President Biden’s Pollster Pours Cold Water on Democrats’ Push for Government-Run Tax Prep

Taxpayers Protection Alliance

June 29, 2023

For years, Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have been pushing for the creation of a government-run tax preparation system, in which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would not only collect taxes and attempt to maximize revenue for the federal government, but also tell taxpayers how much they owe. Now, this wasteful and unnecessary program is, unfortunately, on its way to becoming a reality (and a nightmare) for hardworking taxpayers.

Last month, the political appointees leading President Biden’s IRS and Treasury Department decided to ignore public sentiment and move full steam ahead with a pilot program next year that will likely “lead to the full-scale launch of an IRS filing system.”

But this idea is clearly a lose-lose because it’s bad policy and bad politics. The pollster who worked for President Biden released new findings this week showing the unpopularity of an IRS-run tax prep system across the political spectrum. Here are a few key takeaways:

  1. Voters are overwhelmingly satisfied with their current tax preparation method and would recommend it to others. In fact, according to this latest survey, more than two-thirds (71%) of voters who are responsible for their household’s taxes and use a digital tax-prep software company find they are likely to recommend it to a friend or colleague, with “likely” defined as a rating of 8-10 on a 0-10 scale.
  2. When asked what IRS-related activities are considered the most urgent priority, an IRS system that allows Americans to prepare and file their taxes on the IRS website ranked dead last (13% support).
  3. Gen-Z voters (30%), those without a college degree, and those who would describe their financial situation as ‘stressed’ or ‘struggling’ (31%) are less likely to use a new IRS tax filing service.

The IRS has already tried to cook the books on this issue. This time, they’d be wise to listen to voters’ concerns and preferences.

You can read the full results here.