[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6812-6813]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        FREE INTERNET FILING ACT

  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I continue to advocate for the ability of 
taxpayers to file their taxes directly

[[Page 6813]]

through the Internal Revenue Service Web site without depending on 
commercial tax preparers. If a taxpayer has taken the time to fill out 
their taxes on their own, they should be provided with the opportunity 
to file electronically through the IRS Web site without exposing their 
personal financial information to a tax preparer or be subjected to 
solicitations for other services or tax products. A bill that I 
introduced with my friend from New Mexico, Senator Bingaman, S. 2550, 
the Free Internet Filing Act, requires that taxpayers be provided with 
the option to directly e-file via the IRS Web site without using 
commercial tax preparers. I will continue to work with my colleagues to 
enact this needed legislation. Electronic returns help taxpayers 
receive their refunds faster than mailing them in. This would also save 
the IRS resources and reduce possible errors that can occur when the 
mailed-in returns are transcribed.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an additional letter of 
support for S. 2550 from the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer 
Federation of America, Consumers Union, U.S. Public Interest Research 
Group, and Consumer Action be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                   April 21, 2006.
     Hon. Daniel K. Akaka,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Akaka: The National Consumer Law Center (on 
     behalf of its low-income clients), Consumer Federation of 
     America, Consumers Union, the U.S. Public Interest Research 
     Group and Consumer Action write to support S. 2550, the 
     ``Free Internet Filing Act.'' Consumer groups have long 
     advocated for what S. 2550 would provide--the ability of 
     taxpayers to electronically file their returns without the 
     need for a third party intermediary.
       Enabling taxpayers to file electronically directly with the 
     Internal Revenue Service will benefit taxpayers tremendously. 
     It will save taxpayers the fees charged by some commercial 
     preparers for electronic filing. Unlike the current Free File 
     program established by the IRS, S. 2550 will provide 
     taxpayers with free electronic filing without being subject 
     to cross-marketing pitches for refund anticipation loans, 
     mortgages and other financial products which may not be in 
     their best interests.
       S. 2550 will also help taxpayers to keep their information 
     private. By allowing free direct electronic filing with the 
     IRS, taxpayers will have the ability to bypass commercial 
     preparers that might exploit or share their personal, 
     confidential tax information for non-tax purposes.
       We believe the IRS should have been required a long time 
     ago to establish free direct electronic filing. For many 
     years, Americans have been able to apply for federal student 
     financial aid on www.fafsa.ed.gov and Social Security 
     retirement benefits at www.ssa.gov. A free direct electronic 
     filing program at www.irs.gov is long overdue.
       If you have any questions about this letter, please contact 
     Chi Chi Wu. Thank you again for all your efforts to protect 
     taxpayer rights.
           Sincerely,
     Chi Chi Wu,
       Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center.
     Jean Ann Fox,
       Director of Consumer Protection, Consumer Federation of 
     America.
     Edmund Mierzwinski,
       Consumer Program Director, U.S. Public Interest Research 
     Group.
     Susanna Montezemolo,
       Policy Analyst, Consumers Union.
     Linda Sherry,
       Director, National Priorities, Consumer Action.

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