II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 912 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2017 

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

FRANKEN, Mr. UDALL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. LEAHY, 

Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Ms. HASSAN) 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. 

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 2017’’. 


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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. 7529. GOVERNMENT-ASSISTED TAX-RETURN PREPA15 RATION PROGRAMS. 

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

18 ‘‘(1) ONLINE TAX PREPARATION AND FILING

19 SOFTWARE.—Not later than January 31, 2019, soft20 ware for the preparation and filing of individual in21 come tax returns for taxable years beginning after 

22 2017. 

23 ‘‘(2) TAXPAYER DATA ACCESS.—Not later than 

24 March 1, 2019, a program under which taxpayers 

25 may download third-party provided return informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S912.IS S912

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1 tion relating to individual income tax returns for 

2 taxable years beginning after 2017. 

3 ‘‘(3) TAX RETURN PREPARATION.—Not later 

4 than March 1, 2019, a program under which eligible 

5 individuals (as defined under subsection (c)(1)) may 

6 elect to have income tax returns for taxable years 

7 beginning after 2017 prepared by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR TAXPAYER DATA ACCESS

9 PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Return information under 

11 the program established under subsection (a)(2) 

12 shall be made available— 

13 ‘‘(A) not later than 15 days after the Sec14 retary receives such information, and 

15 ‘‘(B) through a secure function that allows 

16 a taxpayer to download such information from 

17 the Secretary’s website in both a printable doc18 ument file and in a computer-readable form 

19 suitable for use by automated tax preparation 

20 software. 

21 ‘‘(2) THIRD-PARTY PROVIDED RETURN INFOR22 MATION DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, the 

23 term ‘third-party provided return information’ 

24 means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) information reported to the Secretary 

2 through an information return (as defined in 

3 section 6724(d)(1)), 

4 ‘‘(B) information reported to the Secretary 

5 pursuant to section 232 of the Social Security 

6 Act, and 

7 ‘‘(C) such other information reported to 

8 the Secretary as is determined appropriate by 

9 the Secretary for purposes of the program es10 tablished under subsection (a)(2). 

11 ‘‘(c) TAX RETURN PREPARATION.— 

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

13 the program established under subsection (a)(3)— 

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

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

16 individual’ means, with respect to any taxable 

17 year, any individual who— 

18 ‘‘(i) elects to participate in the pro19 gram established under subsection (a)(3), 

20 ‘‘(ii) is an unmarried individual (other 

21 than a surviving spouse (as defined in sec22 tion 2(a)) or the head of a household (as 

23 defined in section 2(b))), 


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

4 ‘‘(iv) claims the standard deduction 

5 under section 63, 

6 ‘‘(v) claims no deduction under sec7 tion 151 for any individual who is a de8 pendent (as defined in section 152), 

9 ‘‘(vi) does not file schedule C, and 

10 ‘‘(vii) has no income other than in11 come from— 

12 ‘‘(I) wages (as defined in section 

13 3401), 

14 ‘‘(II) interest, or 

15 ‘‘(III) dividends. 

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR

17 TAX YEAR 2018.—With respect to any taxable 

18 year beginning in 2018, the term ‘eligible indi19 vidual’ shall only include such populations of in20 dividuals described in subparagraph (A) as is 

21 determined by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(C) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY AFTER

23 TAX YEAR 2018.— 

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

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1 able year beginning after December 31, 

2 2018, the term ‘eligible individual’ may in3 clude populations of individuals who would 

4 not otherwise satisfy the requirements es5 tablished under subparagraph (A), such as 

6 married individuals, heads of households, 

7 taxpayers who are eligible to claim the 

8 earned income tax credit under section 32 

9 and have dependents, taxpayers who are el10 igible to claim the child tax credit under 

11 section 24, taxpayers who claim deductions 

12 allowed under section 62 for purposes of 

13 determining adjusted gross income, and 

14 taxpayers with income from non-employee 

15 compensation. 

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

17 31, 2020, the Secretary shall submit a re18 port to Congress that contains recommen19 dations for such legislative or administra20 tive actions as the Secretary determines 

21 necessary with respect to expanding the 

22 populations of individuals that may qualify 

23 as eligible individuals for purposes of the 

24 program established under subsection 

25 (a)(3). 


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1 ‘‘(2) RETURN MUST BE FILED BY INDI2 VIDUAL.—No return prepared under the program es3 tablished under subsection (a)(3) shall be treated as 

4 filed before the date such return is submitted by the 

5 taxpayer as provided under the rules of section 

6 6011. 

7 ‘‘(d) VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY.—An individual 

8 shall not participate in any program described in sub9 section (a) or access any information under such a pro10 gram unless such individual has verified their identity to 

11 the satisfaction of the Secretary. 

12 ‘‘(e) TAXPAYER RESPONSIBILITY.—Nothing in this 

13 section shall be construed to absolve the taxpayer from 

14 full responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of his 

15 return of tax. 

16 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON FEES.—No fee may be im17 posed on any taxpayer who participates in any program 

18 established under subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION PROVIDED FOR WAGE AND SELF20 EMPLOYMENT INCOME.—For purposes of subsection 

21 (a)(2), in the case of information relating to wages paid 

22 for any calendar year after 2017 required to be provided 

23 to the Commissioner of Social Security under section 

24 205(c)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 405(c)(2)(A)), the Commissioner shall make such inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Apr 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S912.IS S912

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1 mation available to the Secretary not later than the Feb2 ruary 15 of the calendar year following the calendar year 

3 to which such wages and self-employment income relate.’’. 

4 (b) FILING DEADLINE FOR INFORMATION RE5 TURNS.—Section 6071(b) of such Code is amended to 

6 read as follows: 

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

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

9 31 of the year following the calendar year to which such 

10 returns relate. Section 6081 shall not apply to returns 

11 under such part III.’’. 

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO SOCIAL SECURITY

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

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

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

16 sentence, the Commissioner shall require that information 

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

18 Treasury not later than February 15 of the year following 

19 the calendar year to which such wages and self-employ20 ment income relate.’’. 

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

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

23 end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7529. Government-assisted tax-return preparation programs.’’. 

24 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

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

2 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. 

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

4 this section shall apply to returns for taxable years begin5 ning after December 31, 2017. 

Æ 


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