I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3641 
To make permanent the Internal Revenue Service Free File program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 4, 2017 
Mr. ROSKAM (for himself, Mr. KIND, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. FRANKS of 
Arizona, Mr. ISSA, Mr. CONAWAY, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To make permanent the Internal Revenue Service Free File 
program. 
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 ‘‘Free File Permanence 
Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Internal Revenue Service Free File 
program (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘IRS Free 
File Program’’) as established by the IRS pursuant 
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to public rulemaking and set forth in the Federal 
Register, Vol. 67, No. 213, Monday, November 4, 
2002, pages 67247–67251, and in implementing 
agreements and governing rules and requirements 
between the IRS and the tax software and electronic 
industry between 2003 and 2015, has been success-
ful and significant in the efforts of the Federal Gov-
ernment to increase the electronic filing of individual 
income tax returns of low and moderate income tax-
payers. 
(2) By the end of the current tax return filing 
season more than 50,000,000 Federal individual in-
come tax returns will have been prepared and filed 
electronically for free over the life of the IRS Free 
File program. 
(3) The IRS Free File program offers Federal 
individual income tax return preparation and elec-
tronic filing services to more than 70 percent of tax-
payers, approximately 100,000,000 taxpayers at the 
end of the current tax filing period, with tax soft-
ware and electronic filing provided at no cost to the 
taxpayers who use the service or to the Federal Gov-
ernment from tax software and electronic filing com-
panies participating in the program. 
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(4) By the end of the current tax return filing 
season, it is estimated that the IRS Free File pro-
gram will have saved taxpayers approximately 
$1,500,000,0000 and will have saved the Federal 
Government about $125,000,000 in processing costs. 
(5) In addition to the IRS Free File Program, 
the Internal Revenue Service also provides Taxpayer 
Assistance Centers, Tax Counseling for the Elderly, 
and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) pro-
grams. Each of these programs represent important 
sources of taxpayer assistance and provide taxpayer 
services through different modalities to serve low 
and moderate income taxpayers. 
SEC. 3. FREE FILE PROGRAM. 
(a) The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary’s 
delegate, shall continue to operate the IRS Free File Pro-
gram as established by the Internal Revenue Service and 
published in the Federal Register on November 4, 2002 
(67 Fed. Reg. 67247), including any subsequent agree-
ments and governing rules established pursuant thereto. 
(b) The IRS Free File Program shall continue to pro-
vide free commercial-type online individual income tax 
preparation and electronic filing services to the lowest 70 
percent of taxpayers by income. The number of taxpayers 
eligible to receive such services each year shall be cal-
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culated by the Internal Revenue Service annually based 
on prior year aggregate taxpayer adjusted gross income 
data. 
(c) In addition to the services described in subsection 
(b), and in the same manner, the IRS Free File Program 
shall continue to make available to all taxpayers (without 
regard to income) a basic, online electronic fillable forms 
utility. 
(d) The IRS Free File Program shall continue to 
work cooperatively with the private sector to provide the 
free individual income tax preparation and the electronic 
filing services described in subsections (b) and (c). 
(e) The IRS Free File Program shall work coopera-
tively with State government agencies to enhance and ex-
pand the use of the program to provide needed benefits 
to the taxpayer while reducing the cost of processing re-
turns. 
(f) Nothing in this Act is intended to impact the con-
tinuity of services provided under Taxpayer Assistance 
Centers, Tax Counseling for the Elderly, and Volunteer 
Income Tax Assistance programs. 
SEC. 4. INNOVATIONS. 
(a) The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Secretary’s 
delegate, shall work with the private sector through the 
IRS Free File Program to identify and implement, con-
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sistent with applicable law, innovative new program fea-
tures to improve and simplify the taxpayer’s experience 
with completing and filing individual income tax returns 
in voluntary compliance. 
(b) The Internal Revenue Service, and members of 
the tax software and electronic industry with whom the 
Internal Revenue Service works through the Free File 
Program, shall support and promote improvements within 
the program by mutually testing, piloting, and offering in-
novative solutions to— 
(1) simplify taxpayer compliance with the inter-
nal revenue laws; 
(2) reduce taxpayer compliance burdens; 
(3) increase individual income tax return accu-
racy through financial data authentication; 
(4) strengthen the tax system against existing 
and emerging fraud and threats of fraud through cy-
bersecurity collaboration; 
(5) avoid duplication of effort in the tax system; 
(6) simplify the tax system; 
(7) maximize the use of electronic technology; 
and 
(8) reduce information reporting burdens. 
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SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than June 30th of each calendar year after 
2017, the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Com-
mittee, as established by 26 U.S.C. 6011 note, is required 
to file an annual report to the Committees on Ways and 
Means, Appropriations, and Committee on Finance, on— 
(1) IRS Free File website statistics—percent-
age of taxpayers who came to the site and completed 
a return; 
(2) Free File program cybersecurity standards 
to protect taxpayers from Stolen Identity Refund 
Fraud; 
(3) demographic information on taxpayers using 
Free File; 
(4) IRS marketing and education efforts to pro-
mote Free File to eligible taxpayers; 
(5) simplifications and innovations to improve 
the Free File program for the next tax season to en-
sure the program remains state-of-art; and 
(6) State and local participation of IRS pro-
grams that serve Free File eligible taxpayers. 
Æ 
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