Fractures Over Free-File Provision Harm IRS Bill’s Odds in Senate

An effort to reform the IRS—years in the making—is now at risk of tanking in the Senate, as a growing number of Democrats grow wary of a free-filing provision in the bill.

Lawmakers in both chambers were optimistic about the House-passed tax administration bill (H.R. 1957) in the lead-up to the two-week April recess. The legislation was rolled out simultaneously in both chambers, sped through the House tax-writing committee, unanimously passed on the floor, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had talked about fast-tracking it.

But a provision codifying the Internal Revenue Service ...