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Filing your taxes could soon be free and relatively painless.
The US is inching closer to modernizing how Americans file their taxes and breaking the grip that private tax-prep companies, like TurboTax and H&R Block, have over the process. In the future, tax filing may require only a few clicks — or even simply replying to a text message, as is done in some European countries like Estonia.
Within the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed with only Democratic votes last month, $15 million was set aside for the Treasury Department to study a free federal tax-filing website.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday expressed support for simplifying the process.
"Tax filing should be simple: I recently came across a statistic it takes an average American 13 hours to file a tax return," she said during a visit to an IRS facility in Maryland. "Compare that with Sweden. Some taxpayers can file simply by replying to a text message. We can and must do better."
It's not a new concept. Natasha Sarin, the Treasury's counselor for tax policy and implementation, previously wrote that an adequately funded IRS would mean that Americans could file their taxes at no cost and within minutes, like in similarly developed countries.
www.businessinsider.com
The US is inching closer to modernizing how Americans file their taxes and breaking the grip that private tax-prep companies, like TurboTax and H&R Block, have over the process. In the future, tax filing may require only a few clicks — or even simply replying to a text message, as is done in some European countries like Estonia.
Within the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed with only Democratic votes last month, $15 million was set aside for the Treasury Department to study a free federal tax-filing website.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday expressed support for simplifying the process.
"Tax filing should be simple: I recently came across a statistic it takes an average American 13 hours to file a tax return," she said during a visit to an IRS facility in Maryland. "Compare that with Sweden. Some taxpayers can file simply by replying to a text message. We can and must do better."
It's not a new concept. Natasha Sarin, the Treasury's counselor for tax policy and implementation, previously wrote that an adequately funded IRS would mean that Americans could file their taxes at no cost and within minutes, like in similarly developed countries.
The US is moving one step closer to letting Americans file their taxes online for free directly to the IRS, cutting out private companies like TurboTax and H&R Block
In some countries, people just reply to a text to confirm their taxes are correct. That could soon be an option in the US.
www.businessinsider.com
