# 119-hr-451: FAIR PREP Act of 2025

119-hr-451, FAIR PREP Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Smith, Adrian [R-NE-3] (R-NE); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-22).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-451
- As of: 2026-10-22
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-451
- Congress: 119
- Title: FAIR PREP Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-01-15
- Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Adrian [R-NE-3] (R-NE)
- Cosponsors: 29
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-22

## Summary

**Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from preparing tax returns or refunds.** It would also block new funding or contracts for IRS-run electronic tax preparation or "direct file" systems unless Congress explicitly authorizes them. - Taxpayers: Removes the option of having the Treasury prepare a return or refund claim, so people who would have used an IRS-run free preparation tool would need private software or paid preparers instead. - Tax preparers and software firms: Reduces potential competition from a government-run free filing option because the bill treats returns prepared by an IRS electronic service as prepared by the Secretary and bars those programs. - IRS and program rules: Defines what counts as "tax return preparation," preserves certain narrow exemptions and automated tools like fillable forms, and would bar post-enactment spending or contracts to develop or operate IRS electronic preparation services unless Congress approves. The prohibition would apply to returns filed 30 days after enactment.

## Cosponsors (29)

- Rep. Edwards, Chuck [R-NC-11] (R-NC), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Garbarino, Andrew R. [R-NY-2] (R-NY), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Miller, Carol D. [R-WV-1] (R-WV), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tenney, Claudia [R-NY-24] (R-NY), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hern, Kevin [R-OK-1] (R-OK), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Alford, Mark [R-MO-4] (R-MO), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Buchanan, Vern [R-FL-16] (R-FL), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Womack, Steve [R-AR-3] (R-AR), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24] (R-TX), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE), 2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] (R-FL), 2025-01-28T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole [R-NY-11] (R-NY), 2025-01-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Self, Keith [R-TX-3] (R-TX), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moran, Nathaniel [R-TX-1] (R-TX), 2025-02-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Meuser, Daniel [R-PA-9] (R-PA), 2025-02-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Timmons, William R. [R-SC-4] (R-SC), 2025-02-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX), 2025-02-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12] (R-GA), 2025-02-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kustoff, David [R-TN-8] (R-TN), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Murphy, Gregory F. [R-NC-3] (R-NC), 2025-02-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carey, Mike [R-OH-15] (R-OH), 2025-02-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. LaHood, Darin [R-IL-16] (R-IL), 2025-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Amodei, Mark E. [R-NV-2] (R-NV), 2025-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Clyde, Andrew S. [R-GA-9] (R-GA), 2025-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bean, Aaron [R-FL-4] (R-FL), 2025-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Estes, Ron [R-KS-4] (R-KS), 2025-04-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2] (R-IN), 2025-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Letlow, Julia [R-LA-5] (R-LA), 2025-12-03T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- No new IRS direct file funding: cost, medium. If enacted, the Treasury could not award grants or sign or pay new contracts or similar agreements to develop or run an IRS electronic tax preparation service after enactment. This would only be allowed if another law expressly authorizes it. This could limit future growth of free IRS filing option…
- IRS could not prepare your tax return: cost, low. If enacted, the IRS would be barred from preparing your tax return or refund claim. Any return made using an IRS-run electronic prep service would count as IRS-prepared for this ban. This would not apply to returns done through IRS Free File or a qualified volunteer return preparation program defin…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-703: Main Street Tax Certainty Act
- 119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-1301: Death Tax Repeal Act
- 119-hr-425: Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act
- 119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-451 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/451)

## Related
- [119-hr-703: Main Street Tax Certainty Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-703)
- [119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1628)
- [119-hr-1301: Death Tax Repeal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1301)
- [119-hr-425: Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-425)
- [119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-909)
- [119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4382)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-451 (as of 2026-10-22).