{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2297-116/featured_tax-filing-simplification-act-of-2019-1560782852.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2297-116/featured_large_tax-filing-simplification-act-of-2019-1560782852.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2297-116.png"},"introduced_on":"2019-04-12","title_override":"Should the IRS Provide Taxpayers With a Pre-Filled Tax Return?","summary_override":"

This bill — the Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2019 — would aim to simplify and decrease the costs of the tax filing process for millions of American taxpayers. It would require that a free, online tax preparation and filing toolbe made available to tax filers, permit filers to download third-party-provided return information, and allow individuals with simple returns to let the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) prepare their taxes for them.

Under this bill, the IRS would be required to provide establish and operate the following programs for free:

Online tax preparation and filing software;
A program for taxpayers to download third-party provided return information relating to individual income tax returns;
A program to permit individuals with simplified tax situations to elect to have the IRS prepare their returns; and
A program to provide technical assistance and federal tax return information for states that provide or seek to provide state-level tax preparation and filing software.

","official_title":"To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a free online tax preparation and filing service and programs that allow taxpayers to access third-party provided tax return information.","short_title":"Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2019","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Taxpayers; free tax filing; tax preparation companies; the IRS; and the Free File Alliance.","argument_for":"Pre-filled returns for the 90% of taxpayers who don’t itemize their tax returns will save Americans time and money. By making it easier to file taxes, they'll also increase the tax filing rate and ensure more people get their returns. Since the current Free File program is used by only 3% of taxpayers, it’s clear that a better free alternative is needed.","argument_against":"The IRS, in partnership with the major tax preparation companies, already has a Free File program that allows taxpayers making $62,000 or less a year to file their taxes for free. 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Proud 1st & 5th SFG (Abn) 3 yr Vietnam 🇻🇳 veteran. Avid political junkie enjoying in the \"Stirring the Political Pot\" to get opposing opinions & conversations going.\nDE OPPRESSO LIBER","twitter_id":"@SneakyPete531","facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"sneakypete","issue_count":70,"is_following":null,"influence_score":10575,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":279,"following_count":200,"position_count":902,"id":"w9D6pA7Z","partner_id":null},{"name":"Keith ","vote_count":74,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/mK5yBxXD/following","followers":"/api/users/mK5yBxXD/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":19,"is_following":null,"influence_score":420,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":18,"following_count":38,"position_count":54,"id":"mK5yBxXD","partner_id":null},{"name":"Glenna","vote_count":37,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-hat.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-hat.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-hat.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/ZxxorL25/following","followers":"/api/users/ZxxorL25/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":20,"is_following":null,"influence_score":30,"influence_level":10,"follower_count":1,"following_count":1,"position_count":35,"id":"ZxxorL25","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"2fe88523-e585-41db-8bd2-66bec892a4b2","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"For goodness sakes, doesn’t the House have better things to vote on than pre-filled tax return forms? How about voting on a fair flat tax so we can eliminate most of the IRS and reduce costs? Now, that’s something to vote on.\n","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":3,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":3,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":3,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/2fe88523-e585-41db-8bd2-66bec892a4b2"},"body":"For goodness sakes, doesn’t the House have better things to vote on than pre-filled tax return forms? How about voting on a fair flat tax so we can eliminate most of the IRS and reduce costs? Now, that’s something to vote on.\n","stance":"nay","created_at":"2019-06-17T16:02:00.588Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/2fe88523-e585-41db-8bd2-66bec892a4b2.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr2297-116","user_id":"mQLJxERE","endorser_ids":["w9D6pA7Z","mK5yBxXD","ZxxorL25"]}}

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Should the IRS Provide Taxpayers With a Pre-Filled Tax Return?