Tax Liberation

Current initiatives

1. Reference: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/call-on-the-irs-to-provide-libre-tax-filing-software

Summary: US taxpayers: Tell the IRS that you want to file your taxes in freedom! For far too long, many US taxpayers have felt that they have no other option than to use nonfree software or a Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS), giving up their freedom as well as their most private financial information to a third-party company, in order to file taxes. Whether or not taxpayers were able to file their taxes gratis, they often had to give up their freedom in order to file. However, with the passage of the *Inflation Reduction Act*, now is the time to tell the IRS that what the public needs is a tax filing system in which every taxpayer can file their taxes entirely with free software. Read and share the article, sign the petition, and send a letter to the IRS commissioner.

Responses and conversations

News:

• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35705469
• https://yro.slashdot.org/story/23/04/25/2029224/fsf-calls-on-the-irs-to-provide-libre-tax-filing-software

Past LP wiki initiatives

1. Reference: https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:LibrePlanet_Ontario/FLCTPSP

Summary: Free/Libre Canadian Tax Preparation Software Project

Promising free software initiatives

Repositories:

• https://github.com/ustaxes/UsTaxes (AGPL)

IRS research

1. Reference: https://www.irs.gov/privacy-disclosure/use-of-federal-tax-information-fti-in-open-source-software

There are some misconceptions on this page, which it would be nice to have someone address.

This information may be helpful for anyone considering offering a free software solution to the IRS:

> When deciding to procure open source software, IRS recommends that the agency pursue a conservative approach and seek organizations that will provide assurance that a secure development lifecycle is employed and that software support for the application being considered for use is available. This may include the use of a third-party vendor that specializes in supporting this application, but is separate from the primary development organization. As mentioned above, this may be required if direct support from the software developer is not an option.

Strategic advocacy

The taxpayer advocate service operates independently from the IRS. One thing they do is hear taxpayer grievances and relay those to the IRS. It is possibly worth sending suggestions for how the IRS could better respect taxpayers' software freedom and privacy. Their contact information is: <https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/contact-us/>

It may also be helpful to contact your congressional leaders. Find yours via <https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative>.

Successful resistance

Stories of resistance to nonfree software for tax-filing:

• http://libreboston.org/blog/do-not-use-turbotax

Tax Liberation per country

Brazil: https://www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/anuncio/2023-05-IRPF-Livre-2023

This page was a featured resource in May 2023.