The Blubber

Per The Washington Post

The Internal Revenue Service is testing a new e-filing system that does what TurboTax and H&R Block do. The only difference is that IRS plans to launch their system for free.

The new IRS tool would allow Americans to do the same as they would with services like TurboTax, file their tax returns digitally and free of charge. This tool would place the entire tax-prep industry at risk, especially since it's being offered for free.

The system is expected to be made available during the 2024 filing season, in January. However, it will first only be available for a select small group of taxpayers via a pilot program.

The free e-filing system was developed as a result of the work by the IRS and the US Digital Service. In 2022, a $15 million budget was given to the IRS to "look into creating a direct filing program" under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Code for America's associate policy creator for tax benefits, Gabriel Zucker, gave a statement about the new tool and what was the most important part of it. Code for America is an advocacy group, which also worked on its "own tax filing prototype."

Zucker: “There’s something very important about the fact that even beyond making it easy and beyond making it free, this is something you could do directly with your government,”

It was recently reported that in 2022 alone, $247 billion worth of taxpayer money was wasted, with the country losing almost $2.4 trillion in simple payment errors over the last two decades.

The IRS also recently hired what they called "special agents" who would receive a salary of up to $95,000 annually. These agents were prepared to use "deadly force" if necessary and will work directly under the agency's Criminal Investigation branch.

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• $247 billion of taxpayer money was wasted in the U.S. in 2022
• IRS to hire special agents, paying up to almost $95,000, who could use "deadly force" if necessary

Resources:

The Washington Post