,i #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #bbig ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,april #ab1 #bjai ,mr4 ,sherman 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,beyer1 ,mr4 ,raskin1 ,mr4 ,ryan1 ,ms4 ,hill of ,california1 ,ms4 ,ocasio-,cortez1 ,mr4 ,blumenauer1 and ,ms4 ,speier7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf to establish a free online tax preparation and filing service and programs that allow taxpayers to access third-party provided tax return information4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,tax ,filing ,simplification ,act of #bjai4 #b4 ,prohibition on agreements restricting ,government tax preparation and filing services ,the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 or the ,secretary's delegate1 may not enter into any agreement after the date of the enactment of this ,act which restricts the ,secretary's legal right to provide tax return preparation services or software or to provide tax return filing services4 #c4 ,government-assisted tax preparation and filing services 7a7 ,in general ,chapter #gg of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended by adding at the end the following new section3 #gebi4 ,government-assisted tax-return preparation programs 7a7 ,establishment of programs ,the ,secretary shall establish and operate the following programs3 7#a7 ,online tax preparation and filing software ,not later than ,january #ca1 #bjba1 software for the preparation and filing of individual income tax returns for taxable years beginning after #bjai4 7#b7 ,taxpayer ,data ,access ,not later than ,march #a1 #bjba1 a program under which taxpayers may download third-party provided return information relating to individual income tax returns for taxable years beginning after #bjai4 7#c7 ,voluntary tax return preparation ,not later than ,march #a1 #bjba1 a program under which eligible individuals 7as defined under subsection 7c77#a77 may elect to have income tax returns for taxable years beginning after #bjai prepared by the ,secretary1 with an opportunity for the individual to update such returns after preparation4 7#d7 ,facilitating use of ,federal returns for ,state tax purposes ,not later than ,march #a1 #bjba1 for ,states that provide or seek to provide ,state-level software or programs similar to software described in paragraph 7#a7 or the program described in paragraph 7#c71 a program under which the ,secretary-- 7,a7 provides technical assistance1 and 7,b7 discloses ,federal income tax return information under section #fajc7;c7 to facilitate the preparation and filing of ,state income tax returns4 7b7 ,requirements for ,taxpayer ,data ,access ,program 7#a7 ,in general ,return information under the program established under subsection 7a77#b7 shall be made available-- 7,a7 not later than #ae days after the ,secretary receives such information1 and 7,b7 through a secure function that allows a taxpayer to download such information from the ,secretary's website in both a printable document file and in a computer-readable form suitable for use by automated tax preparation software4 7#b7 ,third-party provided return information defined ,for purposes of this section1 the term third-party provided return information means-- 7,a7 information reported to the ,secretary through an information return 7as defined in section #fgbd7;d77#a771 7,b7 information reported to the ,secretary pursuant to section #bcb of the ,social ,security ,act1 and 7,c7 such other information reported to the ,secretary as is determined appropriate by the ,secretary for purposes of the program established under subsection 7a77#b74 7c7 ,tax return preparation 7#a7 ,eligible individual ,for purposes of the program established under subsection 7a77#c7-- 7,a7 ,in general ,except as provided in subparagraphs 7,b7 and 7,c71 the term eligible individual means1 with respect to any taxable year1 any individual who-- 7i7 elects to participate in the program established under subsection 7a77#c71 7ii7 is an unmarried individual 7other than a surviving spouse 7as defined in section #b7;a77 or the head of a household 7as defined in section #b7;b7771 7iii7 does not claim any deduction allowed under section #fb for purposes of determining adjusted gross income1 7iv7 claims the standard deduction under section #fc1 7v7 does not file schedule ,c1 and 7vi7 has no income other than income from-- 7,i7 wages 7as defined in section #cdja71 7,,ii7 interest1 or 7,,iii7 dividends4 7,b7 ,limitation on eligibility for tax year #bjbj ,with respect to any taxable year beginning in #bjbj1 the term eligible individual shall only include such populations of individuals described in subparagraph 7,a7 as is determined by the ,secretary4 7,c7 ,expansion of eligibility after tax year #bjbj 7i7 ,in general ,at the discretion of the ,secretary1 with respect to any taxable year beginning after ,december #ca1 #bjbj1 the term eligible individual may include populations of individuals who would not otherwise satisfy the requirements established under subparagraph 7,a71 such as married individuals1 heads of households1 taxpayers who are eligible to claim the earned income tax credit under section #cb and have dependents1 taxpayers who are eligible to claim the child tax credit under section #bd1 taxpayers who claim deductions allowed under section #fb for purposes of determining adjusted gross income1 and taxpayers with income from non-employee compensation4 7ii7 ,report ,not later than ,august #ca1 #bjbb1 the ,secretary shall submit a report to ,congress that contains recommendations for such legislative or administrative actions as the ,secretary determines necessary with respect to expanding the populations of individuals that may qualify as eligible individuals for purposes of the program established under subsection 7a77#c74 7#b7 ,return must be filed by individual ,no return prepared under the program established under subsection 7a77#c7 shall be treated as filed before the date such return is submitted by the taxpayer as provided under the rules of section #fjaa4 7d7 ,verification of identity 7#a7 ,in general ,subject to paragraph 7#b71 an individual shall not participate in any program described in subsection 7a7 or access any information under such a program unless such individual has verified their identity to the satisfaction of the ,secretary4 7#b7 ,prohibition 7,a7 ,in general ,for purposes of verifying the identity of any individual seeking to participate in any program described in subsection 7a7 or to access any information under such a program1 the ,secretary shall not employ any knowledge-based verification procedures4 7,b7 ,knowledge-based verification procedure ,for purposes of this paragraph1 the term knowledge-based verification procedure means any procedure for verification of the identity of an individual by means of asking detailed and personal questions for which only that individual is presumed to know the answers1 including any such procedures which are provided through service agreements with a credit reporting agency4 7e7 ,taxpayer responsibility ,nothing in this section shall be construed to absolve the taxpayer from full responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of his return of tax4 7f7 ,prohibition on fees ,no fee may be imposed on any taxpayer who participates in any program established under subsection 7a74 7g7 ,information ,provided for ,wage and ,self-,employment income ,for purposes of subsection 7a77#b71 in the case of information relating to wages paid for any calendar year after #bjai required to be provided to the ,commissioner of ,social ,security under section #bje7;c77#b77;,a7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #dje7;c77#b77;,a771 the ,commissioner shall make such information available to the ,secretary not later than the ,february #ae of the calendar year following the calendar year to which such wages and self-employment income relate4 4 7b7 ,filing deadline for information returns ,section #fjga7;b7 of such ,code is amended to read as follows3 7b7 ,information returns ,returns made under part ,,iii of this chapter shall be filed on or before ,january #ca of the year following the calendar year to which such returns relate4 ,section #fjha shall not apply to returns under such part ,,iii4 4 7c7 ,conforming amendment to ,social ,security ,act ,section #bje7;c77#b77;,a7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #dje7;c77#b77;,a77 is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence3 ,for purposes of the preceding sentence1 the ,commissioner shall require that information relating to wages paid be provided to the ,secretary of the ,treasury not later than ,february #ae of the year following the calendar year to which such wages and self-employment income relate44 7d7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of sections for chapter #gg of such ,code is amended by adding at the end the following new item3 ,sec4 #gebi4 ,government-assisted tax-return preparation programs4 4 7e7 ,authorization of appropriations ,there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the amendments made by this section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years #bjbj through #bjbd4 7f7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply to returns for taxable years beginning after ,december #ca1 #bjai4