It’s Tax Season! Here Come the ‘Leech Brands’: Ben Schott (1)

Happy tax season to all who celebrate! Which is (or should be) everyone. But as you strive to do your civic duty (under penalty of perjury) ponder this: Just 2.4% of the 104 million US taxpayers eligible to use the IRS Free File Program did so in 2020. And more than 14 million of the lowest-paid Americans may have paid unnecessary commercial fees to file their 2019 taxes.

Why?

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which compiled these figures, blames “the complexity, confusion, and lack of taxpayer awareness about the operation and requirements of the Free File ...