{"id":2205940,"date":"2024-03-25T17:52:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T21:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-state-officials-call-on-irs-to-terminate-free-tax-filing-pilot-program\/"},"modified":"2024-03-25T18:00:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T22:00:07","slug":"gop-state-officials-call-on-irs-to-terminate-free-tax-filing-pilot-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-state-officials-call-on-irs-to-terminate-free-tax-filing-pilot-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican state officials urge IRS to end free tax-filing pilot program"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-state-officials-call-on-irs-to-terminate-free-tax-filing-pilot-program%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2205940&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Nearly two dozen state\u2062 officials, including Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, are urging\u2063 the Biden administration to \u200bend the new IRS free tax-filing program. They argue that the \u200cIRS Direct\u200b File program is unnecessary and may \u200cpose challenges for taxpayers, especially in filing state \u200breturns. \u2063The\u200d group is \u200bconcerned that the \u200binitiative could harm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/amazon-wants-15-federal-minimum-wage-reports-small-businesses-would-be-hardest-hit\/\" title=\"Amazon Wants  Federal Minimum Wage; Reports: Small Businesses Would Be Hardest Hit\">lower-income<\/a>\u200d taxpayers reliant on \u2064timely tax refunds.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Nearly two dozen state officials are calling for the Biden administration to terminate a new free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/taxes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>tax<\/a>-filing program by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/irs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>IRS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott led a letter to Treasury Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/janet-yellen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Janet Yellen<\/a> and others from 21 state Republican financial officers arguing against the pilot program. They argued the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2373894\/irs-launching-free-tax-filing-pilot-program-in-threat-to-turbotax-and-hr-block\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>IRS Direct File program<\/a> is \u201ca solution in search of a problem\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ca-resort-town-replaces-annual-july-4th-fireworks-display-with-laser-show-citing-trauma-to-pets-and-veterans\/\" title=\"CA Resort Town Replaces Annual July 4th Fireworks Display With Laser Show, Citing Trauma To Pets and Veterans\">specifically raised concerns<\/a> about its effects on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-subpoena-hunter-biden-paternity-records-and-tax-documents\/\" title=\"Feds Subpoena Hunter Biden Paternity Records and Tax Documents\">state tax returns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The group argued the Direct File program \u201cwill create challenges for taxpayers and state treasurers and the costs of Direct File far outweigh any potential benefits it may confer to taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, the state financial officers contend that because the Direct File system only handles federal tax returns, residents might be unaware they also have to separately file state returns and could miss out on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stimulus-update-five-states-to-send-out-one-time-direct-payments-in-august-2023\/\" title=\"August 2023: Five states to distribute one-time direct payments as stimulus update.\">state tax refunds<\/a> or face penalties for not filing at the state level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is significant because many taxpayers who use Direct File are likely to be lower-income and build budgets around anticipated tax refunds,\u201d the officers wrote in the letter. \u201cEven worse, confused taxpayers who neglect to file their state returns will be at risk of incurring state penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImagine the surprise to the taxpayer who becomes subject to audit by the IRS after having filed through Direct File and having felt assurances that the tax return was prepared properly through the IRS\u2019s own system,\u201d the officials added.<\/p>\n<p>Just under a year ago, the IRS announced plans to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/economy\/free-irs-tax-filing-pilot-gop-scrutiny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launch a pilot program<\/a>\u00a0for a free agency-run electronic filing system. After several weeks of testing, the pilot software is now available in 12 states, according to the Treasury Department.<\/p>\n<p>During the rollout, treasury officials noted that other countries have had free tax-filing options for years now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerican taxpayers who want to file their taxes for free directly with the IRS should have that option,\u201d Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/03\/12\/irs-free-direct-file-program-launches-in-12-pilot-states.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> during a press call this month.<\/p>\n<p>But tax preparers, who stand to lose business from the move, have pushed back vigorously against the Direct File pilot.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith more than 30 organizations already offering free tax preparation, this pilot is unnecessary and faces significant barriers to providing comprehensive tax preparation services,\u201d tax preparation giant H&#038;R Block said when the pilot was announced. \u201cH&#038;R Block remains committed to helping millions of Americans get the best outcome at tax time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tax-filing season began on Jan. 29 for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-tax-day-biden-should-release-his-full-corporate-taxation-statements\/\" title=\"This Tax Day, Biden Should Release His Full, Corporate TAXATION STATEMENTS\">individual tax returns<\/a>. April 15 is the deadline for filing a tax return or to request an extension in most states.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 21 state Republican financial officers, led by Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, are urging Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to terminate the IRS Direct File program, a new free tax-filing initiative by the Biden administration. They claim the program is unnecessary and should not continue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2683,"featured_media":2205941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/irs-1024x593.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2205940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/irs-1024x593.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2205940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2205941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2205940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2205940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2205940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}