Free Tax Filing War
About Free Tax Filing War
The battle over free tax filing in the US has been ongoing for two decades. In 2002, the IRS created the Free File program, agreeing that the tax preparation industry would provide free filing for low and middle income taxpayers in exchange for the IRS not creating its own free filing system. Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and H&R Block have lobbied aggressively to prevent the IRS from creating return free filing. In 2019, the Free File Alliance agreement was modified to explicitly allow the IRS to develop its own filing tool. ProPublica reporting revealed that Intuit deliberately hid its Free File option from search engines and steered eligible users to paid products. In 2024, the IRS launched Direct File, a free government filing tool, in 12 states despite intense industry opposition.
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