Tax Preparation Firms, Lawmakers Brace for IRS E-File Report

Lawmakers and tax prep companies are bracing for a report due within days that could be the first step toward creating an IRS-run free electronic tax filing system.

That’s the hope of Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who backs such a system and calls it long overdue. Republicans say such a setup raises taxpayer privacy concerns and fear government overreach.

The Biden administration’s tax-and-climate law directs the IRS to submit to Congress a report within nine months of the law’s passage—a deadline that arrives Tuesday—on a “free direct e-file tax return system” that includes a cost analysis, survey results ...