 

25 years after the date of enactment of this section, the 


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1 Secretary shall ensure that any verification proce2 dures established under this section are able to be 

3 used successfully by— 

4 ‘‘(A) 70 percent of households in the 

5 United States, and 

6 ‘‘(B) 80 percent of taxpayers who are eligi7 ble to claim the earned income tax credit under 

8 section 32. 

9 ‘‘(4) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 3 

10 years after the date of enactment of this section, 

11 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall conduct 

12 a study and make publicly available a report on the 

13 verification pass rates by taxpayers under this sec14 tion, with such information to be disaggregated by 

15 income levels and subpopulation groups, including 

16 disadvantaged populations such as— 

17 ‘‘(A) individuals without access to desktop 

18 or laptop computers, 

19 ‘‘(B) individuals without internet service at 

20 home, 

21 ‘‘(C) individuals without credit histories, 

22 ‘‘(D) individuals experiencing homeless23 ness, and 

24 ‘‘(E) individuals with limited English pro25 ficiency. 


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1 ‘‘(g) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

2 section— 

3 ‘‘(1) IRS-HELD INFORMATION.—The term 

4 ‘IRS-held information’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) any information relating to payments 

6 made to a taxpayer with respect to any credit 

7 allowed under subpart C of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1, and 

9 ‘‘(B) any other information, as identified 

10 and determined appropriate by the Secretary 

11 for the purposes of this section, which— 

12 ‘‘(i) is contained in the records of the 

13 Internal Revenue Service or to which the 

14 Internal Revenue Service has access, and 

15 ‘‘(ii) is not third-party provided return 

16 information. 

17 ‘‘(2) THIRD-PARTY PROVIDED RETURN INFOR18 MATION.—The term ‘third-party provided return in19 formation’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) information reported to the Secretary 

21 through an information return (as defined in 

22 section 6724(d)(1)), 

23 ‘‘(B) information reported to the Secretary 

24 pursuant to section 232 of the Social Security 

25 Act, and 


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1 ‘‘(C) such other information reported to 

2 the Secretary as is determined appropriate by 

3 the Secretary for purposes of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the program established under 

5 subsection (a)(2), and 

6 ‘‘(ii) any determination described in 

7 subsection (b)(3)(B). 

8 ‘‘(h) TAXPAYER RESPONSIBILITY.—Nothing in this 

9 section shall be construed to absolve the taxpayer from 

10 full responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of their 

11 return of tax. 

12 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON FEES.—No fee may be imposed 

13 on any taxpayer who participates in any program estab14 lished under subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘(j) INFORMATION PROVIDED FOR WAGE AND SELF16 EMPLOYMENT INCOME.—For purposes of subsection 

17 (a)(3), in the case of information relating to wages paid 

18 for any calendar year after 2022 required to be provided 

19 to the Commissioner of Social Security under section 

20 205(c)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 405(c)(2)(A)), the Commissioner shall make such infor22 mation available to the Secretary not later than the Feb23 ruary 15 of the calendar year following the calendar year 

24 to which such wages and self-employment income relate. 

25 ‘‘(k) OUTREACH CAMPAIGN.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina2 tion with local community-based organizations, shall 

3 conduct an outreach campaign to— 

4 ‘‘(A) provide information to the public re5 garding the programs and software described in 

6 subsection (a), and 

7 ‘‘(B) enroll individuals in the programs de8 scribed in such subsection. 

9 ‘‘(2) METHODS.—With respect to the outreach 

10 campaign described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) provide relevant information on the 

13 public website of the Internal Revenue Service, 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) send direct mailings to individuals 

16 who have been identified as not having filed a 

17 return of tax for the taxable year. 

18 ‘‘(l) STATE INCOME TAX RETURNS.—Subject to any 

19 applicable requirements under section 6103, the Secretary 

20 shall establish intergovernmental cooperative agreements 

21 with State and local governments to exchange taxpayer re22 turn information which is provided, imputed, calculated, 

23 or used to make calculations under the programs described 

24 in subsection (a) for purposes of the administration of 


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1 State and local tax laws and the preparation of State in2 come tax returns.’’. 

3 (b) FILING DEADLINE FOR INFORMATION RE4 TURNS.—Section 6071(b) of such Code is amended to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION RETURNS.—Returns made under 

7 part III of this chapter shall be filed on or before January 

8 31 of the year following the calendar year to which such 

9 returns relate. Section 6081 shall not apply to returns 

10 under such part III.’’. 

11 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO SOCIAL SECURITY

12 ACT.—Section 205(c)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following new sentence: ‘‘For purposes of the preceding 

15 sentence, the Commissioner shall require that information 

16 relating to wages paid be provided to the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury not later than February 15 of the year following 

18 the calendar year to which such wages and self-employ19 ment income relate.’’. 

20 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for chapter 77 of such Code is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7531. Government-assisted tax-return preparation programs.’’. 

23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the amendVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Jul 13, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4508.IS S4508

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1 ments made by this section such sums as may be necessary 

2 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

3 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to returns for taxable years begin5 ning after December 31, 2021. 

Æ 


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