Foster Introduces Legislation to Simplify Tax Filing

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) introduced the Autofill Act. This legislation would create a voluntary tax filing program that allows individuals to use a secure IRS website to download a tax form automatically populated with information the IRS already collects from employers, the Social Security Administration, and financial institutions. The information from the populated tax forms would be available as both a printable document and a computer-readable file compatible with existing tax preparation software. This service would be available at all income levels. 

The Autofill Act supports progress made by the free Direct File system piloted by the Biden Administration. The U.S. Government Accountability Office found Direct File to be a successful, no-cost alternative for taxpayers. Despite this, the program was canceled by the Trump Administration within its first year back in office.

"It's long past time to make the tax filing process more efficient and less expensive for the American people," said Foster. "There's no reason why we can't make it easier for taxpayers to access the information the IRS already has on file. This is a commonsense solution that will save people time and money, and help bring our tax filing process into the 21st century."

A copy of the legislation is available here. 

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