Private Sector Fees for Preparing & Filing Electronic Returns
If you thought there was a problem with the IRS' outsourcing of its statutory responsibility for accepting and processing electronically filed tax returns to private companies [such as Intuit and H&R Block], the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the question and found no Constitutional or
other statutory violation.
According to the Court, that view "erroneously conflates the statutory duty delegated to the IRS—i.e., collecting and processing tax returns—with the services provided by the FFA Members—i.e., preparing and filing the returns. 26 U.S.C. §§ 6011 and 6091 make clear that the filing of tax returns is the sole responsibility of the private individual or entity who is making the filing. Moreover, while §6011(f) provides that “[t]he Secretary is authorized to promote the benefits of and encourage the use of electronic tax administration programs,” nowhere does it state that the IRS is obligated to assist taxpayers with the filing—electronic or otherwise—of their tax returns. Rather, the text merely provides that “a return...shall be made to the Secretary . . .” Id. at §6091(b)(1)(A). The Secretary, and by extension the IRS, has no statutory duty with respect to the preparation or filing of tax returns. Rather, the IRS’s obligations begin only after the tax return is actually “return[ed] . . . to the Secretary,” id., which triggers the IRS’s statutory mandate to review the return and assess the proper taxes as dictated by the Internal Revenue Code. Id. at §6201." (emphasis added).
In other words, the IRS has no duty to pay a taxpayer to comply with taxpayer's statutory duty to prepare and file a tax return, the fees charged by H&R Block and other tax preparers for electronic filing of federal tax returns are not illegal and the IRS's agreement with the preparers does not violate the Antitrust laws.