Free File Alliance

The Free File Alliance is a group of tax preparation companies which operate a public-private partnership with the Internal Revenue Service to provide free electronic tax filing services to United States tax payers meeting certain guidelines.[1] The Free File Alliance claims that the program benefits American taxpayers by providing services that would cost the IRS money to provide if online tax filing were administered directly by the IRS.[2] The IRS stipulates filers must have an adjusted gross income of $69,000 or less for tax year 2019,[1] but participating companies have their own requirements and restrictions.[3]

Free File Alliance is a 501(c)(4) organization registered as Free File, Inc., and based in Clifton, Virginia. Its executive director is Tim Hugo.[4]

While many of the Free File Companies offer free state income tax returns, some companies do charge additional fees of $10 to $30 to electronically file state returns.[5]

In 2007, Alliance members agreed to remove controversial ancillary offerings such as refund anticipation loans from the program.[2]

Criticism

The Free File Alliance was largely organized by Intuit, and guided by a former lobbyist for the company. In 2019, the Free File Alliance was accused by ProPublica of serving as a bulwark against the IRS providing more affordable options or return-free filing, arguing that tax companies have lobbied to instead offer Free File options where they can push users to their paid services.[6]

Members of the FFA have seldom publicized their Free File options, with Intuit deliberately hiding their Free File options from online search results.[7]

In exchange for Intuit, H&R Block, and other members providing Free File options, the IRS was restricted from providing its own free filing tool. In 2020, this rule was lifted.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Free File: Do Your Federal Taxes for Free". irs.gov. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  2. "Free File Alliance Explained". freefile.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  3. phuong_cat_le (March 20, 2008). "File your taxes free, but read carefully". seattlepi.com. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  4. EIN 452609992
  5. Perez, William (August 5, 2016). "Reviews of Free Tax Preparation Programs". thebalance.comaccess-date=2016-09-04.
  6. Kiel, Justin Elliott,Paul. "Inside TurboTax's 20-Year Fight to Stop Americans From Filing Their Taxes for Free". ProPublica. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  7. Elliott, Justin. "TurboTax Deliberately Hid Its Free File Page From Search Engines". ProPublica. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  8. Chaudhry, Aliya (2020-01-01). "The IRS is done letting TurboTax easily steer you away from filing taxes for free". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.