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Congressman Panetta Calls for Answers from IRS on Omitting MilTax, Free Tax Service for Servicemembers, in Advertisements



WASHINGTON, DC – On Friday, February 7, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles P. Rettig demanding answers about the agency’s omission of the MilTax program when advertising free tax preparation and filing programs for military servicemembers.

The IRS recently was quoted in a national publication and posted a press release promoting improvements to the Free File program and its benefits for servicemembers, without mentioning the MilTax program.  The MilTax program, run by the Department of Defense (DOD), provides free tax preparation and filing software for all military servicemembers, regardless of income, whereas Free File is only free for servicemembers earning $69,000 or less.

In his letter to Commissioner Rettig, Congressman Panetta points out the issues with mentioning Free File in the context of servicemembers without mentioning MilTax.  He asks why the IRS has not advertised the program, if they have consulted with DOD on promoting MilTax, and what is preventing them from doing so.

"The IRS is a trusted authority on tax preparation and filing, and when servicemembers hear its commissioner promoting Free File, with no mention of MilTax or other DOD-provided services, they may not look for other options.  This is especially true for servicemembers who have earned more than $69,000, and could reasonably, but incorrectly, believe that there are no free federal services available to them," wrote Congressman Panetta. 

"If incomplete information provided by the IRS is pushing servicemembers and their families towards more expensive and less specialized tax software, then we are failing to serve our men and women in uniform," continued Congressman Panetta. 

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