# Bipatisan effort in Congress to ban free tax filing from IRS. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305 "2019-04-09T23:52:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/1 "2019-04-09T23:52:41Z")
[Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing. Thank TurboTax.](https://www.propublica.org/article/congress-is-about-to-ban-the-government-from-offering-free-online-tax-filing-thank-turbotax) > [@](#): > > Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., passed the Taxpayer First Act, a wide-ranging bill making several administrative changes to the IRS that is sponsored by Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa. > > In one of its provisions, the bill makes it illegal for the IRS to create its own online system of tax filing. > … > Intuit and H&R Block last year poured a combined $6.6 million into lobbying related to the IRS filing deal and other issues. Neal, who became Ways and Means chair this year after Democrats took control of the House, received $16,000 in contributions from Intuit and H&R Block in the last two election cycles. > … > A companion Senate bill with the same provision has been introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “Taxpayer First Act” – I chuckle. Note: Despite what people think, the FreeFillableForms web site is NOT sponsored or maintained by the IRS. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/2 "2019-04-10T07:40:41Z")
That sounds incredibly corrupt. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/3 "2019-04-10T11:37:14Z")
There’s an interesting Planet Money podcast on the efforts of tax preparers to make tax filing more difficult. > **[Episode 760: Tax Hero](https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/04/03/709656642/episode-760-tax-hero)** > > Joe Bankman, professor at Stanford, figured out a way to make filing your taxes easy and painless. Then the tax lobby found out about it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/4 "2019-04-11T02:50:04Z")
I’m not sure I understand. Do you mean that the law will say that to e-file, you have to have an e-file account with a private company, which is responsible for e-filing it? Or does it mean that you have to use a private company’s software to prépare the e-return, but then you can e-file that directly with the IRS yourself? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/5 "2019-04-11T03:48:15Z")
The first: " to e-file, you have to have an e-file account with a private company, which is responsible for e-filing it". ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/6 "2019-04-11T03:52:24Z")
Stamps are, like Fifty cents, I think. Goddammit! Still not Free! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bipatisan-effort-in-congress-to-ban-free-tax-filing-from-irs/832305/7 "2019-04-11T04:03:47Z")
Who says there is no bipartisanship.