LETTERHEAD August xx, 2013 The l-lonorable Ron wyden United States Senate 221 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear senator Vi/yden: officials at the has have proposed a new tax system in which the IRS will both prepare and collect tax returns for taxpayers, an obvious conflict of interest. This system known as the Retum Free system, represents is a fundamental intrusion on consumer and taxpayer rights As I am Writing you to encourage your careful consideration of the potential problems with this proposed system Taxpayers across the United States depend on having t.he freedom to privately prepare their own tax return in order to identify and make use ot the various deductions listed in our tax code. Now, the IRS is offering to do that for us, a proposal that could have dire consequences. For one, the IRS does not have access to much of the important personal information that allows Americans to take of advantage of deductions when they do things like buy a house or have a child The IRS will inevitably overlook valuable deductions, in many cases for those Americans that could IBE the deduction the most. A report published by the Technology Policy institute in 2010 showed that a system like this will most intimidate low--income filers and those using English as a second language. These groups tend to be most intimidated by official ms documents, which they will be receive more of in the Return Free system. These disadvantaged groups will be much less likely to check the validity their pre--filled returns, making them much more likely to miss out on much needed deductions. Most Americans already have access to free tax preparation services that do not create the conflicts of interest that the Return Free system creates. Since 2003, 16 private tax prepararions groups have made their software freeing available to those earning less than $57,000 per year. These free companies offer similar services to what the IRS plans to offer, but do so without the knowledge that t.hey are going to be collecting the taxes at the end of the day Yes, our tax code needs simplification but this is not the way torward. 1 hope that this letter will encourage you to carefully consider the consequences of the IRS proposal. sincerely,