• Home
  • Personal Finance
  • Investing
  • Business
  • Career
  • Consumer
  • Debt
  • Lifestyle
  • Retirement
  • Taxes

Personal Finance News

Latest News About Personal Finance

  • Blogger Net Worths
  • Top Personal Finance Blogs
  • Blogroll

IRS Reforms Free File Program, Drops Agreement Not to Compete With TurboTax

December 31, 2019 Leave a Comment

Finding free online tax filing should be easier this year for millions of Americans. ProPublica reports:

The IRS announced significant changes Monday to its deal with the tax prep software industry. Now companies are barred from hiding their free products from search engines such as Google, and a years-old prohibition on the IRS creating its own online filing system has been scrapped.

The addendum to the deal, known as Free File, comes after ProPublica’s reporting this year on how the industry, led by TurboTax maker Intuit, has long misled taxpayers who are eligible to file for free into paying.

Under the nearly two-decade-old Free File deal, the industry agreed to make free versions of tax filing software available to lower- and middle-income Americans. In exchange, the IRS promised not to compete with the industry by creating its own online filing system. Many developed countries have such systems, allowing most citizens to file their taxes for free. The prohibition on the IRS creating its own system was the focus of years of lobbying by Intuit. The industry has seen such a system as an existential threat. Now, with the changes to the deal, the prohibition has been dropped.

The addendum also expressly bars the companies from “engaging in any practice” that would exclude their Free File offerings “from an organic internet search.” ProPublica reported in April that Intuit and H&R Block had added code to their Free File pages that hid them from Google and other search engines, diverting many users to the companies’ paid products.

“The improved process will make Free File stronger and give taxpayers another reason to consider this valuable software option,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement. The agency hopes the changes will make the free option more accessible for taxpayers in the 2020 filing season, he said.

Related

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Must Read

  • How to Reach a Live Person at IRS to Resolve Tax Problems
  • What's the Recommended Temperature for Vacant Home in Winter?
  • Average Person Worries About Money 6 Times A Day
  • Peter Adeney, the Man behind Mr. Money Mustache, Earns $400,000 a Year on His Blog
  • New American Dream Increasingly Involves a Lease, Not a Mortgage
  • Amazon Cash: Now You Can Pay With Cash on Amazon
  • Lost Passwords Lock Millionaires Out of Their Bitcoin Fortunes
  • How to Cash Out Pension Plan Early
  • Professional Panda Cuddler as the World's Best Job for $32,000 per Year
  • Can HOAs Increase Property Values?

Recent Posts

  • Apple Launches Apple Card’s Savings Accounts With 4.15% Interest Rate
  • More Americans Are Using ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Services To Pay for Groceries
  • 5 Tips To Get The Best Value On An Insurance Policy
  • 61% Now Living Paycheck to Paycheck
  • 36% Earning $100,000 or More Living Paycheck to Paycheck
  • Two-Thirds of Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck
  • The Hit to Your Pocketbook From Higher Gasoline Prices: $2,000 a Year
  • Uber Now Lets You See How Many One-Star Ratings You Received From Drivers

Connect With Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Home · About · Terms · Privacy · Contact · Copyright © 2023 · Personal Finance News