OpenSecrets -- a nonprofit that tracks money in politics -- just reported that private tax prep services are doubling down on lobbying. TurboTax’s parent company, Intuit, "spent more than $3.5 million on federal lobbying in 2022, more than it spent in any previous year" to silence calls for a free tax-filing program through the IRS.

Talk about creating a problem to sell the solution.

We’re joining our allies at DailyKos to take a stand against predatory tax prep services that make filing tax returns deliberately complicated – and expensive.

SIGN ON here if you agree that tax prep should be easy and free.

Even though the IRS already knows what you owe, you’ve likely used an online service to survive tax season. Tax prep companies know that filing taxes is a headache because they’ve spent big to keep it that way. (Intuit’s roster of powerful lobbyists even includes former members of Congress.)

As The Washington Post reports, tax prep companies have “devoted millions of dollars over the years to defeating IRS plans to establish public filing software programs,” while Intuit and H&R Block alone have “spent a combined $63.3 million in federal lobbying since 2011.”

The IRS has the authority to create a free, easy-to-use online tax filing tool. In fact, the Inflation Reduction Act directed $15 million toward studying how the IRS could implement a free tax filing program. That’s why private tax prep companies are now supercharging their lobbying efforts.

Tax prep companies should not get away with using their money and influence to force tax filers into paying for a private service.

SIGN ON here to say that tax prep should be easy and free.

Thanks for being a bold progressive.

-- The PCCC Team (@BoldProgressive)

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