* IRS Free File system wants your eyeballs
April 15 and the U.S. Postal Service seem to go hand in hand. But if the Internal Revenue Service has its way, mailing your returns will be a thing of the past.
The IRS saw tremendous success in the number of people who used its Web-based Free File system this tax season. Latest reports show more than 2.4 million taxpayers used the facility to send their forms electronically.
The Free File system is the product of the Free File Alliance, a group of 17 companies that joined together to offer online tax return services. According to the IRS, the Free File Alliance stemmed from a push by the President’s administration to move government functions online. The goal was to improve government-to-government, government-to-business, and government-to-consumer communications.
The IRS hopes to have 80% of all tax returns filed electronically by 2007, according to an Associated Press report.
To use the Free File system, users head to the IRS site and either choose a specific service they want to use from a list or they can fill out a short questionnaire that guides them to a service. Before users exit the IRS.gov site, they are treated to this disclaimer:
“Please note that by clicking on this link, you will leave the IRS Web site and enter a privately owned Web site created, operated and maintained by a private business. The information that this private business collects and maintains as a result of your visit to its Web site may differ from the information that the IRS collects and maintains. (Please see the IRS Web site privacy and security notice for privacy protections IRS provides to Web site visitors). By linking to this private business, the IRS is not endorsing its products, services, or privacy or security policies. We recommend you review the business’s information collection policy or terms and conditions to fully understand what information is collected by this private business.”
Once users exit the site and sign in with the tax preparation site, they are subjected to ads. Hence, the free part of the filing system. And the IRS even states that the information collected is not the same as needed for your returns. Though consumer groups are up in arms over the idea of consumers being subjected to ads that collect information, the disclaimer is upfront about this risk.
Note that this is an effort not only to streamline tax filing, but a distinct move toward privatizing part of the process. The IRS, by outsourcing this, is supposedly saving taxpayers time and money.
How do you feel about the government using private e-commerce companies to do public work? And what about those ads? Should the government have figured out a way to use these services ad-free? Let me know at sgittlen@nww.com
