A bill for an act
relating to taxation; individual income; requiring the commissioner of revenue to
establish a direct free filing system for individual income tax returns; transferring
money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 289A.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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(a) The commissioner must establish an electronic filing system through which taxpayers
may directly file an electronic individual income tax return free of charge. The commissioner
may contract with a software vendor to develop the filing system required under this section,
but the vendor must not offer paid tax preparation services for Minnesota individual income
taxpayers for tax years that the system is active, and the filing system must be made available
on the Department of Revenue website.
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(b) To the extent feasible, the commissioner must coordinate the state filing system
under this section with federal direct file options.
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(c) The filing system developed under this section must be made available as follows:
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(1) no later than for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024, the commissioner
must make available a pilot version of the system developed under this section to a subset
of individual income tax filers; and
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(2) no later than for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026, the commissioner
must make the filing system available for all individual income tax returns.
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This section is effective the day following final enactment.
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$....... in fiscal year 2025 is transferred from the general fund to the tax filing
modernization account created by Laws 2023, chapter 64, article 15, section 24, in the
special revenue fund. This is a onetime transfer.
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