NCSL Standing Committee on Budgets and Revenue

October 24, 2007

The Honorable Zoe Lofgren
U.S. House of Representatives
102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Eric Cantor
U.S. House of Representatives
329 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Re: H.R. 3457 - Adobe PDF Click Here for Printer Friendly Version of This Document

Dear Representative Lofgren and Representative Cantor:

On behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), we write in support of your legislation, H.R. 3457, which preserves the availability of the Free File Program for the American taxpayer at no cost to the states or federal government.

As you know, the Free File program is a non-monetary public-private partnership between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the American software industry for the purpose of providing free online tax preparation and electronic filing services to American taxpayers. The program also supports vital state tax preparation services that mirror the national Free File program.

To date, twenty states have leveraged the benefits of the IRS Free File program to create parallel programs, incorporating the same terms, conditions and operating rules of the national Free File program, while providing no cost services to its citizens.

We thank you for the introduction of H.R. 3457 and your support of the Free File program.

We look forward to working with you to preserve this important program. If you need any additional assistance, please have your staff contact Garner Girthoffer at (202) 624-7753 or garner.girthoffer@ncsl.org in NCSL’s Washington, D.C. office.

Sincerely,

Senator Richard Devlin, Oregon Senator Emmett Hanger, Virginia
Chair, NCSL Standing Committee on Budgets and Revenue Immediate Past Chair, NCSL Standing Committee on Budgets and Revenue

Attachment: NCSL Policy on Free Online Tax Preparation and Electronic Filing