[20220331]IF11808_美国国税局的免费文件计划（FFP）：现状和政策问题.pdf

https:/crsreports.congress.gov Updated March 31, 2022The Internal Revenue Services Free File Program (FFP): Current Status and Policy IssuesThe option to electronically file (e-filing) federal individual income tax returns began in 1986. Since then its usage has grown considerably. By the end of December 2020, 89% of returns for the 2019 tax year were e-filed. Nonetheless, 17.6 million paper returns were filed for that year. As a policy objective, the IRS would like to achieve an e-filing rate of 100% because of its advantages over paper filing. Generally, e-filing has a lower cost for processing returns and reduced error rates. E-filing also speeds up the processing of tax refunds for individuals who had too much income tax withheld or overpaid their tax during a year. An element of the IRSs strategy to promote universal individual income tax e-filing is the Free File Program (FFP). The program permits individuals with adjusted gross incomes (AGIs) at or below a specified amount ($73,000 for the 2021 tax year) to electronically prepare and file their federal income tax returns, free of charge, using software provided by participating tax software companies, which totaled eight co