deal keeps the irs out of the tax software business
some 93 million taxpayers could benefit from the deal with the 20 tax prep and software companies, including market leaders intuit inc., h&r block inc. the agreement covers taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of less than $49,600, which amounts to about 70 percent of the taxpaying public. last year, about 5.1 million tax returns were filed for free under the program. the deal came after intuit won a u.s. senate vote to ban the irs from developing its own e-file products. but the threat alone might have been enough leverage for the government to persuade the companies to provide more services.