Kaine, Warren, & Colleagues Introduce Bill to Simplify Tax Filing Process for Americans

WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and 21 of their Senate colleagues introduced the Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2022, legislation to simplify the tax filing process for millions of Americans, saving them hours and hundreds of dollars. Along with lowering costs and eliminating red tape for all taxpayers, simplified filing tools would ensure that more eligible people – including millions of low-income Americans – receive important tax refunds, like the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. According to recent polling, 77% of Americans support this legislation.

“Every tax season, Americans spend countless hours sifting through complicated tax forms and filing their taxes,” said Senator Tim Kaine. “This legislation is a necessary step to simplifying the tax filing process and ensuring Americans have access to a free online filing service.”

The Tax Filing Simplification Act makes several commonsense changes to simplify and decrease the costs of the tax filing process for millions of American taxpayers by:  

• Prohibiting the IRS from entering into agreements that restrict its ability to provide free online tax preparation or filing services;
• Directing the IRS to develop a free, online tax preparation and filing service that would allow all taxpayers to prepare and file their taxes directly with the federal government instead of being forced to share private information with third parties;
• Enhancing taxpayer data access by allowing all taxpayers to download third-party-provided tax information that the IRS already has into a software program of their choice, saving time and decreasing the risk of math errors on W-2 income or CTC payments that lead to significant processing delays;
• Directing the IRS to expand the CTC non-filer tool to cover other tax benefits, especially the EITC;
• Allowing eligible taxpayers with simple tax situations to choose a return-free option, which provides a pre-prepared tax return with income tax liability or refund amount already calculated;
• Mandating that these data and filing tools be made available through a secure online function and requires any participating individual to verify his or her identity before accessing tax data;
• Reducing tax fraud by getting third-party income information to the IRS earlier in the tax season, allowing the agency to cross-check this information before issuing refunds; and
• Directing the IRS to expand the CTC non-filer tool to cover other tax benefits, especially the EITC, by March 1, 2023.

As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, Kaine has advocated for increased funding for the IRS to help the agency improve its operations. After hearing from Virginians who were still waiting for their refunds from the 2021 tax filing season, Kaine urged the IRS to come up with a plan to address the processing delays. Kaine also joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers in urging the Treasury Department and IRS to provide penalty relief for taxpayers and help reduce processing backlogs at the IRS.

This bill is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (D-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Katie Porter (D-CA) and Brad Sherman (D-CA).

The bill is endorsed by the following national groups: Center for the Study of Social Policy, Children's Defense Fund, Public Citizen, AFL-CIO, Alliance for a Just Society, American Family Voices, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), Americans for Financial Reform, Americans for Tax Fairness, Blue Future, Center for American Progress, Center for Disability Rights, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Center for New Revenue, Children's HealthWatch, Coalition on Human Needs, CommonDefense.us, Community Change Action, Consumer Action, DemCast USA, Economic Policy Institute, Economic Security Project Action, Fayetteville Police Accountability Community Taskforce, Food Research & Action Center, Futures Without Violence, Humanity Forward, ideas42, In the Public Interest, Income Movement, Institute for America's Future, Institute for Policy Studies- Program on Inequality, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, ISAIAH (MN), Jain Family Institute (JFI), Jobs With Justice, Main Street Alliance, MANA, A National Latina Organization, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate JPIC, MomsRising, MoveOn, National Association of Hispanic Elderly, National Association of Social Workers, National Black Justice Coalition, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD), National Community Action Partnership, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients), National Diaper Bank Network, National Employment Law Project, National Immigration Law Center, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National NeighborWorks Association, National Network for Arab American Communities, National Organization for Women, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, National Women's Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Our Revolution, Oxfam America, ParentsTogether Action, Partnership for America's Children, Public Good Law Center, Responsible Wealth, RESULTS, RootsAction.org, Share Our Strength, Sojourners, State Revenue Alliance, Take On Wall Street, The Arc of the United States, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, United Church of Christ Justice and Local Church Ministries, United for a Fair Economy, Universal Income Project, and Women’s March.

Full text is available here. A summary of the bill is available here.

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