Taxpayer Watchdog Slams Senator Warren’s “Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2022”

For Immediate Release                                                                             Contact: Abigail Graham: (202) 417-7235

July 13, 2022                                                                                                                   

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced the Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2022. Recent polling data shows that 75 percent of voters agree that giving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more power is a bad idea. In response, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) continues to highlight why giving the IRS more power to prepare tax returns is both an overreach and a conflict of interest.

TPA President, David Williams, offered the following statement:

“As a taxpayer advocate for more than 29 years and seeing a string of abuses by the IRS, the idea of having the IRS prepare returns ranks in the top five bad ideas ever produced in Washington, D.C. Adding unnecessary responsibilities to this already struggling agency is not the answer.” 

“The IRS is a mess. For example, as Tax Day 2022 approached, the IRS still had nearly 24 million unprocessed tax returns from prior years. Many Americans rely on tax refunds to pay for essential household items such as groceries, gas, and childcare. With record inflation at 9.1 percent, Americans cannot continue to wait for their hard-earned money to pay for everyday necessities.

“Not only is the agency not equipped to take on this responsibility, reports also show that nearly a sixth of the 12,000 employees hired during the height of the pandemic still have not had their employment eligibility documents reviewed. The harsh reality is that this leaves the door open for more data leaks of sensitive personal information.

“From leaked private tax information to strong-arming poor people with audits, power should be taken away from the agency. It’s clear to Americans that this is not an agency prepared to take on extra responsibility.” 

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 Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.