IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 810 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Free File 

program has made vital contributions to the public. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2020 

Mr. CONAWAY (for himself and Mr. BUTTERFIELD) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the Free File program has made vital contributions to 

the public. 

Whereas the Free File program is an innovative public-private partnership between tax preparation software companies, also known as the Free File Alliance, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to offer free online tax 

preparation and e-filing services to low- and moderate-income taxpayers at no cost to the Government; 

Whereas a recent independent study over the Free File program stated that this critical public-private partnership 

provides ‘‘substantial’’ benefits, and that without this 

partnership, the ‘‘IRS would sustain prohibitive costs in 

funding such a program itself, with added risk of competing with a highly competitive private sector’’; 

2 

•HRES 810 IH 

Whereas 100,000,000 individuals, or 70 percent of taxpayers, 

are eligible to qualify for the Free File program each 

year; 

Whereas, since 2003, over 53,000,000 American taxpayers 

have filed their taxes for free through the Free File program, saving them over $1,600,000,000 in tax preparation fees; 

Whereas 22 States and the District of Columbia have also 

created their own Free File program modeled after the 

IRS Free File Program; 

Whereas the Free File program compliments other free tax 

preparation services, such as the Volunteer Income Tax 

Assistance (VITA) program, that work to promote the 

welfare of our Nation’s most vulnerable populations; 

Whereas these populations that are impacted by VITA include those who are disabled, the elderly, and limited 

English-speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns; 

Whereas the Free File program is featured on a wide range 

of tax preparation products donated by the best known 

and most trusted industry-leading private sector tax 

preparation companies; 

Whereas through these donations, these companies allow taxpayers to choose who they file with and promote competition within their industry; 

Whereas the Free File program has also actively engaged in 

a collaborative effort to fight stolen identity tax refund 

fraud through the IRS Security Summit; 

Whereas this summit consists of the IRS, State tax agencies, 

and various entities from the tax industry; 

3 

•HRES 810 IH 

Whereas the Security Summit consists of 6 working groups 

that address identity theft, and in the first 2 years after 

the summit’s establishment, the number of reported identity theft victims fell by 65 percent, tax returns with confirmed identity theft decreased, and the IRS withheld 

$6,000,000,000 in fraudulent refunds; and 

Whereas the benefits of the Free File program have shown 

that the Free File program encourages consumer choice 

and savings for the Government, and promotes strong cybersecurity protections for individuals filing a tax return: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog2 nizes the vital contributions the Free File program has 

3 made to the public and fully supports the continued suc4 cess of the program. 

Æ