I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 451 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit certain activities 
constituting preparation of tax returns by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 15, 2025 
Mr. SMITH of Nebraska (for himself, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. GARBARINO, Mrs. 
MILLER of West Virginia, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. HERN of Oklahoma, Mr. 
ALFORD, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. WOMACK, Ms. VAN DUYNE, and Mr. 
BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit 
certain activities constituting preparation of tax returns 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fostering Autonomy 
in Independent Returns by Prohibiting Redundant and 
Extralegal Programs Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘FAIR PREP 
Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN RETURN PREPARATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6020 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITED PREPARATION BY SECRETARY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sec-
tion 6014 and subsections (a) and (b) of this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall not prepare any return of 
tax imposed by this title or any claim for refund of 
tax imposed by this title. 
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION OF DIRECT FILE AND COM-
PARABLE PROGRAMS.—For purposes of paragraph 
(1), any return or claim for refund prepared using 
an electronic tax preparation service operated by the 
Secretary shall be treated as if such return or claim 
were prepared by the Secretary. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED
RETURN
PREPARATION
PRO-
GRAMS AND IRS FREE FILE PARTNERSHIP.—Para-
graph (2) shall not apply to any return or claim for 
refund solely because such return or claim for re-
fund was prepared via, or with the assistance of— 
‘‘(A) a qualified return preparation pro-
gram (as defined in section 7526A(e)), or 
‘‘(B) the IRS Free File Program as estab-
lished by the Internal Revenue Service and pub-
lished in the Federal Register on November 4, 
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2002 (67 Fed. Reg. 67247), including any sub-
sequent agreements and governing rules estab-
lished pursuant thereto. 
‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section— 
‘‘(A) TAX RETURN PREPARATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘pre-
pare’ with respect to any return or claim 
for refund means— 
‘‘(I) the completion of any form 
and schedule needed to compute and 
report any tax imposed by this title or 
any claim for refund of such a tax, 
and 
‘‘(II) the filing of any such re-
turn or claim for refund, regardless of 
whether such return or claim is sub-
mitted electronically or on paper. 
For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
the preparation of any portion of a return 
or claim for refund shall be treated as if 
it were the preparation of such return or 
claim for refund. 
‘‘(ii) COMPUTATION AND CORRECTION 
OF ERRORS, ETC.— 
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‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Such term 
shall not include any computation au-
thorized by section 6102 or any other 
computation or correction of mathe-
matical or clerical errors required or 
authorized by any provision of chapter 
63. 
‘‘(II) FILLABLE
FORMS.—Such 
term shall not include the provision of 
fillable forms by the Secretary merely 
because such forms include an auto-
mated calculation feature. 
‘‘(B) 
ELECTRONIC
TAX
PREPARATION 
SERVICE.—The term ‘electronic tax preparation 
service operated by the Secretary’ means the 
free direct e-file tax return system as estab-
lished by the Internal Revenue Service and pub-
lished in the Federal Register on December 15, 
2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 87057), and September 5, 
2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 72699), and any successor 
program of the Internal Revenue Service which 
provides an electronic tax preparation service 
option.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to returns filed after the date 
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which is 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(c) NO INFERENCE.—The amendment made by this 
section shall not be construed to create any inference with 
respect to the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury 
(or any delegate of such Secretary) to develop and offer 
for use any electronic tax filing or tax preparation service 
option, or otherwise engage in the preparation of any re-
turn of tax or any claim for refund of tax imposed by the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, with respect to any tax-
able year beginning on or before the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON FURTHER EXPENDITURES CIRCUM-
VENTING CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY. 
The Secretary of the Treasury (or any delegate of 
such Secretary) may not award or make payment of 
grants or enter into or maintain any contract, other trans-
action, or reimbursable agreement for the development or 
operation of an electronic tax preparation service option 
after the date of the enactment of this Act unless other-
wise authorized by law. 
Æ 
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