Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Free File program has made vital contributions to the public.
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
This resolution recognizes the contributions of the Free File program and supports its continued success. The Free File program is a public-private partnership between tax preparation software companies and the Internal Revenue Service to offer free online tax preparation and e-filing services to low- and moderate-income taxpayers at no cost to the federal government.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 810 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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'';
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;
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
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes the vital 
contributions the Free File program has made to the public and fully 
supports the continued success of the program.
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