[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3457 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3457

  To require the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement 
    with the Free File Alliance to provide for electronic filing of 
         individual Federal income tax returns free of charge.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 4, 2007

 Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California (for herself and Mr. Cantor) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement 
    with the Free File Alliance to provide for electronic filing of 
         individual Federal income tax returns free of charge.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROGRAM TO E-FILE FEDERAL INCOME TAX RETURNS.

    (a) Agreement.--
            (1) In general.--The Sectary of the Treasury shall enter 
        into an agreement with the Free File Alliance to provide a 
        forms-based software service for all individual taxpayers with 
        the ability to electronically prepare and file their Federal 
        returns of income tax through the Internal Revenue Service 
        website, free of charge, by using the standard 1040 and 1040EZ 
        forms and the most commonly used schedules for taxable years 
        beginning after 2007, and such software service to be made 
        available (at no cost to either the United States or the 
        participating taxpayers) by the Free File Alliance shall be in 
        addition to the products and services available to taxpayers 
        from Free File member companies under the terms and conditions 
        of the Government's agreement with the Free File Alliance 
        Agreement entered into on behalf of the United States by the 
        Commissioner of Internal Revenue on October 30, 2002, and as 
        subsequently amended.
            (2) Term of agreement.--The agreement shall have a term of 
        60 months, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the 
        agreement, and may be renewed.
    (b) Development and Operation of Program.--In providing for the 
development and operation of this program, the Secretary of the 
Treasury--
            (1) shall enter into an agreement with the Free File 
        Alliance in accordance with subsection (a);
            (2) shall not otherwise develop or deploy electronic tax 
        preparation or filing products for the same or similar 
        purposes;
            (3) shall ensure that the requirements set forth in this 
        subsection are implemented in a manner consistent with the 
        terms, conditions, requirements, and commitments of the 
        Agreement entered into on behalf of the United States by the 
        Commissioner of Internal Revenue on October 30, 2002, as 
        subsequently amended, including the provision that 
        participating companies in the Free File program may not 
        advertise, market, or offer to sell any products or services to 
        taxpayers while using the tax preparation programs;
            (4) may not compensate or allow a participating company to 
        charge for providing the free products and services provided 
        pursuant to this subsection; and
            (5) shall conduct a public information and consumer 
        education campaign to encourage taxpayer awareness of this 
        program, with particular emphasis on EITC taxpayer communities.
    (c) Consultation.--In providing for the deployment of this program, 
the Secretary shall also consult with other entities with expertise in 
this issue area, including the National Taxpayer Advocate, the 
Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC), professional 
and industrial organizations, nonprofit organizations, and Federal, 
State, and local agencies as determined appropriate by the Secretary.
    (d) Reports to Congress Regarding e-File Program.--
            (1) Report on implementation.--The Secretary of the 
        Treasury shall report to the Committee on Finance of the Senate 
        and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 
        Representatives not later than 6 months after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, regarding 
        the status of the implementation of this e-file program.
            (2) Report on usage.--Not later than June 30 of each year 
        after the implementation of e-file program described in this 
        Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 
        National Taxpayer Advocate and the ETAAC, shall report to the 
        Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways 
        and Means of the House of Representatives, on taxpayer usage of 
        such e-file program.

SEC. 2. BUSINESS RESPONSIBILITY STANDARDS.

    Members of the Free File Alliance must meet the standards set forth 
in section 9.104-1 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations, that would 
be used by the Federal Government to evaluate the business 
responsibility of a company and the commerciality of its offered 
product or service if such company were being considered as a contract 
source for the purchase of commercial products or services for the 
Federal Government's end use.

SEC. 3. RETURN-FREE TAX SYSTEM.

    Neither the Secretary of the Treasury nor any delegate of the 
Secretary may implement a return-free tax system under which 
individuals would be permitted to comply with the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 without making the return required under section 6012 of such 
Code for taxable years beginning after 2007, unless the authorization 
to implement such a system is enacted into law by an Act of Congress 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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