| STATEMENT BY THE FREE FILE ALLIANCE IN RESPONSE TO MISINFORMATION IN IRS TAXPAYER ADVOCACY PANEL |
| Monday, 04 August 2008 12:02 |
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The Free File Alliance, in partnership with the IRS, provides free federal tax services to millions of low and moderate income Americans. In a 2007 Annual Report, released on July 25th, 2008, the Taxpayer Consumer Advocacy Panel Internal Revenue Service recommended that the current Free File tax preparation program provide a direct link to allow taxpayers to electronically file returns at no charge, but under the Free File Alliance program both e-filing and tax preparation are already free. The 2007 Annual Report also recommended that Free File tax preparation programs be expanded to include taxpayers with annual gross incomes of up to $100,000. The Free File Alliance is already significantly more open to a larger number of taxpayers than any other IRS taxpayer assistance program. In the 2008 tax season, the Free File Alliance provided free federal tax services to more than 5 million American households, including millions of low and moderate income Americans. This proposed expansion would have costly implications for the government, particularly for those programs that taxpayers pay for, such as IRS Walk-In Centers and IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). In a time when federal resources are already scarce, Free File Alliance provides free tax preparation and e-filing services to taxpayers at no cost to the federal government. Free File Alliance, (www.freefilealliance.org), is always available to provide information about the coalition and the free services it provides, but was not contacted by the Taxpayers Advocacy Panel prior to the release of their report. |